§2505 Suspension of entries for correction of clerical errors; patents

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior, or an officer he names, can pause a land entry if a clerical mistake is found. The claimant must be told through the local land office, and the entry stays on hold until the mistake is fixed. Land claims under the preemption, homestead, desert-land, or timber-culture laws that had final proof, payment, and certificates, had no earlier competing claims, and were sold or mortgaged to good-faith buyers for value before March 1, 1888, will be confirmed and given patents unless a government agent finds fraud. If two years pass from the date the designated officer issued the final-entry receipt and no challenge is pending, the person who made the entry is entitled to a patent; but patents do not have to wait two years from the date of entry if they can be issued sooner.