# Finding properties available through the Cook County Land Bank Authority This Knowledge Base article gives a brief overview of the Cook County Land Bank Authority, describes their involvement in the disposition of certain properties, and demonstrates how to use Chicago Cityscape to find properties that can be acquired. ## What is the Cook County Land Bank Authority? The authority, abbreviated "CCLBA" or just "land bank", was established by the Cook County government [in 2013](https://www.cookcountylandbank.org/about/about-us/) to provide a new mechanism to rescue properties with significant back taxes. In many cases, properties have been abandoned by their owners and the CCLBA has transferred the properties to new owners through their unique process. ## How does the CCLBA work? The land bank acquires most of the properties in its inventory as "tax certificates" during the county Scavenger Sale, which is the ownership of a property owner's unpaid property taxes and an obligation that the acquirer will pay Cook County for those back taxes. However, the land bank has unique authority to acquire these tax certificates without that repayment obligation. The idea is, if CCLBA can find a new steward for a property, then it's in the county's and public's interest to have a redeveloped or maintained property than fight to collect the back taxes. Now that the land bank has the tax certificates, it can find new stewards. People interested in acquiring a property through the land bank must apply for each property they want, pay a deposit, and wait for the CCLBA to "take a property to deed". A lot happens during that process, and while anyone who obtains a tax certificate from the Scavenger Sale themselves, outside of the land bank, can also go through it, the land bank does it quite efficiently. With a deed, the new steward is now the new property owner. Developing vacant land is subject to local zoning regulations. For unoccupied structures, the land bank requires some proof of ability to renovate and sell, lease, or occupy the structure. ## How can I find CCLBA-associated property? CCLBA operates [its own map and database of their inventory](https://public-cclba.epropertyplus.com/landmgmtpub/app/base/propertySearch), and it's directly connected to their application portal (applicants must create an online account with the CCLBA). Chicago Cityscape also has a copy of this map, which is updated multiple times a day. We connect the CCLBA inventory to our other datasets and include it in Property Finder to give our members better filtering and search options. For example, using Property Finder, one can find CCLBA properties in a specific ZIP code that are near a CTA station and have a minimum lot area. ### First, determine in which area you want to look Most Chicago Cityscape members want to find property in a specific area (which we call Place Reports), one that they've developed in before or are familiar with local politics and business and neighborhood organizations, whose support they may need during redevelopment. We designed Place Report for them: [Look up a Place Report](http://chicagocityscape.com/maps/index.php), or [draw a Personal Place](http://chicagocityscape.com/draw.php). Here are a few ideas to start with if you don't have a place in mind: - [Anywhere along the Green Line's south branches](http://chicagocityscape.com/place/ctaline-green-line-south-branches) - [North Lawndale community area](http://chicagocityscape.com/place/communityarea-north-lawndale) ### Second, open Property Finder Once you're at the Place Report for the area in which you want to find property, you can use our exclusive Property Finder. 1. Click on the "Property Finder" button just beneath the map. After a few seconds, a spreadsheet of information about properties will appear, the same properties will appear on the map, and a box of filters will appear below the data table. 2. Scroll down to the box of filters, right below the data table. 3. Look for the heading, "Gov't land". 4. In the "Gov't land" list, click on "CCLBA properties (present)" (see Screenshot 1). The "present" option ensures that only properties that the CCLBA is accepting applications for will appear in the list. 5. Then select the "Apply filters" button; after a moment the data table and map will both update to show properties that are currently in CCLBA's inventory. If you want to find properties that had been in CCLBA's inventory in the past, scroll further down within Place Report and locate the "CCLBA properties" section.  *Screenshot 1* ### Additional filters If you looked up the Green Line's south branches, or any other CTA or Metra line, then the default view was to show properties within one block of the tracks. You can increase this to up to one mile. Look for "Change the search area" in the filters box and then select a new option in the dropdown menu. In Chicago, you can select one or more zoning districts or groups of zoning districts. Property Finder will then only return properties that are also in a selected zoning district. We recommend choosing a group of zoning districts so the results don't have zero properties. We recommend that you don't filter by property class; there are already a limited number of CCLBA-associated properties in any given area and choosing a specific property class may result in zero properties. # External links - [Cook County No Cash Bid (NCB) Program](https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/no-cash-bid-ncb-program). The Cook County No Cash Bid (NCB) Program is an economic development tool designed to assist municipalities, and other taxing districts, in acquiring tax delinquent property for reuse as private development and tax reactivation or for tax exempt municipal use. # Related articles - [[Property Finder in a Place Report]] - [[Vacant properties]] - [[Chicago-owned property]]