USA Foreclosure Wiki

American Samoa

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American Samoa — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Read this first — American Samoa does not fit the 50-state model. American Samoa is an unincorporated, unorganized U.S. territory whose land-tenure system is constitutionally and statutorily designed to keep land in the hands of native Samoans. There is no general ad valorem real-property tax with a tax-lien-certificate or tax-deed sale system that this wiki has been able to verify against a primary statute (see Module 1 and needs_verification). Roughly 90%+ of land is communal (“native”) land held in trust by a matai (chief) for an ‘āiga (extended family); communal land is essentially inalienable and cannot be sold or foreclosed in fee simple (A.S.C.A. § 37.0204). The only real-property “foreclosure” mechanism that demonstrably exists is mortgage foreclosure, and even that runs into the alienation restrictions — Congress and the Fono (legislature) had to create a special carve-out (A.S.C.A. § 37.1110) just to let a non-Samoan lender hold foreclosed individually owned land for a limited term. Where a standard module does not apply, this page says so and cites why, rather than forcing a 50-state framing.

0. Identity & Classification

  • Name / abbr / FIPS: American Samoa · AS · 60
  • Type: U.S. territory (unincorporated, unorganized insular area)
  • Recording unit: The territory is divided into 3 districts (Eastern, Western, Manu‘a) and 15 counties, but these are administrative/political units, not land-recording units. All instruments affecting title to land are recorded centrally with the Territorial Registrar — there is no per-county recorder. (A.S.C.A. § 37.0210; Administrative divisions of American Samoa)
  • num_recording_units: 1 (Territorial Registrar) — needs_verification on the exact organization of recording.
  • Tax sale type: none verified — no tax-lien-certificate, tax-deed, or redeemable-deed real-property tax sale system could be confirmed against a primary statute (see Module 1 + needs_verification).
  • Tax foreclosure process: none verified (no ad valorem property-tax foreclosure mechanism confirmed).
  • Mortgage foreclosure process: both — judicial foreclosure by action in the High Court (A.S.C.A. § 37.1101) and non-judicial foreclosure under power of sale (A.S.C.A. § 37.1105).
  • Selling authority: for mortgage foreclosure, the mortgagee (or its agent/attorney) under a power of sale, or the High Court by judgment and execution. There is no county treasurer / tax collector conducting tax sales.
  • Statutory home: A.S.C.A. Title 37 (Property) — Ch. 02 Alienation of Land, Ch. 10 Mortgages, Ch. 11 Mortgage Foreclosures (asbar.org code-annotated).
  • Tyler v. Hennepin compliance: compliant as to the only foreclosure system that exists here — A.S.C.A. § 37.1109 already directs that surplus foreclosure proceeds, after the debt and expenses, be “paid over to the owner of the mortgaged property.” There is no surplus-equity-forfeiture-to-the-government tax-sale regime for Tyler to invalidate. See tyler-v-hennepin-county.

1. Tax Sale Mechanics

The 50-state tax-sale apparatus does not appear to exist in American Samoa.

  • American Samoa runs its own income tax (a “mirror”/conformed code based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code) and relies heavily on excise taxes on imports/exports; it imposes no general sales tax or gross-receipts tax. (How Do Taxes Work in American Samoa? — LegalClarity; ASBA Taxation digest)
  • Secondary sources conflict on whether any real-property tax is levied at all: one states flatly there are “no property taxes in American Samoa,” another asserts “property taxes are levied by the ASG” but supplies no rate, no assessment method, and no statute. No primary statute creating a real-property ad valorem tax, a tax lien certificate, a tax deed, or a delinquent-tax sale has been located. This is flagged in needs_verification rather than asserted.
  • The ASBA taxation digest notes a narrow holding that a property-tax statute’s use of “property” and “land” interchangeably “cannot be construed to include tax on leased houses,” and that for a Samoan, “admission of ownership of land for tax purposes … usually means admission of right to use family lands assigned … by [the] matai” — i.e., the very concept of taxable fee ownership is attenuated by communal tenure. (asbar.org/taxation-d73)
  • what_is_sold / bidding_method / interest_or_penalty / minimum_bid / sale_frequency / typical_month / venue / platform_vendors / registration_deposit / subs: N/A — no verified tax sale system. See needs_verification.

2. Right of Redemption → see right-of-redemption

  • Pre-sale (tax) right: N/A — no tax-sale system verified.
  • Post-sale (mortgage) statutory redemption: No statutory post-foreclosure redemption period was located in Title 37 Ch. 11. Chapter 11 provides for foreclosure by action (§ 37.1101), defenses by the mortgagor or junior mortgagee (§ 37.1104), power-of-sale foreclosure with post-sale affidavit (§ 37.1105), and distribution of proceeds (§§ 37.1103, 37.1109) — but contains no equity-of-redemption-after-sale clause. The mortgagor’s protection is pre-sale (cure/defense and the equitable right to redeem before the sale is completed), not a fixed statutory post-sale window. Confirmation that no post-sale redemption exists is flagged in needs_verification. (Ch. 11 index; § 37.1104 Defenses)
  • Who may redeem (pre-sale): the mortgagor; a subsequent/junior mortgagee may defend or protect its interest (§ 37.1104).
  • redemption_amount_formula: debt + interest + attendant expenses (the same amounts deducted before any surplus under § 37.1109). Exact pre-sale payoff formula not separately codified — see needs_verification.
  • premium_to_certificate_holder: N/A (no certificate system).
  • extinguishment: a judgment of foreclosure “operate[s] to extinguish the liens of subsequent mortgages of the same property” without forcing prior mortgages to recover (A.S.C.A. § 37.1103).
  • special_tolling (minors, incompetents, SCRA, bankruptcy): the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the federal bankruptcy automatic stay apply in American Samoa as federal law; no territory-specific tolling statute was located. See scra-protections, bankruptcy-automatic-stay. Flagged in needs_verification.

