What the Summit County Land Bank is
The Summit County Land Bank is the everyday name of the Summit County Land Reutilization Corporation. Its overview says it was established in 2012 as a nonprofit community improvement corporation, in response to the foreclosure crisis, and it works with Summit County’s 31 cities, villages and townships on abandoned, blighted and tax-delinquent property.
Its own explainer stresses that land banks are not part of county government. They are independent nonprofit corporations run by a board. In Summit County that board must include:
- the Summit County Executive;
- the Summit County Fiscal Officer;
- a representative of County Council;
- a representative of the largest municipality, Akron;
- a township representative.
The Land Bank works out of the restored John S. Knight House, built in 1922, at 400 S. Portage Path in Akron.
How it gets property
The Land Bank’s explainer lists several ways land banks acquire property:
- Tax foreclosure, including the expedited process that lets tax-foreclosed parcels be transferred directly to a land bank;
- Purchase or lease;
- Donation by private owners, businesses and probated estates;
- Transfers from lenders of low-value properties, sometimes with money for rehab or demolition, and in some cases from HUD.
The direct transfers come from Ohio’s tax foreclosure statutes. Under R.C. 323.78, after a treasurer invokes the 28-day alternative redemption period, a parcel requested by a county land reutilization corporation goes to it without appraisal or sale, free of the tax liens. The Board of Revision tax foreclosure guide explains that process.
Funding comes largely from the county’s delinquent tax and assessment collection fund, which the county can increase for the land bank, plus land sales and grants, according to the same explainer.
Welcome Home: buying a Land Bank house
Welcome Home is the Land Bank’s residential program. It lists affordable residential properties for individuals and organizations to encourage homeownership. The process the Land Bank describes:
- Submit the program application with the application fee and any required documents, by email or by mail or delivery to 400 S. Portage Path.
- For a property the Land Bank already owns, include an Interest & Offer form.
- Wait for review. Electronic applications aren’t considered until the fee is received.
The Land Bank notes that applying doesn’t commit it to approve the application, acquire a property, or sell it to you. It also says the Welcome Home guidelines are under review, and changes effective January 1, 2026 may include higher application fees and prices.
Side Lot: the empty lot next door
The Side Lot program lets an eligible owner whose house sits next to a vacant lot acquire that lot and add it to their property. What the Land Bank says to expect:
- a non-refundable deposit with the application;
- approval that can take up to 90 days;
- an overall process of 12 months or more, depending on the property and the number of applications in process;
- new guidelines, fees and pricing for applications on or after January 1, 2026, after nearly 10 years of mostly unchanged pricing;
- negotiation for larger parcels or those the Land Bank considers of significant value.
Building for Business, grants and demolition
The Land Bank’s other programs mostly serve organizations rather than homeowners:
| Program | Who it’s for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Building for Business | People or organizations | Acquire commercial or industrial property |
| Community Matching Grant Fund | Local governments, schools, qualified nonprofits in Summit County | Grants on a 50% match basis, one open application or award per organization |
| Building Demolition and Site Revitalization | Countywide | The Land Bank is the county’s lead entity for this Ohio Department of Development demolition program |
| Brownfields | Sites with contamination | Assessment and cleanup efforts |
The demolition program matters to neighbors: it is how many of the county’s worst vacant houses come down.
Land Bank property versus a sheriff sale house
Tax-foreclosed houses in Summit County reach new owners by two different routes, and buyers often confuse them:
- Sheriff tax sales. The Summit County Sheriff auctions delinquent-tax cases online on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m., with a $1,000 deposit per case. The Sheriff’s FAQ says a tax case that gets no bid at two sales is forfeited to the certificate holder or the public body that brought it.
- Land Bank transfers. Parcels that go through expedited foreclosure can be deeded directly to the Land Bank, which then decides whether to demolish, hold, or offer them through Welcome Home or Side Lot.
A Land Bank sale comes with an application, program guidelines and a title the Land Bank has cleared. A sheriff sale is sold sight unseen and as is, with no promise of clear title.
Records, meetings and finances are public
Because it’s a public-purpose corporation with a board drawn from county and local government, the Land Bank posts its meetings and public notices, records and financials on its website, and registers vendors for contract work. If you want to know which parcels it owns, what it paid, or what it plans for a property on your street, those pages and a call to (330) 926-2513 are the places to start.
What this means for a Summit County owner
Most homeowners meet the Land Bank in one of three ways:
- As a neighbor, reporting an abandoned, blighted house through its online form, or applying for the lot next door.
- As an owner of an empty, tax-delinquent house, which can end up transferred to the Land Bank through tax foreclosure, often with no auction and no surplus. The delinquent property taxes guide covers how to stop that.
- As an heir or owner who doesn’t want a property, asking about a donation.
If the house still has value and you’d rather sell it than lose it to taxes, compare your options first. Our Summit County page covers the local market, and our page on selling a house with back taxes covers the seller’s side. If you’d like a written number for an empty Summit County house, send us the address.
