Title 48, Territories and Insular PossessionsRelease 119-102
§1503 Acquisition by Inheritance, in Collection of Debts, Etc.
Title 48 › CHAPTER 11 — ALIEN OWNERS OF LAND › § 1503
Summary
Noncitizens (people who are not U.S. citizens) may inherit land, get land when collecting debts, place or hold liens on real estate, lend money secured by land, enforce those liens, and own property that has or will have a lien or loan. Any land they acquire this way must be sold within 10 years after their ownership is finalized under that sale, or it will revert to the United States and be forfeited as described in sections 1504 to 1507.
Full Legal Text
Title 48, §1503
Territories and Insular Possessions, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
This chapter shall not prevent aliens from acquiring lands or any interests therein by inheritance or in the ordinary course of justice in the collection of debts, nor from acquiring liens on real estate or any interest therein, nor from lending money and securing the same upon real estate or any interest therein; nor from enforcing any such lien, nor from acquiring and holding title to such real estate, or any interest therein, upon which a lien may have heretofore or may hereafter be fixed, or upon which a loan of money may have been heretofore or hereafter may be made and secured. All lands so acquired shall be sold within ten years after title shall be perfected in him under said sale or the same shall escheat to the United States and be forfeited as provided in sections 1504 to 1507 of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section was formerly classified to section 73 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
48 U.S.C. § 1503
Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102