118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 70
AN ACT
To require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to process and
complete all mortgage packages associated with residen-
tial and business mortgages on Indian land by certain
deadlines, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2
†S 70 ES
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Trust Land 2
Homeownership Act of 2023’’. 3
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4
In this Act: 5
(1) A
PPLICABLE BUREAU OFFICE .—The term 6
‘‘applicable Bureau office’’ means— 7
(A) a Regional office of the Bureau; 8
(B) an Agency office of the Bureau; or 9
(C) a Land Titles and Records Office of 10
the Bureau. 11
(2) B
UREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 12
Bureau of Indian Affairs. 13
(3) D
IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 14
the Director of the Bureau. 15
(4) F
IRST CERTIFIED TITLE STATUS REPORT .— 16
The term ‘‘first certified title status report’’ means 17
the title status report needed to verify title status on 18
Indian land. 19
(5) I
NDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 20
has the meaning given the term in section 162.003 21
of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 22
on the date of enactment of this Act). 23
(6) L
AND MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘land mort-24
gage’’ means a mortgage obtained by an individual 25 3
†S 70 ES
Indian who owns a tract of trust land for the pur-1
pose of— 2
(A) home acquisition; 3
(B) home construction; 4
(C) home improvements; or 5
(D) economic development. 6
(7) L
EASEHOLD MORTGAGE .—The term ‘‘lease-7
hold mortgage’’ means a mortgage, deed of trust, or 8
other instrument that pledges the leasehold interest 9
of a lessee as security for a debt or other obligation 10
owed by the lessee to a lender or other mortgagee. 11
(8) M
ORTGAGE PACKAGE .—The term ‘‘mort-12
gage package’’ means a proposed residential lease-13
hold mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, land 14
mortgage, or right-of-way document submitted to an 15
applicable Bureau office under section 3(a)(1). 16
(9) R
ELEVANT FEDERAL AGENCY .—The term 17
‘‘relevant Federal agency’’ means any of the fol-18
lowing Federal agencies that guarantee or make di-19
rect mortgage loans on Indian land: 20
(A) The Department of Agriculture. 21
(B) The Department of Housing and 22
Urban Development. 23
(C) The Department of Veterans Affairs. 24 4
†S 70 ES
(10) RIGHT-OF-WAY DOCUMENT .—The term 1
‘‘right-of-way document’’ has the meaning given the 2
term in section 169.2 of title 25, Code of Federal 3
Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 4
of this Act). 5
(11) S
UBSEQUENT CERTIFIED TITLE STATUS 6
REPORT.—The term ‘‘subsequent certified title sta-7
tus report’’ means the title status report needed to 8
identify any liens against a residential, business, or 9
land lease on Indian land. 10
SEC. 3. MORTGAGE REVIEW AND PROCESSING. 11
(a) R
EVIEW ANDPROCESSINGDEADLINES.— 12
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 13
receiving a proposed residential leasehold mortgage, 14
business leasehold mortgage, land mortgage, or 15
right-of-way document, the applicable Bureau office 16
shall notify the lender that the proposed residential 17
leasehold mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, or 18
right-of-way document has been received. 19
(2) P
RELIMINARY REVIEW.— 20
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 10 cal-21
endar days after receipt of a proposed residen-22
tial leasehold mortgage, business leasehold 23
mortgage, land mortgage, or right-of-way docu-24
ment, the applicable Bureau office shall conduct 25 5
†S 70 ES
and complete a preliminary review of the resi-1
dential leasehold mortgage, business leasehold 2
mortgage, land mortgage, or right-of-way docu-3
ment to verify that all required documents are 4
included. 5
(B) I
NCOMPLETE DOCUMENTS .—As soon 6
as practicable, but not more than 2 calendar 7
days, after finding that any required documents 8
are missing under subparagraph (A), the appli-9
cable Bureau office shall notify the lender of 10
the missing documents. 11
(3) A
PPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL .— 12
(A) L
EASEHOLD MORTGAGES .—Not later 13
than 20 calendar days after receipt of a com-14
plete executed residential leasehold mortgage or 15
business leasehold mortgage, proof of required 16
consents, and other required documentation, the 17
applicable Bureau office shall approve or dis-18
approve the residential leasehold mortgage or 19
business leasehold mortgage. 20
(B) R
IGHT-OF-WAY DOCUMENTS .—Not 21
later than 30 calendar days after receipt of a 22
complete executed right-of-way document, proof 23
of required consents, and other required docu-24
mentation, the applicable Bureau office shall 25 6
†S 70 ES
approve or disapprove the right-of-way docu-1
ment. 2
(C) L
AND MORTGAGES.—Not later than 30 3
calendar days after receipt of a complete exe-4
cuted land mortgage, proof of required con-5
sents, and other required documentation, the 6
applicable Bureau office shall approve or dis-7
