Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3579 To require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to process and complete all mortgage packages associated with residential and business mortgages on Indian land by certain deadlines, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2023 Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Trust Land 4 Homeownership Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3579 IH (1) APPLICABLE BUREAU OFFICE.—The term 1 ‘‘applicable Bureau office’’ means— 2 (A) a Regional office of the Bureau; 3 (B) an Agency office of the Bureau; or 4 (C) a Land Titles and Records Office of 5 the Bureau. 6 (2) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 7 Bureau of Indian Affairs. 8 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 9 the Director of the Bureau. 10 (4) FIRST CERTIFIED TITLE STATUS REPORT.— 11 The term ‘‘first certified title status report’’ means 12 the title status report needed to verify title status on 13 Indian land. 14 (5) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 15 has the meaning given the term in section 162.003 16 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 17 on the date of enactment of this Act). 18 (6) LAND MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘land mort- 19 gage’’ means a mortgage obtained by an individual 20 Indian who owns a tract of trust land for the pur- 21 pose of— 22 (A) home acquisition; 23 (B) home construction; 24 (C) home improvements; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3579 IH (D) economic development. 1 (7) LEASEHOLD MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘lease- 2 hold mortgage’’ means a mortgage, deed of trust, or 3 other instrument that pledges the leasehold interest 4 of a lessee as security for a debt or other obligation 5 owed by the lessee to a lender or other mortgagee. 6 (8) MORTGAGE PACKAGE.—The term ‘‘mort- 7 gage package’’ means a proposed residential lease- 8 hold mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, land 9 mortgage, or right-of-way document submitted to an 10 applicable Bureau office under section 3(a)(1). 11 (9) RELEVANT FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 12 ‘‘relevant Federal agency’’ means any of the fol- 13 lowing Federal agencies that guarantee or make di- 14 rect mortgage loans on Indian land: 15 (A) The Department of Agriculture. 16 (B) The Department of Housing and 17 Urban Development. 18 (C) The Department of Veterans Affairs. 19 (10) RIGHT-OF-WAY DOCUMENT.—The term 20 ‘‘right-of-way document’’ has the meaning given the 21 term in section 169.2 of title 25, Code of Federal 22 Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 23 of this Act). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3579 IH (11) SUBSEQUENT CERTIFIED TITLE STATUS 1 REPORT.—The term ‘‘subsequent certified title sta- 2 tus report’’ means the title status report needed to 3 identify any liens against a residential, business, or 4 land lease on Indian land. 5 SEC. 3. MORTGAGE REVIEW AND PROCESSING. 6 (a) REVIEW AND PROCESSING DEADLINES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 8 receiving a proposed residential leasehold mortgage, 9 business leasehold mortgage, land mortgage, or 10 right-of-way document, the applicable Bureau office 11 shall notify the lender that the proposed residential 12 leasehold mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, or 13 right-of-way document has been received. 14 (2) PRELIMINARY REVIEW.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 cal- 16 endar days after receipt of a proposed residen- 17 tial leasehold mortgage, business leasehold 18 mortgage, land mortgage, or right-of-way docu- 19 ment, the applicable Bureau office shall conduct 20 and complete a preliminary review of the resi- 21 dential leasehold mortgage, business leasehold 22 mortgage, land mortgage, or right-of-way docu- 23 ment to verify that all required documents are 24 included. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3579 IH (B) INCOMPLETE DOCUMENTS.—As soon 1 as practicable, but not more than 2 calendar 2 days, after finding that any required documents 3 are missing under subparagraph (A), the appli- 4 cable Bureau office shall notify the lender of 5 the missing documents. 6 (3) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.— 7 (A) LEASEHOLD MORTGAGES.—Not later 8 than 20 calendar days after receipt of a com- 9 plete executed residential leasehold mortgage or 10 business leasehold mortgage, proof of required 11 consents, and other required documentation, the 12 applicable Bureau office shall approve or dis- 13 approve the residential leasehold mortgage or 14 business leasehold mortgage. 15 (B) RIGHT-OF-WAY DOCUMENTS.—Not 16 later than 30 calendar days after receipt of a 17 complete executed right-of-way document, proof 18 of required consents, and other required docu- 19 mentation, the applicable Bureau office shall 20 approve or disapprove the right-of-way docu- 21 ment. 22 (C) LAND MORTGAGES.—Not later than 30 23 calendar days after receipt of a complete exe- 24 cuted land mortgage, proof of required con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3579 IH sents, and other required documentation, the 1 applicable Bureau office shall approve or dis- 2 approve the land mortgage. 3 (D) REQUIREMENTS.—The determination 4 of whether to approve or disapprove a residen- 5 tial leasehold mortgage or business leasehold 6 mortgage under subparagraph (A), a right-of- 7 way document under subparagraph (B), or a 8 land mortgage under subparagraph (C)— 9 (i) shall be in writing; and 10 (ii) in the case of a determination to 11 disapprove a residential leasehold mort- 12 gage, business leasehold mortgage, right- 13 of-way document, or land mortgage shall, 14 state the basis for the determination. 15 (E) APPLICATION.—This paragraph shall 16 not apply to a residential leasehold mortgage or 17 business leasehold mortgage with respect to In- 18 dian land in cases in which the applicant for 19 the residential leasehold mortgage or business 20 leasehold mortgage is an Indian tribe (as de- 21 fined in subsection (d) of the first section of the 22 Act of 1955 (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 126 23 Stat. 1150; 25 U.S.C. 415(d))) that has been 24 approved for leasing under subsection (h) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3579 IH that section (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 126 1 Stat. 1151; 25 U.S.C. 415(h)). 2 (4) CERTIFIED TITLE STATUS REPORTS.— 3 (A) COMPLETION OF REPORTS.