3. Surplus / Excess Proceeds → see surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules

  • belongs_to: former owner. On a public foreclosure sale, “the remainder of the proceeds, if any, shall be paid over to the owner of the mortgaged property, after deducting the amount of claim and all attendant expenses.” (A.S.C.A. § 37.1109)
  • claim_waterfall: (1) the foreclosing mortgagee’s debt + attendant expenses; (2) junior mortgagees in order of lien priority (not pro rata) — surplus is applied pro tanto to the next junior mortgage and so on; (3) any remaining surplus to the owner of the mortgaged property. (A.S.C.A. § 37.1103; § 37.1109)
  • filing_venue: the High Court of American Samoa (the same forum that assesses the debt and renders the foreclosure judgment, and the forum in which surplus/priority disputes are litigated). (§ 37.1101; Administrator v. Amerika Samoa Bank, 3 A.S.R.3d 145 (1999))
  • claim_deadline: no specific statutory surplus-claim deadline located. General limitations / laches apply — in Administrator v. Amerika Samoa Bank a five-year delay in suing for a contractual share of surplus cost the claimant its prejudgment interest. (3 A.S.R.3d 145). Exact deadline flagged in needs_verification.
  • escheat: no escheat-of-surplus statute located. Flagged in needs_verification.
  • documentation_required: proof of ownership / interest and the subordination/priority documents governing the competing claims (as litigated in Administrator v. Amerika Samoa Bank). Not separately codified.
  • Third-party recovery (recovery-agent / “finder” regulation):
    • fee_cap_pct: none located — needs_verification
    • licensing_required: none located — needs_verification
    • assignment_of_claim_allowed: not addressed by located statute — needs_verification
    • cooling_off_period: none located — needs_verification
    • contract_disclosure_rules: none located — needs_verification
    • prohibited_practices: none located — needs_verification
    • citation: no American Samoa statute regulating surplus-recovery agents was found. Because there is no tax-sale surplus system and mortgage surplus goes directly to the owner via the High Court, the recovery-agent business model that exists in mainland states has no clear statutory footing here.
  • notice_to_former_owner_required: Surplus is paid to the owner by the foreclosing party/court as a matter of statute (§ 37.1109); a separate “notice of surplus to former owner” requirement was not located. Flagged in needs_verification.

▸ For Investors / Operators — American Samoa has no verified tax-sale system, so the mainland tax-lien/tax-deed acquisition model does not operate here. The only demonstrable acquisition path is buying at, or holding after, a mortgage foreclosure of individually owned land — and even then, a purchaser who is a sub-half-blood non-native may hold only a limited-term, divest-after term under § 37.1110 (see §7, §11b). Before committing capital, weigh the alienation restrictions (§§ 37.0204, 43.1528), the marketable-title path (§5b — quiet title in the High Court, Land & Titles Division), surviving senior interests (§7b), and the entity rules for corporate buyers (§11b; § 30.0131).

▸ For Former Owners — When a mortgage foreclosure sale of your property produces more than the debt and expenses, A.S.C.A. § 37.1109 directs the surplus, after junior mortgagees in lien priority, to be paid over to the owner of the mortgaged property. Surplus and priority disputes are litigated in the High Court of American Samoa; note that no fixed statutory surplus-claim deadline was located, so general limitations and laches govern (§3, §3b).

4. Mortgage Foreclosure

  • process: both judicial and non-judicial.
    • Judicial — foreclosure by action: “The High Court may assess the amount due upon a mortgage whether of real or personal property, and shall render judgment for the amount awarded, and the foreclosure of the mortgage. Execution may be issued on the judgment, as ordered by the court.” (A.S.C.A. § 37.1101; 1978 PL 15-83, 1979 PL 16-48 § 1)
    • Non-judicial — power of sale: where the mortgage contains a power of sale, the mortgagee may foreclose by giving notice and selling, then filing a post-sale affidavit. (A.S.C.A. § 37.1105)
  • timeline (power of sale): notice published once in each of 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the territory, the last publication ≥ 14 days before the sale, plus a copy posted on the premises ≥ 21 days before the sale; within 30 days after the sale the mortgagee files the notice of sale and an affidavit with the Territorial Registrar. (§ 37.1105) Junior mortgage creditors are also given notice (§ 37.1106). Default-notice period before commencement is governed by the mortgage instrument; not separately codified — needs_verification.
  • reinstatement_right: the mortgagor (or a junior mortgagee) may defend the foreclosure action and “show any matter in legal or equitable avoidance of the mortgage.” (A.S.C.A. § 37.1104) A distinct statutory reinstatement right is not separately codified — needs_verification.
  • redemption_after_sale: none located (see Module 2) — needs_verification.
  • deficiency_judgment: the High Court “assess[es] the amount due” and renders judgment, on which “execution may be issued” — consistent with a deficiency judgment in a judicial foreclosure (§ 37.1101). No fair-value-offset or one-action rule was located. Flagged in needs_verification.
  • surplus_distribution: by priority of liens, then to the owner (§§ 37.1103, 37.1109) — see Module 3.
  • sale_officer: the mortgagee/its agent (power of sale) or the High Court via judgment/execution. Dower is barred in foreclosure (§ 37.1108).
  • Communal-land carve-out (the critical territory-specific rule): Because it is “prohibited to alienate any lands except freehold lands to any person who has less than one-half native blood” (A.S.C.A. § 37.0204), a non-Samoan lender normally could not take title on foreclosure. The Fono solved this only for individually owned land: a mortgagee, federal mortgage insurer, or successor — including persons not qualified to acquire title under § 37.0204 — who takes title by/after foreclosure “shall have the power to receive and hold title to such land for the unexpired term of such mortgage plus an additional period of up to ten years,” and such title is marketable. (A.S.C.A. § 37.1110; 1988 PL 20-73, am. 1989 PL 21-23). “Individually owned land” means land registered as, or judicially determined to be, an individual’s property (§ 37.1111). Communal (“native”) land remains outside this — it cannot be the subject of a fee-simple foreclosure to a non-Samoan.