approve the land mortgage. 8
(D) R
EQUIREMENTS.—The determination 9
of whether to approve or disapprove a residen-10
tial leasehold mortgage or business leasehold 11
mortgage under subparagraph (A), a right-of- 12
way document under subparagraph (B), or a 13
land mortgage under subparagraph (C)— 14
(i) shall be in writing; and 15
(ii) in the case of a determination to 16
disapprove a residential leasehold mort-17
gage, business leasehold mortgage, right- 18
of-way document, or land mortgage shall, 19
state the basis for the determination. 20
(E) A
PPLICATION.—This paragraph shall 21
not apply to a residential leasehold mortgage or 22
business leasehold mortgage with respect to In-23
dian land in cases in which the applicant for 24
the residential leasehold mortgage or business 25 7
†S 70 ES
leasehold mortgage is an Indian tribe (as de-1
fined in subsection (d) of the first section of the 2
Act of 1955 (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 126 3
Stat. 1150; 25 U.S.C. 415(d))) that has been 4
approved for leasing under subsection (h) of 5
that section (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 126 6
Stat. 1151; 25 U.S.C. 415(h)). 7
(4) C
ERTIFIED TITLE STATUS REPORTS .— 8
(A) C
OMPLETION OF REPORTS .— 9
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 10 10
calendar days after the applicable Bureau 11
office approves a residential leasehold 12
mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, 13
land mortgage, or right-of-way document 14
under paragraph (3), the applicable Bu-15
reau office shall complete the processing 16
of, as applicable— 17
(I) a first certified title status re-18
port, if a first certified title status re-19
port was not completed prior to the 20
approval of the residential leasehold 21
mortgage, business leasehold mort-22
gage, land mortgage, or right-of-way 23
document; and 24 8
†S 70 ES
(II) a subsequent certified title 1
status report. 2
(ii) R
EQUESTS FOR FIRST CERTIFIED 3
TITLE STATUS REPORTS .—Notwith-4
standing clause (i), not later than 14 cal-5
endar days after the applicable Bureau of-6
fice receives a request for a first certified 7
title status report from an applicant for a 8
residential leasehold mortgage, business 9
leasehold mortgage, land mortgage, or 10
right-of-way document under paragraph 11
(1), the applicable Bureau office shall com-12
plete the processing of the first certified 13
title status report. 14
(B) N
OTICE.— 15
(i) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as prac-16
ticable after completion of the processing 17
of, as applicable, a first certified title sta-18
tus report or a subsequent certified title 19
status report under subparagraph (A), but 20
by not later than the applicable deadline 21
described in that subparagraph, the appli-22
cable Bureau office shall give notice of the 23
completion to the lender. 24 9
†S 70 ES
(ii) FORM OF NOTICE.—The applica-1
ble Bureau office shall give notice under 2
clause (i)— 3
(I) electronically through secure, 4
encryption software; and 5
(II) through the United States 6
mail. 7
(iii) O
PTION TO OPT OUT.—The lend-8
er may opt out of receiving notice elec-9
tronically under clause (ii)(I). 10
(b) N
OTICES.— 11
(1) I
N GENERAL.—If the applicable Bureau of-12
fice does not complete the review and processing of 13
mortgage packages under subsection (a) (including 14
any corresponding first certified title status report 15
or subsequent certified title status report under 16
paragraph (4) of that subsection) by the applicable 17
deadline described in that subsection, immediately 18
after missing the deadline, the applicable Bureau of-19
fice shall provide notice of the delay in review and 20
processing to— 21
(A) the party that submitted the mortgage 22
package or requested the first certified title sta-23
tus report; and 24 10
†S 70 ES
(B) the lender for which the mortgage 1
package (including any corresponding first cer-2
tified title status report or subsequent certified 3
title status report) is being requested. 4
(2) R
EQUESTS FOR UPDATES .—In addition to 5
providing the notices required under paragraph (1), 6
not later than 2 calendar days after receiving a rel-7
evant inquiry with respect to a submitted mortgage 8
package from the party that submitted the mortgage 9
package or the lender for which the mortgage pack-10
age (including any corresponding first certified title 11
status report or subsequent certified title status re-12
port) is being requested or an inquiry with respect 13
to a requested first certified title status report from 14
the party that requested the first certified title sta-15
tus report, the applicable Bureau office shall re-16
spond to the inquiry. 17
(c) D
ELIVERY OFFIRST ANDSUBSEQUENT CER-18
TIFIEDTITLESTATUSREPORTS.—Notwithstanding any 19
other provision of law, any first certified title status report 20
and any subsequent certified title status report, as appli-21
cable, shall be delivered directly to— 22
(1) the lender; 23 11
†S 70 ES
(2) any local or regional agency office of the 1
Bureau that requests the first certified title status 2
