(1) Tennessee's communities are important to the social and economic vitality of the state. Whether urban, suburban or rural, many communities are struggling to cope with vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties;

(2) There exists a crisis in many cities and their metro areas caused by disinvestment in real property and resulting in a significant amount of vacant and abandoned property. This condition of vacant and abandoned property represents lost revenue to local governments and large costs associated with demolition, safety hazards and spreading deterioration of neighborhoods including resulting mortgage foreclosures;

(3) The need exists to strengthen and revitalize the economy of the state and its local units of government by solving the problems of vacant and abandoned property in a coordinated manner and to foster the development of such property and promote economic growth. Such problems may include multiple taxing jurisdictions lacking common policies, ineffective property inspection, code enforcement and property rehabilitation support, lengthy and/or inadequate foreclosure proceedings, and lack of coordination and resources to support economic revitalization;

(4) There is an overriding public need to confront the problems caused by vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties through the creation of new tools to be available to communities throughout the state enabling them to turn vacant spaces into vibrant places;

(5) Land banks are one of the tools that can be utilized by communities to facilitate the return of vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties to productive use.