43 U.S.C. § 441 — Assignment of entries generally

This section lets certain homesteaders transfer, or "assign," their land claims to other people. It applies to people who have made, or will make, homestead entries within reclamation (irrigation) projects, under the Act of June 17, 1902. Once satisfactory proof has been filed with the Secretary of the Interior (or an officer the Secretary designates) showing five years of residence, improvement, and cultivation — the amount the law requires — the person holding the entry may assign it, or any part of it, to another person. The person receiving the assignment then has to submit their own proof that the land has been reclaimed (irrigated and put to use), and pay the charges the 1902 Act apportions to that land. Once they do, they can receive a patent — the deed transferring title — from the United States. One condition applies throughout: every assignment made under this section stays subject to the same limitations, charges, terms, and conditions that the reclamation law sets.