The National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), the nation’s leading advocacy organization for Tribal housing, applauds the Senate’s unanimous consent in passing the Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act of 2025. Passed on December 11th, the Act represents a significant step towards improving homeownership opportunities for Native and Tribal communities across Indian Country.
Introduced by U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), the bipartisan legislation would streamline the mortgage approval process for residential and business mortgages on Tribal trust land, enhancing homeownership opportunities for Native Americans.
“Affordable housing opportunities on tribal trust land can be hard to come by in South Dakota and across the nation due in part to the BIA’s challenging mortgage approval process. It can complicate lenders’ ability to provide financing to prospective homebuyers and participate in federal tribal housing programs,” said Thune. “I applaud the Senate’s passage of our bipartisan legislation, which would expedite this mortgage approval process and encourage more lenders to provide mortgages across Indian Country.”