Federal Homestead Act Question

August 18, 2008 11:33 AM

In Wisconsin, what does someone mean when they say their land is on the Federal Homestead Act, and how does that make their land different from mine?

I am researching for a friend with questions about how land in Wisconsin is exempt from certain things (specifically building codes) if it the lot is, as he puts it, "on the Federal Homestead Act". I am also wondering what it means when one uses that phrase: "on the Federal Homestead Act" (does it refer to how the land was purchased?) I know absolutely nothing about the Federal Homestead Act, and I've had only dreadful luck finding out about it on the Internet. Any explanations or insight would be awesome from people who are smart about this type of thing. Thanks everybody.

posted by mamaraks to law & government (5 comments total)

Well I came up with this general summary pretty easily. How that applies to Wisconsin specifically I dont know.
posted by elendil71 at 11:42 AM on August 18, 2008

Leaving aside your federal law question, Wisconsin statutes provide exemptions for homestead property with respect to judgment liens, Sec. 815.20, and affect rights in foreclosure proceedings, Secs. 846.10, 846.101 and 846.103.
posted by eastlakestandard at 12:00 PM on August 18, 2008

elendil's response points to the 19th century homestead act that gave away Federal land to those who were willing to live on it, farm it, etc. But I know of no "homestead act" that exempts land from building codes or other laws, regulations, or ordinances.

Given the large number of Native American communities in Wisconsin, your friend may be referring to the Dawes Act, sometimes referred to as the Indian Homestead Act. But that act itself is not what provides exemptions. Rather, Native American lands are considered exempt from otherwise applicable state laws on the basis of tribal sovereignty over those lands. (Hence the existence of casinos on Native lands.) That might be what he has in mind.
posted by megatherium at 1:32 PM on August 18, 2008

Also watch out for the lunatic fringe element when these terms start bouncing around as if they mean anything today. I agree with megatherium that you first need to sort out exactly which homesteading act is being referred to. There still are a few places in the remote northern portions of the U.S. where folks have long-term rights to cabins and the like on federal lands that they do not own themselves. This is possible in the area you're talking about.

But, if it's anything other than something legitimate like that or the Dawes Act or similar native-american statutes, keep an eye out for terms like "posse comitatus" and other right-wing goofiness that often takes the position that the federal government has no jurisdiction over "sovereign" individuals. It's a mind-numbing series of logical hoops they go through and it comes in various flavors, but you'll know it when you see it. The "Christian Identity" movement of the 80's/90's was quit active in the U.S. midwest; lately, I've read reports of this stuff surfacing again in the sub-prime loan crisis. You'll see a lot of not-so-thinly veiled racial/anti-semitic in this literature.

I'm not saying this is what you're hearing, but this sort of stuff does tend to bring out a lot of weird theories.
posted by webhund at 5:46 PM on August 18, 2008

It's probably likely that this isn't what they're talking about, but whenever I hear anyone discussing homestead in Wisconsin, it's in reference to the Homestead Credit.
posted by drezdn at 5:59 PM on August 18, 2008