report or subsequent certified title status report; 3
(3) in the case of a proposed residential lease-4
hold mortgage or land mortgage, the relevant Fed-5
eral agency that insures or guarantees the loan; and 6
(4) if requested, any individual or entity de-7
scribed in section 150.303 of title 25, Code of Fed-8
eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enact-9
ment of this Act). 10
(d) A
CCESS TOTRUSTASSET ANDACCOUNTING 11
M
ANAGEMENTSYSTEM.—Beginning on the date of enact-12
ment of this Act, the relevant Federal agencies and Indian 13
Tribes shall have read-only access to the Trust Asset and 14
Accounting Management System maintained by the Bu-15
reau. 16
(e) A
NNUALREPORT.— 17
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than March 1 of 18
each calendar year, the Director shall submit to the 19
Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the 20
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 21
Representatives a report describing— 22
(A) for the most recent calendar year, the 23
number of requests received to complete resi-24
dential leasehold mortgage packages, business 25 12
†S 70 ES
leasehold mortgage packages, land mortgage 1
packages, and right-of-way document packages 2
(including any requests for corresponding first 3
certified title status reports and subsequent cer-4
tified title status reports), including a detailed 5
description of— 6
(i) requests that were and were not 7
successfully completed by the applicable 8
deadline described in subsection (a) by 9
each applicable Bureau office; and 10
(ii) the reasons for each applicable 11
Bureau office not meeting any applicable 12
deadlines; and 13
(B) the length of time needed by each ap-14
plicable Bureau office during the most recent 15
calendar year to provide the notices required 16
under subsection (b)(1). 17
(2) R
EQUIREMENT.—In submitting the report 18
required under paragraph (1), the Director shall 19
maintain the confidentiality of personally identifiable 20
information of the parties involved in requesting the 21
completion of residential leasehold mortgage pack-22
ages, business leasehold mortgage packages, land 23
mortgage packages, and right-of-way document 24
packages (including any corresponding first certified 25 13
†S 70 ES
title status reports and subsequent certified title sta-1
tus reports). 2
(f) GAO S
TUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 3
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 4
of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 5
Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Nat-6
ural Resources of the House of Representatives a report 7
that includes— 8
(1) an evaluation of the need for residential 9
leasehold mortgage packages, business leasehold 10
mortgage packages, land mortgage packages, and 11
right-of-way document packages of each Indian 12
Tribe to be digitized for the purpose of streamlining 13
and expediting the completion of mortgage packages 14
for residential mortgages on Indian land (including 15
the corresponding first certified title status reports 16
and subsequent certified title status reports); and 17
(2) an estimate of the time and total cost nec-18
essary for Indian Tribes to digitize the records de-19
scribed in paragraph (1), in conjunction with assist-20
ance in that digitization from the Bureau. 21
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF REALTY OMBUDSMAN POSI-22
TION. 23
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Director shall establish with-24
in the Division of Real Estate Services of the Bureau the 25 14
†S 70 ES
position of Realty Ombudsman, who shall report directly 1
to the Secretary of the Interior. 2
(b) F
UNCTIONS.—The Realty Ombudsman shall— 3
(1) ensure that the applicable Bureau offices 4
are meeting the mortgage review and processing 5
deadlines established by section 3(a); 6
(2) ensure that the applicable Bureau offices 7
comply with the notices required under subsections 8
(a) and (b) of section 3; 9
(3) serve as a liaison to other Federal agencies, 10
including by— 11
(A) ensuring the Bureau is responsive to 12
all of the inquiries from the relevant Federal 13
agencies; and 14
(B) helping to facilitate communications 15
between the relevant Federal agencies and the 16
Bureau on matters relating to mortgages on In-17
dian land; 18
(4) receive inquiries, questions, and complaints 19
directly from Indian Tribes, members of Indian 20
Tribes, and lenders in regard to executed residential 21
leasehold mortgages, business leasehold mortgages, 22
land mortgages, or right-of-way documents; and 23
(5) serve as the intermediary between the In-24
dian Tribes, members of Indian Tribes, and lenders 25 15
†S 70 ES
and the Bureau in responding to inquiries and ques-1
tions and resolving complaints. 2
Passed the Senate July 18, 2023.
Attest:
Secretary. 118
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
S. 70
AN ACT
To require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to process
and complete all mortgage packages associated
with residential and business mortgages on In-
dian land by certain deadlines, and for other pur-
poses.