§906 Purchase by bona fide purchasers from grantees; removal of crops and improvements

Summary

People who are U.S. citizens or who have declared intent to become citizens and who are in possession of land that the United States took back can buy that land from the United States. That applies when the person got the land under a deed, contract, or license made before January 1, 1888, or when they settled there honestly intending to buy under the State or company rules. They may buy up to 320 acres at $1.25 per acre any time before January 1, 1899, and will get an official title when they pay. If they improved the land before January 1, 1890, and made payments to the railroad company before that date, those payments can be credited toward the $1.25 per acre price (but only up to that amount). Instead of buying, they may abandon that purchase and apply under the homestead law. People or companies who had permission to be on the land and made improvements but are not allowed to buy under these rules get six months to remove growing crops and movable buildings or improvements. The rule does not apply to lands in Iowa where someone in good faith claimed preemption or a homestead. It also does not cut down rights given by earlier laws to buyers or settlers, does not change those laws, and does not affect any existing legal claims a buyer has against a seller for broken title promises. You do not have to live on the land to buy it if you have fenced, cultivated, or otherwise improved it, and you may buy two or more legal tracts (contiguous or not) as long as the total is no more than 320 acres. Nothing here prevents other adverse claims on the land.