Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-73

§167 Trust status of lease payments

Title 25 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - PERFORMANCE BY UNITED STATES OF OBLIGATIONS TO INDIANS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - DEPOSIT, CARE, AND INVESTMENT OF INDIAN MONEYS › § 167

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary (the Secretary of the Interior) must put any advance payments, bid deposits, or other earnest money the Department gets while reviewing a sale, lease, permit, or other transfer of an interest in trust or restricted Indian land into the trust fund system for the benefit of the tribe or individual Indian who owns the land. The funds must be held as soon as they are received and kept there until the Secretary approves or rejects the deal. If the money came from a competitive bid, only the payment from the winning bidder is held. If the Secretary approves the contract, the held funds and any investment income go to the tribe or landowner. If the Secretary does not approve it, the funds and income are paid out to whoever the applicable rules, advertisement, or notice said should get them. These rules apply to payments received on or after December 18, 2018.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §167

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section, the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.

(b)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2) and at the request of the Indian tribe or individual Indian, any advance payments, bid deposits, or other earnest money received by the Secretary in connection with the review and Secretarial approval under any other Federal law (including regulations) of a sale, lease, permit, or any other conveyance of any interest in any trust or restricted land of any Indian tribe or individual Indian shall, upon receipt and prior to Secretarial approval of the contract or conveyance instrument, be held in the trust fund system for the benefit of the Indian tribe and individual Indian from whose land the funds were generated.

(2)If the advance payment, bid deposit, or other earnest money received by the Secretary results from competitive bidding, upon selection of the successful bidder, only the funds paid by the successful bidder shall be held in the trust fund system.

(c)(1)On the approval of the Secretary of a contract or other instrument for a sale, lease, permit, or any other conveyance described in subsection (b)(1), the funds held in the trust fund system and described in subsection (b), along with all income generated from the investment of those funds, shall be disbursed to the Indian tribe or individual Indian landowners.

(2)If a contract or other instrument for a sale, lease, permit, or any other conveyance described in subsection (b)(1) is not approved by the Secretary, the funds held in the trust fund system and described in subsection (b), along with all income generated from the investment of those funds, shall be paid to the party identified in, and in such amount and on such terms as set out in, the applicable regulations, advertisement, or other notice governing the proposed conveyance of the interest in the land at issue.

(d)This section shall apply to any advance payment, bid deposit, or other earnest money received by the Secretary in connection with the review and Secretarial approval under any other Federal law (including regulations) of a sale, lease, permit, or any other conveyance of any interest in any trust or restricted land of any Indian tribe or individual Indian on or after December 18, 2018.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 167

Title 25 — Indians

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73