Real Estate And Land Issues
Practice Area
Our attorneys have extensive experience representing tribes in a wide range of land-related matters, including:
- Preparing and negotiating residential, farm, and business leases, leasehold mortgages, and various other transactions
- Preparing and negotiating rights-of-way issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA")
- Preparing and negotiating licenses and permits as alternatives to leases and rights-of-way to ensure the maintenance of tribal jurisdiction in light of changes in Supreme Court case law treating such lands as equivalent to non-Indian fee lands outside of tribal jurisdiction
- Ensuring compliance with federal regulations governing leases, rights-of-way, life estates, and other transactions relative to tribal lands
- Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating real estate purchase agreements, deeds and accompanying documents for the sale of tribal fee lands and the purchase of lands by Indian nations
- Preparing and negotiating contracts for the development of tribal housing, including infrastructure such as sewage and water treatment facilities
- Developing and drafting tribal legislation governing all aspects of property, including leasing, rights-of-ways, mortgage and foreclosure, eviction, repossession, and tribal land assignments
- Dealing with crop liens, pest abatement, cancellation of commercial farm leases, and other agricultural lease matters
Brad S. Jolly & Associates knows the importance of the tribal land base and maintaining tribal authority and control over tribal lands. While some may consider the dangers of losing tribal land a problem of the past, Brad S. Jolly & Associates recognizes that those issues always remain. Even if others are not seeking to outright remove land from the tribal base, tribes consistently face issues related to their land which can deprive tribes of control over their land and effectively operate as a loss of land even if title to the land does not change.