I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1386
To require uniform appraisals of certain leaseholds of restricted Indian lands,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 17, 1997
Mr. METCALF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To require uniform appraisals of certain leaseholds of
restricted Indian lands, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. AMENDMENT.
The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the leasing of
restricted Indian lands for public, religious, educational,
residential, business, and other purposes requiring the
grant of long-term leases’’, approved August 9, 1955 (25
U.S.C. 416 et seq.), is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 7. (a) Not more than 6 months before rent
for a residential leasehold of restricted Indian lands is es-
tablished or the equities of the parties to the lease are
reviewed, the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall contract with
an independent MAI appraiser who shall prepare a report
which includes—
‘‘(1) an estimate of the annual market rent of
the leasehold;
‘‘(2) a narrative appraisal report of the lease-
hold which separately identifies the value of the
leased fee and the value of the leasehold interest;
and
‘‘(3) a review of the equity position of the par-
ties to the lease.
‘‘(b) Appraisals made under this section shall comply
with applicable requirements of the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice, and the Uniform Ap-
praisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions.
‘‘(c) Contracts required under subsection (a) shall be
funded from amounts made available to the real estate
service budgets of Bureau of Indian Affairs regional of-
fices.
‘‘(d) A residential lease of restricted Indian lands and
the corresponding report required under subsection (a)
shall be made available to the public not later than 2
weeks after the date that the lease is approved by the Sec-
retary of the Interior.
‘‘(e)(1) If a dispute arises regarding a residential
lease of restricted Indian lands, the lessee, the lessor, or
the Secretary of the Interior may elect to submit the dis-
pute to binding arbitration.
‘‘(2) An arbitration under this subsection shall be
heard by an arbitration board consisting of—
‘‘(A) one member selected by the lessee;
‘‘(B) one member selected by the lessor; and
‘‘(C) one member agreed upon by the members
selected pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B). If
the members selected pursuant to subparagraphs
(A) and (B) are unable to agree upon a third mem-
ber within 20 days after selection of the second
member, the senior judge of the Federal District
Court for the district where the leased premises are
located shall select the third member.
‘‘(3) The administrative costs of an arbitration under
this subsection shall be shared equally by the lessee and
the lessor.
‘‘(f) Prior to approving a residential lease or the as-
signment of a residential lease of restricted Indian lands,
the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that all applica-
ble State laws relating to disclosure on real estate trans-
actions have been complied with, including disclosure of
the nature and amount of any present or proposed assess-
ments or taxes.
‘‘(g) A report by an independent MAI appraiser is
not necessary for periodic review purposes when the rent
is adjusted on the basis of the Consumer Price Index or
other nationally recognized economic index.
‘‘(h) For purposes of this section ‘MAI appraiser’
means a person who holds a current general membership
designation from the Appraisal Institute.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the first day of the first
fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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