StarCitizen:Office of Land Development
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The Office of Land Development was tasked with regulating land claim registration.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite RSI</ref>
History
it's creation was part of the original statuses of the United Nations of Earth in 2380, and it follows the StarCitizen:Freeman Act.<ref name=":0" />
Despite the improvements the office brought with it, many at the time chose to operate outside of the law since the fees associated with illegal land development were often considered less cumbersome than following the proper protocols. With the land rush in full swing, waiting for paperwork to clear could cost a developer a massive amount of funds. Such was the case in 2530 when StarCitizen:Gaia Planet Services decided to go ahead and begin illegally StarCitizen:terraforming what would reveal itself to be an alien-occupied world. That incident in the StarCitizen:Pallas system not only nearly kicked off an interspecies war between Humanity and the StarCitizen:Xi’an, but it showed that time for greater regulation had arrived.<ref name=":0" />
When StarCitizen:Ivar Messer became Imperator a few years later in 2546, one of his first policies was to declare eminent domain over the newly forged empire. To legally develop or settle any parcel of land, irrespective of who discovered it, one would first have to apply to the Office of Land Development for permission. It soon became obvious that those who had cultivated the Messers’ favor were significantly more likely to be granted valuable land rights. By the 27th century, the Directorship of the Office of Land Development had become one of the most coveted positions within the Empire, thanks to ever more blatant practice of corporations offering generous kickbacks to have regulatory decisions go their way. Company records uncovered after the dissolution of the StarCitizen:Hathor Group revealed that they had allocated a large slush fund specifically for donations to the then-Director’s personal charity fund.<ref name=":0" />
With the fall of the Messers in 2792, the newly formed government attempted to reform the Office of Land Development, but it would continue to be plagued by accusations of corruption and cronyism. In a 2861 StarCitizen:Wightman Award-winning piece, the StarCitizen:Terra Gazette exposed how the office continued to favor large corporations and wealthy individuals, often illegally granting them preferential treatment over the rightful claims of average Citizens. Many government officials were forced to resign as their questionable behavior came to light, and in one instance StarCitizen:Shubin Interstellar was required to return a sizeable parcel of land they had been developing for mining. In the wake of the scandal, the StarCitizen:Senate decided that the best approach to the problem would be to start with a clean slate. On November 21, 2862, the Office of Land Development was officially shut down and the Planetary Development Bureau was launched to oversee all land regulation.<ref name=":0" />