5. Sale Procedure Playbooks

  • Treasurer/tax-collector sale: N/A — no tax sale system verified (see Module 1). See treasurer-sale for the mainland model that does not apply here.
  • Mortgagee power-of-sale foreclosure (non-judicial) — ordered steps → see non-judicial-foreclosure:
    1. Default under a mortgage containing a power of sale.
    2. Publish notice of sale once in each of 3 successive weeks in a general-circulation newspaper, last publication ≥ 14 days before sale.
    3. Post the notice on the premises ≥ 21 days before sale; give notice to junior mortgage creditors (§ 37.1106) and any notices the mortgage requires.
    4. Conduct the public sale.
    5. Apply proceeds: debt + expenses, then junior liens by priority, then surplus to the owner (§§ 37.1103, 37.1109).
    6. Within 30 days, file the notice of sale + affidavit of acts with the Territorial Registrar (§ 37.1105); the affidavit is admissible as evidence (§ 37.1107).
  • Judicial foreclosure (by action) — ordered steps → see sheriff-sale for the mainland analog:
    1. Mortgagee sues in the High Court; other mortgages may be joined (§ 37.1102).
    2. Mortgagor / junior mortgagees may defend and raise legal or equitable avoidance (§ 37.1104).
    3. Court assesses the amount due and renders judgment of foreclosure (§ 37.1101).
    4. Execution issues as ordered; proceeds distributed by priority then to owner (§§ 37.1103, 37.1109).
  • notice_requirements: publication 3 successive weeks (last ≥ 14 days before sale) + posting on premises ≥ 21 days + notice to junior mortgage creditors — (§ 37.1105, § 37.1106).
  • upset_bid_or_confirmation: no statutory upset-bid / judicial-confirmation window located for power-of-sale foreclosure — needs_verification.
  • payment_terms: governed by the mortgage and the notice of sale — not separately codified — needs_verification.
  • deed_issued: transfer by deed/instrument from the mortgagee as attorney/agent of the mortgagor (§ 37.1109); for individually owned land taken by a non-Samoan, title is held for the limited § 37.1110 term and is marketable during it. Warranty level not specified by statute — needs_verification.

6. Due Process & Notice → see due-process-notice

  • standard: Federal due-process principles (Fifth/Fourteenth Amendment framework) inform American Samoa, but the territory’s highest court is the High Court of American Samoa (no Article III federal district court sits in the territory), and land disputes go to its Land and Titles Division. The controlling notice rules for foreclosure are the statutory publication + posting + creditor-notice requirements of § 37.1105–.1106.
  • required_attempts: publication (3 successive weeks, last ≥ 14 days pre-sale)
    • posting on the premises (≥ 21 days) + notice to junior mortgage creditors (§ 37.1105).
  • registration as constructive notice: “Due registration of an instrument … shall be notice of the contents … to all persons thereafter dealing with such land,” and no instrument passes title or makes land liable as security until duly registered with the Territorial Registrar (A.S.C.A. § 37.0210).
  • consequence_of_defective_notice: an alienation in violation of the alienation chapter is void (A.S.C.A. § 37.0230); and a mortgagee cannot foreclose against land the mortgagor does not actually own absent a basis for reformation (Mailo v. Aumavae, 31 A.S.R.2d 6 (1996)). Treat defects going to alienation/ownership as rendering the transfer void.
  • leading_cases: mailo-v-aumavae-1996, craddick-v-territorial-registrar-1979, tyler-v-hennepin-county.
  • Tyler reconciliation: moot for tax sales (none verified); for mortgage foreclosure, § 37.1109 already returns surplus to the owner, so there is no unconstitutional equity-forfeiture. See tyler-v-hennepin-county.

7. Title & Marketability

  • deed_warranty_level: not specified by statute for foreclosure conveyances — needs_verification.
  • marketable_immediately: for a non-Samoan taking individually owned land on foreclosure, § 37.1110 expressly makes the limited-term title marketable; for communal/native land, fee title is not alienable at all to a sub-half-blood non-native (§ 37.0204), so it is not marketable to such a buyer.
  • quiet_title_required: disputes over registration/ownership are resolved in the High Court, Land and Titles Division; registration of land is itself a protective adjudicatory process with a 60-day objection window for competing claimants (Ifopo v. Siatu‘u, 12 A.S.R.2d 24 (1989), construing §§ 37.0101 et seq., 37.0204). (statute case-notes)
  • sol_to_challenge_deed / void-vs-voidable: an alienation that violates the alienation chapter is void (§ 37.0230); the only ways communal land becomes individual land are 30-year adverse possession or statutory alienation-procedure compliance (Ava v. Logoai, 19 A.S.R.2d 75 (1991)). Specific SOL to challenge a foreclosure deed — needs_verification.
  • title_insurance_availability: unknown / likely very limited given the small market and communal tenure — needs_verification.
  • common_defects: unregistered instruments (no title passes until registration — § 37.0210); attempted alienation of communal land without Governor + Land Commission approval (void — §§ 37.0203–.0204); mortgage describing land the mortgagor does not own (Mailo v. Aumavae); expiry of the § 37.1110 holding term on individually owned land taken by a non-Samoan.

