{"id":19622,"date":"2024-08-02T23:50:07","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T23:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=19622"},"modified":"2024-08-16T15:31:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T15:31:33","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/mor-im0824","title":{"rendered":"Coalition Led by Missouri REALTORS\u00ae Achieves Major Legislative Goal: Statewide Authorization of Land Banks to Minimize Blight, Increase Homeownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The first land bank in the U.S. was established in St. Louis, Missouri in 1972, but until very recently, only three jurisdictions in the state were authorized to have them.\u00a0 Thanks to the efforts of a consortium of local REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> boards working with the state association, a new law now legalizes land banks in communities of over 1,500 residents throughout the Show Me State, facilitating the transfer of vacant properties to the market, and supporting homeownership. <\/span>Issues Mobilization<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grants<\/span><\/a> from the REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> Party helped secure the legislation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae <\/span>have long been determined to expand the use of land banks to provide local governments with a means of addressing vacant properties, strengthening neighborhoods and shoring up the tax base, says Erin Hervey, Missouri REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>\u2019 Vice President of Government Affairs and Local Board Relations.\u00a0 She explains that vacant homes can trigger a downward spiral toward blighted neighborhoods where property values drop and crime rates rise.\u00a0 \u201cLand banks are a great concept, but a complex legal tool,\u201d she says, \u201cso in order to drum up public support, we worked with a creative agency to develop a fantastic 5-minute animated video that is concise, accessible, engaging and informative.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video and the dedicated website where it is featured were supported by a Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grant awarded jointly to Missouri REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>, the Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>, the Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>, and the St. Louis REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a very effective way to get the information out into communities, targeting areas with significant blight, says Hervey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the political level, Charlie Hinderliter, St. Louis REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>\u2019 Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, explains that the REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> brought together efforts by state legislators from St. Louis and Springfield, forming a coalition from two sides that had been working separately on the land bank issue.\u00a0 They were joined by several housing organizations that, through the Center for Community Progress, were able to access best practices that were incorporated into the bill. Meeting alternate Fridays since March 2021, the team pored diligently over the complexities of land banking to craft solid legislation, and created the marketing plan to promote it to consumers.\u00a0 \u201cSome of it was fun,\u201d says Hinderliter, \u201clike when we were storyboarding the animated video.\u00a0 Slogging through the hundreds of pages of draft legislation?\u00a0 Definitely less fun.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> secured the Issues Mobilization Grant that enabled the team to promote the land bank legislation to districts with key legislators.\u00a0 \u201cWe also advertised heavily in the <\/span>Missouri Times<\/span><\/i>, which is widely read in the capitol \u2013 and maybe nowhere else,\u201d reports Hervey.\u00a0 As Sam Licklider, our Chief Lobbyist, says, \u201cPut it where they\u2019re going to see it!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Licklider, a seasoned veteran of Missouri politics, explains that the REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>\u2019 legislation was itself attached to an eviction moratorium bill, and in the frenzy that always occurs at the late stages of the session, \u201cEverybody keeps sticking more on to the bill.\u00a0\u00a0 When all was said and done, we were lumped in with all sorts of amendments, from a chicken-pasturing rider to one governing parking lot charging stations.\u00a0 Most were fairly benign, and what mattered was that our land bank priority was in there.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be pretty, and it seldom is!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the dust settled, the bill passed with strong bi-partisan support, in fact, nearly unanimously.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinderliter points out that the passage of the land bank legislation would have been significant at any time, but as the Missouri legislature approved only twenty-eight non-budgetary bills this session, \u201cThe fact that Sam and Erin got this passed is a real achievement.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ability to establish land banks will be good for Missouri communities, homeowners, aspiring homeowners, and REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>, observes Hervey.\u00a0 \u201cIt took more than two years, but we did it!\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to NAR for all its support in getting the issue out in front of our legislature.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about how Missouri REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> is helping to make it easier to revive blighted properties throughout the state, visit <\/span>https:\/\/molandbanks.com\/<\/span><\/a> or contact Erin Hervey, Vice President of Government Affairs and Local Board Relations, at erin@morealtor.com or 573.673.5168; Sam Licklider, the association\u2019s Chief Lobbyist, at sglgov@aol.com; or Charlie Hinderliter, St. Louis REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span>\u2019 Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, at chinderliter@stlrealtors.com.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With help from Issues Mobilization and Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grants from the REALTOR\u00ae Party, Missouri\u2019s state REALTOR\u00ae association spearheaded land bank legislation that will provide localities with tools to address vacancy challenges.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1836,414,375],"class_list":["post-19622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-consumer-advocacy-outreach-grants","tag-issues-mobilization","tag-missouri"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}