---
kind: "section"
citation: "43 U.S.C. § 901"
title: "43"
title_heading: "Public Lands"
number: "901"
heading: "Claims of bona fide purchasers; establishment of rights"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/43/901"
units:
  - "Chapter 21 — Grants in Aid of Railroads and Wagon Roads"
---

# §901. Claims of bona fide purchasers; establishment of rights


If any person claiming to be a bona fide purchaser of any lands erroneously patented or certified shall present his claim to the [Secretary](/usc/43/31b.md?p=7) of the Interior prior to the institution of a suit to cancel a patent or certification, and if it shall appear that he is a bona fide purchaser, the [Secretary](/usc/43/31b.md?p=7) of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or [association](/usc/43/31b.md?p=2) of persons for whose benefit the certification was made, for the value of said land, which in no case shall be more than the minimum Government price thereof, and the title of such claimant shall stand confirmed. An adverse decision by the [Secretary](/usc/43/31b.md?p=7) of the Interior on the bona fides of such claimant shall not be conclusive of his rights, and if such claimant, or one claiming to be a bona fide purchaser, but who has not submitted his claim to the [Secretary](/usc/43/31b.md?p=7) of the Interior, is made a party to such suit, and if found by the court to be a bona fide purchaser, the court shall decree a confirmation of the title, and shall render a decree in behalf of the United States against the patentee, corporation, company, person, or [association](/usc/43/31b.md?p=2) of persons for whose benefit the certification was made for the value of the land as hereinbefore provided. Any bona fide purchaser of lands patented or certified to a railroad company, and who is not made a party to such suit, and who has not submitted his claim to the [Secretary](/usc/43/31b.md?p=7) of the Interior, may establish his right as such bona fide purchaser in any United States court having jurisdiction of the subject matter, or at his option, as prescribed in sections [896](/usc/43/896.md) and [897](/usc/43/897.md) of this title.


## Source credit

(Mar. 2, 1896, ch. 39, § 2, 29 Stat. 43.)