8. Case Law (real, verified)

CaseYearTopicHolding (plain English)Source
mailo-v-aumavae-19961996sale_procedure, due_processA mortgagee cannot foreclose against land described in a deed/mortgage that the mortgagor does not actually own, absent a basis for reformation; a fraudulent/void conveyance defeats the lender’s foreclosure. (High Ct., Land & Titles Div.)https://asbar.org/case-law/aumavae-mailo-v/
administrator-v-amerika-samoa-bank-19991999surplusForeclosure proceeds and surplus are distributed to mortgage creditors by priority of their liens, not pro rata (A.S.C.A. § 37.1103); a junior lienholder (SBA) was entitled to its contractual share of surplus but lost prejudgment interest after a 5-year delay. (High Ct., Trial Div., CA 68-98)https://asbar.org/case-law/3asr3d145/
soli-corp-v-amerika-samoa-bank-19931993sale_procedureIn foreclosure litigation arising from an Amerika Samoa Bank mortgage default, mandamus to vacate an order allowing the SBA to intervene was denied because the petitioners had other remedies — confirms the High Court is the forum for foreclosure/surplus disputes. (High Ct., Appellate Div., 24 A.S.R.2d 166)https://asbar.org/case-law/amerika-samoa-bank-soli-corp-v/
craddick-v-territorial-registrar-19791979redemption (land alienation)Defines “individually owned land” (land not freehold in 1900 and not communal) and holds individually owned land cannot be alienated to any person with less than one-half native blood — the restriction that § 37.1110 later carved a foreclosure exception around.https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/ams51552.pdf
moon-v-falemalama-19751975due_processConstrues the alienation restrictions and registration-as-notice rule (§§ 37.0204, 37.0210): freehold land may be alienated to a sub-half-blood person, but communal land may not; registered deeds give constructive notice. (4 A.S.R. 836)https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/ams51552.pdf

Note: a verified tax-redemption and a tax-sale case cannot be supplied because no real-property tax-sale system was verified to exist in American Samoa. The “redemption” topic is covered via the land-alienation/equity-of- redemption framework (Craddick; § 37.1104 defenses). This is an honest gap, not a fabrication — see needs_verification.

9. Edge Cases (territory-specific notes)

  • communal-land-tenure — The dominant edge case. Communal/native land (~90%+ of the territory) is held in trust by the matai for the ‘āiga, is constitutionally protected, and cannot be sold or foreclosed in fee simple; a matai cannot alienate family land without the Governor’s written approval (§ 37.0204(a)). The U.S. courts have upheld these race/blood-quantum-conscious restrictions as a permissible objective of “safeguarding … Samoan lands” (Craddick v. Magdalene Craddick / Craddick v. Territorial Registrar line).
  • heirs-property — Communal land is the ultimate “heirs property”: title is collective in the ‘āiga and reverts to the matai’s authority when not used; there is no individual heir whose fractional interest can be levied.
  • federal-mortgage-insurer-foreclosure — A federal mortgage insurer (e.g., HUD/FHA-type guarantor) is expressly within the § 37.1110 carve-out and may take and hold individually owned land on foreclosure for the limited statutory term (§§ 37.1110, 37.1111).
  • bankruptcy-automatic-stay — Federal Bankruptcy Code applies in the territory; the automatic stay halts a § 37.1105 power-of-sale foreclosure. Territory-specific application not separately verified.
  • scra-protections — The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act applies; no territory-specific overlay located.
  • time-limited-foreclosure-title — Unique to American Samoa: a non-Samoan foreclosing on individually owned land holds only for the unexpired mortgage term + up to 10 years, then must divest — there is no permanent fee for a sub-half-blood non-native (§ 37.1110).

10. Operations

  • where_records_live: Territorial Registrar (Office of the Territorial Registrar / Land & Titles) — all deeds, mortgages, leases, matai titles, court grants, and corporate filings; central, not per-county (§ 37.0210; Legal Affairs — Public Records).
  • adjudication: High Court of American Samoa, Land and Titles Division (land/title disputes) and Trial/Appellate Divisions (foreclosure litigation) (Pacific Judicial Council — High Court of American Samoa).
  • public_access_urls:
  • typical_costs / typical_timelines: power-of-sale foreclosure runs on the statutory notice clock (≥ 3 weekly publications, last ≥ 14 days pre-sale; posting ≥ 21 days; affidavit filed ≤ 30 days post-sale). Dollar costs not codified — needs_verification.
  • key_agencies: Office of the Territorial Registrar; ASG Treasury / Tax Office; Land Commission (5 members, reviews communal-land alienations — § 37.0202); High Court (Land & Titles Division).
  • useful_forms: mortgage, notice of sale, post-sale affidavit (§ 37.1105), registration instruments (§ 37.0210). Standardized form numbers not located — needs_verification.

