43 U.S.C. § 901 — Claims of bona fide purchasers; establishment of rights
submitted 130 years ago by ch. 39 to r/title-43-PUBLIC-LANDS · 297 words · no verdicts yet
This section explains how a bona fide purchaser of wrongly patented or certified land may have the purchaser’s title confirmed. It provides routes through the Secretary of the Interior or a federal court and sets the recovery limit.
A person claiming to be a “bona fide purchaser” of land that was wrongly patented or certified may present the claim to the Secretary of the Interior before a suit to cancel the patent or certification begins. If the Secretary finds that the person is a bona fide purchaser, the Secretary must ask that a suit be brought against the patentee, or against the corporation, company, person, or group for whose benefit the certification was made, for the land’s value. That value may not exceed the minimum Government price of the land, and the purchaser’s title must be confirmed.
A negative decision by the Secretary about whether the person is a bona fide purchaser does not finally decide the person’s rights. If the claimant—or someone claiming to be a bona fide purchaser who did not submit a claim to the Secretary—is made a party to the suit, and the court finds that person to be a bona fide purchaser, the court must confirm the title. The court must also enter judgment for the United States against the patentee or the corporation, company, person, or group for whose benefit the certification was made, for the land’s value as described above.
A bona fide purchaser of land patented or certified to a railroad company who is not made a party to the suit and did not submit a claim to the Secretary may establish the purchaser’s right as a bona fide purchaser in any United States court with jurisdiction over the subject. The purchaser may instead use the procedure in sections 896 and 897 of this title.
If any person claiming to be a bona fide purchaser of any lands erroneously patented or certified shall present his claim to the Secretary of the Interior prior to the institution of a suit to cancel a patent or certification, and if it shall appear that he is a bona fide purchaser, the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made, for the value of said land, which in no case shall be more than the minimum Government price thereof, and the title of such claimant shall stand confirmed. An adverse decision by the Secretary of the Interior on the bona fides of such claimant shall not be conclusive of his rights, and if such claimant, or one claiming to be a bona fide purchaser, but who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Interior, is made a party to such suit, and if found by the court to be a bona fide purchaser, the court shall decree a confirmation of the title, and shall render a decree in behalf of the United States against the patentee, corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made for the value of the land as hereinbefore provided. Any bona fide purchaser of lands patented or certified to a railroad company, and who is not made a party to such suit, and who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Interior, may establish his right as such bona fide purchaser in any United States court having jurisdiction of the subject matter, or at his option, as prescribed in sections 896 and 897 of this title.
Source credit: (Mar. 2, 1896, ch. 39, § 2, 29 Stat. 43.)
- 1896Enacted · Act of Mar. 2, 1896, ch. 39 · 29 Stat. 43
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 39 on 1896-03-02.
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