[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR2542.1]

[Page 133-134]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
    CHAPTER II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 2540_COLOR-OF-TITLE AND OMITTED LANDS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart 2542_Color-of-Title Claims: New Mexico, Contiguous to Spanish or 
                             Mexican Grants
 
Sec. 2542.1  Application.

    Source: 35 FR 9593, June 13, 1970 unless otherwise noted.


    (a) Where filed; purchase price required. Applications under the Act 
of February 23, 1932 must be filed with the authorizing officer of the 
proper office at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and should be accompanied by 
payment of the purchase price of the land applied for at the rate of 
$1.25 per acre.
    (b) Form. No special form of application is provided. The 
application should be in typewritten form or in legible handwriting and 
must be corroborated by at least two disinterested persons having actual 
knowledge of the facts alleged therein.
    (c) Contents of application. Applicants desiring to take advantage 
of the benefits of the Act of February 23, 1932, must show the following 
matters in their applications:
    (1) Full name and post-office address of the applicant and whether 
married or single.
    (2) Description of the land for which patent is desired. If 
surveyed, the land should be described by legal subdivision, section, 
township, and range. If unsurveyed, the land should be described by 
metes and bounds.

[[Page 134]]

    (3) That the land applied for is contiguous to a Spanish or Mexican 
land grant. The grant should be identified by name, number, patentee or 
description of land involved. The points or places at which the land 
applied for is contiguous to the Spanish or Mexican land grant, must be 
clearly shown.
    (4) That possession of the lands applied for has been maintained for 
more than 20 years under claim or color of title. If the applicant is 
claiming as a record owner, he or she will be required to file an 
abstract of title, certified to by a competent abstractor, showing the 
record of all conveyances of the land up to the date of the filing of 
the application. If the applicant is not a record owner and no abstract 
of title can be furnished, statements must be filed, setting forth the 
names of all mesne possessors of the land, the periods held by each, 
giving the dates and manner of acquiring possession of the land, and the 
acts of dominion exercised over the land by each possessor.
    (5) That the lands have been held in good faith and in peaceful, 
adverse possession. The applicant should show whether or not he and his 
predecessors in interest have paid taxes on the lands and for what 
periods of time, and whether any consideration was paid for any 
conveyances of the land. It should further be shown whether there is any 
person who is claiming the land adversely to the applicant, and if there 
be such, the name and address of such adverse claimant should be 
furnished.
    (6) Whether or not valuable improvements have been erected upon the 
land applied for and whether or not any part of such land has been 
reduced to cultivation. If improvements have been made, the nature, the 
value, the exact location, and the time of erection thereof, should be 
fully disclosed together with the identity of the one who was 
responsible for erecting such improvements. If any of the land has been 
reduced to cultivation, the subdivision so claimed to have been reduced 
must be identified and the amount and nature of the cultivation must be 
set forth, together with the dates thereof.