2b. Redemption Advanced

Assignability of the redemption right:

  • No tax-sale redemption right exists to assign (no verified tax-sale system — see Module 1). For mortgage foreclosure, American Samoa’s Chapter 11 provides no fixed statutory post-sale redemption window (see Module 2); the protection is the mortgagor’s pre-sale equity of redemption and the statutory defenses of A.S.C.A. § 37.1104, available to “the mortgagor or any subsequent mortgagee.” (§ 37.1104, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Who may exercise / assign: the mortgagor and a junior mortgagee may defend and raise “any matter in legal or equitable avoidance of the mortgage” (§ 37.1104). A junior mortgagee’s interest is itself an assignable property right; whether the mortgagor’s pre-sale equity of redemption can be conveyed to a stranger-investor by deed is not addressed by a retrieved A.S.C.A. provision — needs_verification.
  • Purchase mechanism: not codified. A conveyance of the mortgagor’s interest would itself be an alienation subject to the § 37.0204 blood-quantum restriction where the land is native/communal, so a sub-half-blood non-native could not take the underlying fee by assignment in the first place. needs_verification of any reported case permitting assignment of a pre-sale equity of redemption.

Equitable vs. statutory redemption:

  • American Samoa’s mortgagor protection is equitable and pre-sale, not a codified post-sale statutory window. The equity of redemption is extinguished by a completed foreclosure (judgment under § 37.1101 or a power-of-sale sale + affidavit under § 37.1105). No separate statutory post-sale redemption period was located in Title 37 Ch. 11. Confirmation that none exists is flagged in needs_verification. (Ch. 11 index, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Installment redemption:

  • None located. No A.S.C.A. provision authorizing partial/installment redemption of a foreclosed mortgage was found. needs_verification.

Assignment of the purchaser’s certificate/deed mid-redemption:

  • N/A — no certificate system (no tax sale). For a power-of-sale foreclosure, the purchaser at the sale takes title via the mortgagee acting as the mortgagor’s attorney (§ 37.1109); where the buyer is a sub-half-blood non-native taking individually owned land, the title is the limited-term § 37.1110 interest, and any onward transfer of that interest is itself constrained by the § 37.0204 alienation rules and the § 37.1110 holding-term ceiling. (§ 37.1110, retrieved 2026-06-02) needs_verification of any rule governing onward assignment of a § 37.1110 limited-term interest.

3b. Surplus Advanced

Claim assignability — mortgage-foreclosure surplus (§ 37.1109):

  • No tax-sale surplus exists (no tax sale). The mortgage surplus “shall be paid over to the owner of the mortgaged property, after deducting the amount of claim and all attendant expenses.” (§ 37.1109, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Full assignment vs. fee agreement: No A.S.C.A. provision was located addressing whether the owner’s right to that surplus may be assigned outright to a third party, nor regulating recovery-agent fee agreements (cap, licensing, disclosure). Surplus is paid by the foreclosing party/court directly to the owner, so the mainland recovery-agent model has no clear statutory footing here. needs_verification.
  • Fee cap applies to assignments? No fee-cap, licensing, or disclosure statute for surplus-recovery agents was located. needs_verification.

Statute of limitations on the surplus claim:

  • No surplus-specific limitations period was located. General limitations and laches govern: in Administrator v. Amerika Samoa Bank, 3 A.S.R.3d 145 (1999), a claimant’s roughly five-year delay in suing for its contractual share of surplus cost it prejudgment interest. (3 A.S.R.3d 145, retrieved 2026-06-02) The general A.S.C.A. limitations statute bars an action to recover real property if not brought within twenty years (A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(6), as construed by the Real Property digest noting a 90-year-old littoral claim barred by the 20-year period and laches), but no provision squarely fixes a surplus-claim deadline. (Real Property digest, retrieved 2026-06-02) Exact surplus-claim limitations period flagged in needs_verification.

Competing-claimant procedure:

  • By lien priority, litigated in the High Court — not a filing race. Foreclosure proceeds and surplus are distributed to mortgage creditors “according to the priority of their respective claims” — i.e., by priority of lien, not pro rata (A.S.C.A. § 37.1103, as applied in Administrator v. Amerika Samoa Bank). A junior mortgagee may also be joined in the foreclosure action (§ 37.1102) and may defend (§ 37.1104). (3 A.S.R.3d 145, retrieved 2026-06-02) No statutory interpleader procedure for the foreclosing party to initiate a surplus contest was located. needs_verification.

Deceased-owner procedure:

  • The surplus belongs to “the owner of the mortgaged property” (§ 37.1109). Where that owner is deceased, succession to real property is governed by A.S.C.A. Title 40 (Decedents’ Estates) — see A.S.C.A. § 40.0202 (succession to real property). A personal representative would have standing; for communal/native land, succession follows the matai/‘āiga trust structure rather than ordinary intestacy, because communal land is not individually devisable. Whether an American Samoa court accepts a direct-heir surplus claim without a probate appointment, and the precise small-estate procedure, are flagged in needs_verification. (§ 40.0202 (succession to real property), retrieved 2026-06-02)

Fraudulent-conveyance exposure:

  • No American Samoa Uniform Fraudulent Transfer / Voidable Transactions Act was located. American Samoa has not been verified to have adopted the UFTA/UVTA. A distinct and stronger territory-specific protection operates instead: under A.S.C.A. § 43.1528, “no real property of a Samoan may be subject to sale under a writ of a court to satisfy any judgment other than a judgment foreclosing a valid mortgage” — the purpose being to discourage alienation of land; if a Samoan voluntarily converts land to cash, creditors may then execute against the proceeds. (§ 43.1528, retrieved 2026-06-02) Because land itself is largely insulated from execution, the classic fraudulent-conveyance-of-land scenario is structurally limited; whether the proceeds of a voluntary sale (or a surplus assignment by an insolvent owner) are voidable by creditors under any A.S.C.A. provision is not established by a retrieved source. needs_verification — the applicable AS fraudulent-conveyance statute.

