State Foreclosure Law Library

american-samoa

19 min read

American Samoa — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-01.

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.

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.

11. Meta

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes primary sources as retrieved on 2026-06-01 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.

Graph View

Backlinks