Concerning land trust certificates;

              90 HASKINS & SELLS December
Concerning Land Trust Certificates
OHIO, which has furnished more Presi­dents
than any other state, appears
to enjoy the distinction, in the invention
of land trust certificates, of having contrib­uted
to the assortment of investment
securities, one which is unusually interest­ing,
if not entirely unique in character.
In many respects the land trust certifi­cate
is comparable to the equipment trust
obligation. It differs singularly, however,
in instances where one of the parties to the
trust agreement, by sale, transfers certain
improved property to the trustee, becomes
the lessee of the property, and has the
option of repurchasing the property, among
other conditions, upon providing the funds
out of which to redeem all the certificates
outstanding.
The principle upon which the land trust
certificate is based contemplates that a
trustee under the terms of a trust agree­ment
will hold title, in fee, to certain prop­erty
and issue certificates of beneficial in­terest
in the property so held. The certif­icates
have no face value. They represent
undivided fractional interests in whatever
value may attach to the property. The
number of shares is regulated so that each
share, based on the appraised or agreed
value of the property, will be equivalent to
some round amount, such as $1,000. Pro­vision
is made so that interest in a fixed
amount per share per annum will be pay­able.
The amount of annual interest per
share designated is also fixed so that it will
constitute a definite rate per $1,000 or
whatever round amount may be fixed for
each share.
From an investment point of view,
these certificates are like any securities
which have a face value and bear a stated
rate of interest. They are sometimes sold