Surplus-claimant notice:

  • Surplus is paid to the owner by statute (§ 37.1109); a separate requirement that the court or foreclosing party notify junior lienholders of an available surplus was not located. Junior mortgagees protect their priority by joinder (§ 37.1102) and defense (§ 37.1104). needs_verification.

5b. Title Advanced

Quiet title — when required vs. optional:

  • Quiet title is an available judicial action filed in the High Court of American Samoa, Land and Titles Division. The Land and Titles Rules expressly list “actions to quiet title; and actions for declaratory relief concerning land or titles” among the proceedings commenced in that Division (Rule 2(b)); the American Samoa Rules of Civil Procedure apply generally (Rule 1). (Land and Titles Rules, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • When required: Title to individually owned land taken by a non-Samoan on foreclosure is statutorily declared marketable for the § 37.1110 holding term, so a quiet-title action is not strictly required to make that limited-term title marketable. (§ 37.1110, retrieved 2026-06-02) Quiet title becomes relevant where ownership/registration is disputed (e.g., the mortgagor did not actually own the land — Mailo v. Aumavae), or to resolve communal-vs-individual character. Registration of land is itself a protective adjudicatory process with an objection window for competing claimants.
  • Action type: judicial (Land and Titles Division of the High Court).
  • Court with jurisdiction: High Court of American Samoa, Land and Titles Division.
  • Typical timeline / cost: not codified and not reliably available from retrieved sources; Land & Titles matters proceed by pleading, pretrial conference, and trial before a justice and Samoan associate judges. needs_verification.
  • Cures all pre-sale defects? A quiet-title judgment binds joined and served parties, but cannot validate a transfer that the alienation statute makes void (§ 37.0230) — e.g., an attempted fee conveyance of communal land to a sub-half-blood non-native is void and not curable by adjudication. needs_verification of the precise curative reach.

Deed seasoning (title-insurer practice):

  • Title insurance is not known to be readily available in American Samoa given the small market and the predominance of communal tenure; no insurer or seasoning standard was located. needs_verification.

Title insurance:

  • Immediate availability: unknown / likely very limited. needs_verification.
  • For a § 37.1110 limited-term interest, the statute itself supplies the “marketability” the holder relies on rather than a title policy.

Marketable Title Act:

  • No American Samoa Marketable Record Title Act (30-year-root-of-title type) was located. Title marketability is governed by the registration act (no instrument passes title or charges land as security until duly registered with the Territorial Registrar — § 37.0210), the alienation chapter (§§ 37.0201–.0230), and the § 37.1110 marketability declaration. The general 20-year limitation on actions to recover real property (§ 43.0120(6)) and the 30-year adverse-possession period (§ 37.0120) function as the closest analogs to a marketable-title cutoff. (§ 37.0120, retrieved 2026-06-02; Real Property digest, retrieved 2026-06-02) needs_verification — no dedicated AS Marketable Title Act.

Judicial confirmation:

  • Power-of-sale foreclosure requires no judicial confirmation — the mortgagee sells and files a post-sale affidavit with the Territorial Registrar within 30 days (§ 37.1105), and that affidavit is admissible as evidence (§ 37.1107). Judicial foreclosure by action culminates in a High Court judgment of foreclosure (§ 37.1101); the judgment is the court’s confirmation of the sale on execution. (§ 37.1105, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Chain-of-title cure depth:

  • A § 37.1110 conveyance gives the non-Samoan foreclosing party a marketable but time-limited interest; it does not convert communal land to fee, and it does not cure a defect in the mortgagor’s underlying ownership (Mailo v. Aumavae). Registration remains the operative protection (§ 37.0210). needs_verification of cure depth in a retrieved holding.

5c. TRO & Injunctive Relief

American Samoa has a codified injunction statute — A.S.C.A. Title 43, Chapter 13 — governing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in the High Court.

Recognized grounds to halt a sale:

  1. Notice / due-process defect in a § 37.1105 power-of-sale foreclosure (publication, posting, junior-creditor notice).
  2. Ownership / void-conveyance dispute — the mortgagor does not actually own the land (Mailo v. Aumavae, 31 A.S.R.2d 6 (1996)).
  3. Alienation-restriction violation — an attempted foreclosure conveyance barred by § 37.0204 / § 37.0230.
  4. Bankruptcy automatic stay — federal 11 U.S.C. § 362 (see bankruptcy-automatic-stay).
  5. SCRA — federal active-duty protections (see scra-protections).

