ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the creation and evolution of the Fulton County/City of Atlanta Land Bank from its authorization in 1991 through its emergence as one of the most creative and innovative land banks in the country by 2011. It describes the pivotal restructuring and transformation during the period from 2007-2009, and its role in the creation of the most advanced state land bank legislation in 2012. Despite the initial success, the Atlanta Land Bank began its second decade of work encountering growing policy differences with the Fulton County tax commissioner. The trigger for the creation of land banks, both in Georgia and throughout the United States, is relatively simple and straightforward. The core power for lands banks authorized in the 1990 legislation was the power to extinguish liens for delinquent property taxes on any property owned by a land bank.
