Homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation in November 2023. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
WASHINGTON (South Dakota Searchlight) – President Donald Trump has signed a bill into law that its sponsors from South Dakota say will accelerate the review and processing of mortgages on tribal trust land.
Trust land is held by the federal government for the benefit of Native American tribes or tribal members. The Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act will create legal timelines for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to process mortgages, according to the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota. Additionally, it will enhance the ability of certain federal agencies to operate their tribal housing programs and establish a realty ombudsman within the BIA to improve communication with tribes, tribal members and lenders.
The bill passed the Senate in December and the House of Representatives in March.
“For years, affordable housing opportunities on tribal trust land have been hard to come by in South Dakota and across the nation due in part to the BIA’s challenging mortgage approval process,” said Thune, the bill’s main sponsor, in a news release. “With the enactment of our legislation, this mortgage approval process will now be expedited, encouraging homeownership across Indian Country.”
Sen. Mike Rounds was a cosponsor, and Rep. Dusty Johnson sponsored a House version. Both are Republicans from South Dakota.
Sharon Vogel, board chair of the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition and executive director of the Cheyenne River Housing Authority in Eagle Butte, praised Thune’s efforts in the news release.
“From the beginning, he has focused on prioritizing and streamlining mortgage-related processes within the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Vogel said. “The Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act advances that work.”
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