Legal standard:

  • A TRO requires “sufficient grounds,” defined as: (1) “a substantial likelihood that the applicant will prevail at the hearing for a preliminary injunction”; (2) “great or irreparable injury will result to the applicant before a hearing can be reasonably held”; and (3) the applicant gave or attempted notice, or would suffer substantial irreparable injury if required to give notice first. (A.S.C.A. § 43.1301 (definitions), retrieved 2026-06-02; § 43.1304 (issuance), retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • A preliminary injunction issues “only after” a noticed hearing establishing sufficient grounds “by a preponderance of the evidence,” with service on the opposing party at least 48 hours before the hearing. (§ 43.1303, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Court with jurisdiction:

  • A court “having subject matter jurisdiction of the case” — i.e., the High Court of American Samoa (Trial Division, or the Land and Titles Division for land matters) (§ 43.1304).

Bond / security:

  • The retrieved §§ 43.1301, 43.1303, 43.1304 do not, on their face, require a bond or security as a condition of issuing a TRO or preliminary injunction. Whether any A.S.C.A. § 43.13 provision or court rule imposes an undertaking is flagged in needs_verification (the dedicated bond section was not retrieved).

Emergency timeline:

  • A TRO may issue on affidavit, verified complaint, testimony under oath, or other competent evidence (§ 43.1304), and is effective until a preliminary-injunction ruling or 15 days (extendable to 20 for good cause) (§ 43.1301). Where a TRO issues without notice, the preliminary-injunction hearing “shall be conducted on the earliest day that the business of the court will reasonably permit not to exceed 10 days.” (§ 43.1305, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Effect on a completed sale:

  • A power-of-sale foreclosure is non-judicial until the post-sale affidavit is filed, so a pre-sale TRO is the practical mechanism to halt it; once the sale is completed and the affidavit recorded, undoing it requires a judicial action, and a transfer that violates the alienation chapter is void (§ 37.0230), while one resting on a mortgagor’s non-ownership fails (Mailo v. Aumavae). needs_verification of a retrieved holding on post-sale injunctive effect.

Non-judicial note: because power-of-sale foreclosure has no pending case, a separate emergency action in the High Court is required to obtain a § 43.1304 TRO; judicial foreclosure relief is sought within the existing § 37.1101 action.

Leading cases: mailo-v-aumavae-1996.

7b. Lien Survival & Purchaser Exposure

IRS 120-day redemption (26 U.S.C. § 7425):

  • Applies as federal law. American Samoa runs a mirror income-tax code based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, and federal tax liens and the § 7425 framework are federal. Where a federal tax lien attaches to property sold at a non-judicial (power-of-sale) foreclosure, 26 U.S.C. § 7425(c) requires notice to the United States, and § 7425(d) gives the IRS a 120-day post-sale right of redemption; an un-noticed federal lien survives. (26 U.S.C. § 7425, retrieved 2026-06-02) No American Samoa case applying § 7425 to a § 37.1105 sale was located — this states the general federal rule; needs_verification of AS application.

HOA super-priority:

  • No HOA/condominium super-priority assessment-lien statute was located for American Samoa. The mainland HOA super-lien concept presupposes planned-community/condominium regimes that the predominance of communal land tenure makes largely inapplicable; no A.S.C.A. condominium-assessment-priority provision was retrieved. Status: not established / likely n/a. needs_verification.

Environmental / CERCLA liens:

  • A federal CERCLA lien (42 U.S.C. § 9607(l)) and CERCLA owner/operator liability are federal and run with the land regardless of how title was acquired; this is the general federal rule. No American Samoa-specific environmental super-lien with priority over a foreclosure title was located. needs_verification of AS-specific application; stated as the general federal rule.

Municipal code liens:

  • No American Samoa municipal code-enforcement / nuisance-abatement lien statute was located. American Samoa has no county/municipal property-tax-lien apparatus of the mainland type (Module 1). needs_verification.

Mechanic’s liens:

  • No American Samoa mechanic’s/materialman’s lien statute was confirmed against a retrieved primary source. needs_verification.

Junior-mortgage exposure:

  • A foreclosure of a senior mortgage extinguishes the liens of subsequent mortgages of the same property (A.S.C.A. § 37.1103); a junior mortgagee’s protection is to be joined (§ 37.1102), defend (§ 37.1104), or claim the surplus by priority (§§ 37.1103, 37.1109). A purchaser at a junior sale takes subject to the senior mortgage. Critical territory-specific trap: under § 43.1528, real property of a Samoan is not subject to execution-sale to satisfy any judgment other than a foreclosure of a valid mortgage — so a buyer cannot reach Samoan-owned land through an ordinary money-judgment lien/execution at all; only a valid mortgage foreclosure reaches the land. (§ 43.1528, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Due-diligence checklist (American Samoa foreclosure buyer):

  1. Communal-vs-individual character of the land — only individually owned land can be taken to fee (and only on the § 37.1110 limited term for a non-native).
  2. Buyer’s blood-quantum / entity status under § 37.0204 (and § 30.0131 for a corporate buyer) — does the buyer qualify to take title?
  3. Registration check with the Territorial Registrar — no instrument passes title or charges land until duly registered (§ 37.0210).
  4. Mortgagor’s actual ownership of the described land (Mailo v. Aumavae).
  5. Federal tax lien search — § 7425 notice / 120-day redemption exposure.
  6. Bankruptcy / SCRA search on the borrower.
  7. § 37.1110 holding-term math — how long may a non-native hold before divesting?
  8. Junior/senior mortgage priority (§§ 37.1102–.1103).

10b. Purchaser Obligations During Redemption

American Samoa has no fixed statutory post-sale redemption period (Module 2), so the mainland “obligations during the redemption period” framework largely does not apply. The notes below map the schema fields to what does exist.

