Land banking has been found to be one of the best ways to deal with the problem of abandoned homes. Indianapolis has a land bank with 97 parcels and has sold 35 since May, 2007. Now a website has been designed to help reduce the number of abandoned homes in blighted neighborhoods.

The website provides a greater opportunity for the city to market properties to neighbors, nonprofits, community development corporations and developers. This allows vacant and abandoned properties to be redeveloped and placed back on the tax roles with clean titles.

"Before the website, anyone interested in the properties would have to either call or email," said land bank manager Duane Ingram. "This is going to be a great tool to inform the community about available homes for sale. Virtually any question that someone has about the land bank can be answered on this site."

The land bank takes possession of abandoned homes through county tax sales. 900 properties have been flagged for sale in October, 2008.
Properties that have not sold may be may be claimed by the land bank after 120 days.

Abandoned Homes Director Sherron Franklin said, "This is yet another tool in our arsenal to combat the problem of abandoned homes."

Website features include news updates, frequently asked questions and registration for email updates on available properties. The address is: www.indylandbank.com

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