25 CFR § 150.2 - What terms do I need to know?
Agency means the BIA agency or field office with jurisdiction over a particular tract of Indian land or another BIA office through delegation and documentation of responsibilities in the Indian Affairs Manual. This term also means any Tribe acting on behalf of the Secretary or BIA under a contract or compact under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
BIA means the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior.
Certified copy means a copy of a title document that is a true and correct copy of the title document as recorded in the record of title and evidenced by an official seal.
Certify for the purposes of certifying Title Status Reports, probate inventory reports, title status maps, and findings of title examinations means that an LTRO Certifying Officer has determined that the report, map, or examination of land title status is complete, correct, and current, based on the record of title.
Certifying Officer means the LTRO Manager or another properly authorized or delegated Federal official who certifies the status of title to Indian lands or copies of title documents.
Defect or title defect means an error contained within, or created by, a title document that makes the title to Indian land uncertain.
I or you means the person to whom these regulations directly apply.
Indian land means land, or an interest therein, that is:
(1) Held in trust by the United States for one or more individual Indians or Tribes; or
(2) Owned by one or more individual Indians or Tribes and can only be alienated or encumbered by the owner with the approval of the Secretary because of restrictions or limitations in the conveyance instrument or in Federal law.
Inherently Federal function means Federal function that may not legally be delegated to an Indian Tribe.
Land is real property, including any interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of the real property. Land may include surface and/or subsurface interests.
LTRO means the Land Title and Records Office within the BIA, which is responsible for recording title documents, maintaining the record of title, and providing certified copies of title documents and reports. The term LTRO, as used herein, includes any Tribe acting on behalf of the Secretary or BIA under § 150.3.
Manager is the designated officer in charge of a LTRO office or his or her designated representative.
OHA means the Office of Hearings and Appeals within the Department of the Interior.
Probate Inventory Report means a report of Indian land owned by an individual Indian at the time of his or her death.
Record of title means the BIA's repository of title documents for Indian land.
Recording is the acceptance of a title document and entry into the record of title of a title document by LTRO. An official LTRO stamp affixed to the title document provides evidence that the title document has been recorded.
Region means a BIA regional office.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or his or her authorized representative.
Title means ownership of Indian land.
Title document means any document that affects the title to or encumbers Indian land, including but not limited to conveyances, probate orders, encumbrances (such as mortgages, liens, permits, covenants, leases, easements, rights-of-way), plats, cadastral surveys, and other surveys.
Title examination means a review and evaluation by the LTRO of: (1) title documents submitted to it for recording, and (2) the status of title for a particular tract of Indian land based on the record of title, and a finding, certified by the LTRO Manager, that title is complete, correct, current, and without defect, or identifies defects that must be corrected.
Title Status Report means a report issued after a title examination that shows the proper legal description of a tract of Indian land; current ownership, including any applicable conditions, exceptions, restrictions or encumbrances of record; and whether interests in the land are in unrestricted, restricted, trust, and/or other status as indicated by the record of title in the LTRO.
Tribe means an Indian Tribe under section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. 5129(a).