Subsequent taxes:

  • There is no verified ad valorem real-property tax (Module 1), so there is no “subsequent property tax” the purchaser must advance to protect a position. needs_verification of whether any property charge exists.

Owner-expiration notice:

  • No post-sale redemption window exists, so there is no owner-expiration-of-redemption notice obligation. The relevant statutory notices are pre-sale: publication (3 successive weeks, last ≥ 14 days before sale), posting on the premises ≥ 21 days, and notice to junior mortgage creditors (§§ 37.1105, 37.1106), plus the post-sale affidavit filed within 30 days (§ 37.1105). (§ 37.1105, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Owner occupancy:

  • Because the mortgagor’s equity of redemption is extinguished at the completed sale (no post-sale window), possession passes per the foreclosure conveyance; for a non-native buyer of individually owned land, the § 37.1110 limited-term interest governs how long the buyer may hold. needs_verification of any AS statute on post-sale occupancy / eviction of a holdover former owner.

Costs collectible upon (pre-sale) cure:

  • A mortgagor avoiding sale pays the debt + interest + attendant expenses — the same amounts deducted before any surplus under § 37.1109. Improvements by a purchaser are not a redemption-cost concept here (no post-sale redemption). Exact pre-sale payoff formula not separately codified — needs_verification.

Property-maintenance obligation:

  • No A.S.C.A. provision imposing a purchaser maintenance duty during a redemption period was located (consistent with the absence of a post-sale redemption window). needs_verification.

11b. Restrictions & Special Rules

Entity / insider purchase restrictions:

  • The dominant restriction is blood-quantum, not entity form: under § 37.0204, it is “prohibited to alienate any lands except freehold lands to any person who has less than one-half native blood,” and native (communal) land may not be alienated to a person with any non-native blood absent narrow exceptions; a matai may not alienate communal family land without the written approval of the Governor. (§ 37.0204, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Corporate / entity buyers: A.S.C.A. § 30.0131 declares corporations “without race” for land-acquisition purposes, with corporate land acquisition exercisable case-by-case at the discretion of the Governor, subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior; the courts have not cleanly resolved whether a corporation is therefore “Samoan” or “non-Samoan” for § 37.0204 — Craddick Development Inc. v. Craddick, 2 A.S.R.3d 20 (1998), held a corporate trust beneficiary “owned an interest in the land” violating § 37.0204(b), and the concurrence flagged that the majority did not explain how a corporation is “non-Samoan” given § 30.0131. (Craddick Development Inc. v. Craddick, 2 A.S.R.3d 20, retrieved 2026-06-02) Practical upshot: an investor entity cannot assume it may freely acquire American Samoa land; Governor approval and the alienation rules control. needs_verification of the verbatim text of § 30.0131 (cited via the Craddick opinion; the dedicated section page was not retrieved).

Insider prohibition:

  • No tax-sale-official self-dealing prohibition exists because there is no tax sale. No general A.S.C.A. foreclosure-insider prohibition was located. needs_verification.

Right of first refusal / land bank:

  • No statutory ROFR or land-bank program was located. The functional analog is the communal-tenure system itself: communal land is held in trust by the matai for the ‘āiga and cannot be sold off in fee; the Land Commission (§ 37.0202) and the Governor review communal-land alienations. No land bank exists. needs_verification.

Deficiency judgment:

  • Permitted after mortgage foreclosure (judicial). The High Court “assess[es] the amount due upon a mortgage … and shall render judgment for the amount awarded, and the foreclosure of the mortgage[;] [e]xecution may be issued on the judgment” (§ 37.1101) — consistent with a deficiency judgment in a judicial foreclosure. (§ 37.1101, retrieved 2026-06-02) N/A after tax sale (no tax sale).
  • Execution limit (§ 43.1528): even with a deficiency judgment, a creditor cannot force the sale of a Samoan’s other real property to satisfy it (only a valid mortgage foreclosure reaches the land); the court may instead appoint a receiver to gather and convert produce of the land. (§ 43.1528, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Anti-deficiency statute:

  • No general anti-deficiency statute was located. § 43.1528 functions as a partial, land-specific shield (it limits execution against land, not the entry of the deficiency judgment itself). needs_verification of any fair-value-offset or true anti-deficiency provision.

One-action rule:

  • None located. needs_verification.

Who this page is for

▸ For Investors / Operators — There is no verified tax-sale acquisition channel in American Samoa (§1). Start with §0/§4 (mortgage foreclosure — the only demonstrable path), §11b (can your entity even take title? — § 37.0204 blood-quantum, § 30.0131 and Craddick Development for corporate buyers, Governor approval), §7b (the § 37.1110 limited holding term for a non-native, plus § 43.1528 barring execution against Samoan land), and §5b (quiet title in the High Court, Land & Titles Division).

▸ For Former Owners — Start with §3/§3b (mortgage-foreclosure surplus — A.S.C.A. § 37.1109 returns surplus, after junior mortgagees by priority, to the owner of the mortgaged property; no fixed claim deadline was located, so laches governs), §2/§2b (pre-sale defenses and equity of redemption — § 37.1104), and §5c (halting a sale by TRO/preliminary injunction in the High Court — A.S.C.A. §§ 43.1301–.1305).

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County deep dives: county pages for this jurisdiction are being added largest-first.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes primary sources as retrieved on 2026-06-02 and may be incomplete or out of date. American Samoa’s land-tenure and foreclosure law is unusual; consult the American Samoa Code Annotated, the Office of the Territorial Registrar, and a licensed American Samoa attorney before acting.

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