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 5 calendar days after the applicable Bureau 6 office approves a residential leasehold 7 mortgage, business leasehold mortgage, 8 land mortgage, or right-of-way document 9 under paragraph (3), the applicable Bu- 10 reau office shall complete the processing 11 of, as applicable— 12 (I) a first certified title status re- 13 port, if a first certified title status re- 14 port was not completed prior to the 15 approval of the residential leasehold 16 mortgage, business leasehold mort- 17 gage, land mortgage, or right-of-way 18 document; and 19 (II) a subsequent certified title 20 status report. 21 (ii) REQUESTS FOR FIRST CERTIFIED 22 TITLE STATUS REPORTS.—Notwith- 23 standing clause (i), not later than 14 cal- 24 endar days after the applicable Bureau of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3579 IH fice receives a request for a first certified 1 title status report from an applicant for a 2 residential leasehold mortgage, business 3 leasehold mortgage, land mortgage, or 4 right-of-way document under paragraph 5 (1), the applicable Bureau office shall com- 6 plete the processing of the first certified 7 title status report. 8 (B) NOTICE.— 9 (i) IN GENERAL.—As soon as prac- 10 ticable after completion of the processing 11 of, as applicable, a first certified title sta- 12 tus report or a subsequent certified title 13 status report under subparagraph (A), but 14 by not later than the applicable deadline 15 described in that subparagraph, the appli- 16 cable Bureau office shall give notice of the 17 completion to the lender. 18 (ii) FORM OF NOTICE.—The applica- 19 ble Bureau office shall give notice under 20 clause (i)— 21 (I) electronically through secure, 22 encryption software; and 23 (II) through the United States 24 mail. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3579 IH (iii) OPTION TO OPT OUT.—The lend- 1 er may opt out of receiving notice elec- 2 tronically under clause (ii)(I). 3 (b) NOTICES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the applicable Bureau of- 5 fice does not complete the review and processing of 6 mortgage packages under subsection (a) (including 7 any corresponding first certified title status report 8 or subsequent certified title status report under 9 paragraph (4) of that subsection) by the applicable 10 deadline described in that subsection, immediately 11 after missing the deadline, the applicable Bureau of- 12 fice shall provide notice of the delay in review and 13 processing to— 14 (A) the party that submitted the mortgage 15 package or requested the first certified title sta- 16 tus report; and 17 (B) the lender for which the mortgage 18 package (including any corresponding first cer- 19 tified title status report or subsequent certified 20 title status report) is being requested. 21 (2) REQUESTS FOR UPDATES.—In addition to 22 providing the notices required under paragraph (1), 23 not later than 2 calendar days after receiving a rel- 24 evant inquiry with respect to a submitted mortgage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3579 IH package from the party that submitted the mortgage 1 package or the lender for which the mortgage pack- 2 age (including any corresponding first certified title 3 status report or subsequent certified title status re- 4 port) is being requested or an inquiry with respect 5 to a requested first certified title status report from 6 the party that requested the first certified title sta- 7 tus report, the applicable Bureau office shall re- 8 spond to the inquiry. 9 (c) DELIVERY OF FIRST AND SUBSEQUENT CER- 10 TIFIED TITLE STATUS REPORTS.—Notwithstanding any 11 other provision of law, any first certified title status report 12 and any subsequent certified title status report, as appli- 13 cable, shall be delivered directly to— 14 (1) the lender; 15 (2) any local or regional agency office of the 16 Bureau that requests the first certified title status 17 report or subsequent certified title status report; 18 (3) in the case of a proposed residential lease- 19 hold mortgage or land mortgage, the relevant Fed- 20 eral agency that insures or guarantees the loan; and 21 (4) if requested, any individual or entity de- 22 scribed in section 150.303 of title 25, Code of Fed- 23 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enact- 24 ment of this Act). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3579 IH (d) ACCESS TO TRUST ASSET AND ACCOUNTING 1 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—Beginning on the date of enact- 2 ment of this Act, the relevant Federal agencies and Indian 3 Tribes shall have read-only access to the Trust Asset and 4 Accounting Management System maintained by the Bu- 5 reau. 6 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1 of 8 each calendar year, the Director shall submit to the 9 Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the 10 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 11 Representatives a report describing— 12 (A) for the most recent calendar year, the 13 number of requests received to complete resi- 14 dential leasehold mortgage packages, business 15 leasehold mortgage packages, land mortgage 16 packages, and right-of-way document packages 17 (including any requests for corresponding first 18 certified title status reports and subsequent cer- 19 tified title status reports), including a detailed 20 description of— 21 (i) requests that were and were not 22 successfully completed by the applicable 23 deadline described in subsection (a) by 24 each applicable Bureau office; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3579.IH H3579 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3579 IH (ii) the reasons for each applicable 1 Bureau office not meeting any applicable 2 deadlines; and 3 (B) the length of time needed by each ap- 4 plicable Bureau office during the most recent 5 calendar year to provide the notices required 6 under subsection (b)(1). 7 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In submitting the report 8 required under paragraph (1), the Director shall 9 maintain the confidentiality of personally identifiable 10 information of the parties involved in requesting the 11 completion of residential leasehold mortgage pack- 12 ages, business leasehold mortgage packages, land 13 mortgage packages, and right-of-way document 14 packages (including any corresponding first certified 15 title status reports and subsequent certified title sta- 16 tus reports). 17 (f) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 19 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 20 Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Nat- 21 ural Resources of the House of Representatives a report 22 that includes— 23 (1) an evaluation of the need for residential 24 leasehold mortgage packages, business leasehold 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 13, 202 [Text truncated for display. 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