Delaware Senate Bill 66 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: Passed on August 11 2015 - 100% progression
Action: 2015-08-11 - Signed by Governor
Text: Latest bill text (Engrossed) [HTML]

This Act will allow any Delaware jurisdiction with a long-term residential vacancy rate above 3%, including a county, to form a land bank, where such jurisdiction determines that a land bank would help it address the problem of vacant and abandoned real property within its jurisdiction. A land bank is a non-profit organization created by a political subdivision of the State, or through an intergovernmental agreement between two or more political subdivisions of the State, and would serve as the repository for vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties that, left unaddressed, can contribute to crime, depress the local real estate market, and deplete the tax base of Delaware’s communities. A land bank would have the authority to obtain such properties at sheriff’s sales instituted by the jurisdiction that established the land bank, where such properties have been abandoned by their owners because of unpaid property taxes or substantial liens arising from property code violations. The land bank would have the ability to do one or more of the following: (1) purchase liens from the local jurisdiction; (2) acquire properties at a sheriff’s sale on credit from the local jurisdiction; (3) assert a trump bid at a sheriff’s sale that would allow the land bank to acquire abandoned properties for the price of the outstanding liens. The land bank would retain the acquired properties until such time as a suitable and vetted buyer could be found who would be able to return the property to productive use. Funding for land banks created under this Act would come from governmental and private grants, private investments and property sale proceeds. Additionally, any land bank created under this Act could, at the election of the local jurisdiction, be funded through the allocation to the land bank of 50% of the real property taxes on the property for a 5 year period once the property returns to productive use or such other funding sources established by the local jurisdiction. Through this Act, jurisdictions throughout Delaware would have the ability to alleviate the blight caused by vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties in the area, and revitalize communities by turning vacant spaces into vibrant places.

An Act To Amend The Delaware Code Relating To Neighborhood Conservation And Land Banks.

Sen. Bryan Townsend [D]	Sen. Margaret Henry [D]	Sen. Robert Marshall [D]	Sen. Harris McDowell [D]
Rep. Bryon Short [D]	Rep. James Johnson [D]	Rep. Helene Keeley [D]	Sen. Patricia Blevins [D]
Sen. Bruce Ennis [D]	Rep. Paul Baumbach [D]	Rep. Stephanie Bolden [D]	Rep. Gerald Brady [D]
Rep. Sean Matthews [D]	Rep. John Mitchell [D]	Rep. Charles Potter [D]

2015-07-01 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 35 N: 5 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2015-08-11	Senate	Signed by Governor
2015-07-01	House	Passed by House of Representatives. Votes: Passed 35 YES 5 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2015-06-10	House	Reported Out of Committee (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BANKING/INSURANCE/COMMERCE) in House with 8 On Its Merits
2015-05-28	House	Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee in House
2015-05-14	Senate	Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 21 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 0 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2015-05-14	Senate	Amendment SA 4 - Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 21 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 0 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2015-05-14	Senate	Amendment SA 3 - Stricken
2015-05-14	Senate	Amendment SA 4 - Introduced in Senate
2015-05-14	Senate	Amendment SA 2 - Stricken
2015-05-14	Senate	Amendment SA 1 - Stricken
2015-05-13	Senate	Amendment SA 3 - Introduced and Placed With the Bill in Senate
2015-05-07	Senate	Amendment SA 2 - Introduced and Placed With the Bill in Senate
2015-05-06	Senate	Amendment SA 1 - Introduced and Placed With the Bill in Senate
2015-04-30	Senate	Reported Out of Committee (BANKING AND BUSINESS) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits
2015-04-22	Senate	Assigned to Banking and Business Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/3d5552a94b147ec685257e2e0075fe62?OpenDocument
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+66/$file/legis.html?open
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/EngrossmentsforLookup/SB+66/$file/Engross.html?open
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/18eeccc524141c3585257e7500314e0f?OpenDocument