Verification of Landholdings

FORM 7-21VERIFY
2012 Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VERIFICATION OF LANDHOLDINGS
(For Certification and Reporting Requirements of the
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982)

(7-11)

Bureau of Reclamation
Do not use this form after December 31, 2012

OMB Control No.: 1006-0005

Paperwork Reduction Act
This information is being collected to establish landholder compliance with Federal reclamation law. Response to this request is mandatory in
accordance with Public Law 97-293 and 43 CFR 426.18. Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 12 minutes per response,
including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) control number. Direct comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect of these forms to Manager, Land Resources Office,
Code 84-53000, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225.

GENERAL INFORMATION
“General Information About RRA Forms” (Form 7-21INFO)
provides basic instructions on using Reclamation Reform Act of
1982 (RRA) forms. Ask your district office for this form each
year to keep current. Refer to the definitions at the end of
Form 7-21INFO whenever the meaning of a term is not clear to
you. Please note, some terms such as “irrigable land,” “irrigation
land,” and “irrigation water” have special definitions when used in
these forms which differ from their common meaning. Other
terms and corresponding definitions that are specific to the
RRA forms are:
• “Land” or “acres” means irrigable or irrigation land.
• “You” or “your” means all types of landholders -- individuals,
entities, religious or charitable organizations, public entities,
trusts, estates, etc.
• “We,” “us,” “our,” or “Reclamation” means the Bureau of
Reclamation.
Visit www.usbr.gov/rra for more information.
WHO MAY USE THIS FORM
You may use the “Verification of Landholdings”
(Form7-21VERIFY) if the landholdings identified on your most
recently submitted standard form have not changed and the
information on the standard form remains correct. You may use
one Form 7-21VERIFY to verify only one standard RRA form. If
you wish to verify multiple standard RRA forms, a separate Form
7-21VERIFY must be submitted for each landholder. For
example, you are an individual landholder and you are the trustee
for a trust, and you want to use Form 7-21VERIFY to verify your
landholdings and the trust’s landholdings because none of the
landholdings have changed since the most recent standard form
was submitted. You must submit two Form 7-21VERIFYs
(one for you as an individual landholder and one for the trust).
You may use this form to verify your most recently submitted
“Designation of Excess Land” (Form 7-21XS) and/or “Selection
of Full-Cost Land” (Form 7-21FC) as long as your landholdings
have not changed and the information on the form(s) remains
correct. You may use this form to verify a standard form with a
new Form 7-21FC as long as that is the only information that is

changing. However, if a new Form 7-21XS is required, you may
not use Form 7-21VERIFY to verify any RRA forms.
Trusts or estates must submit a “Declaration of Trust’s or Estate’s
Landholdings” (Form 7-21TRUST) if it attributes some of its land
subject to the acreage limitation provisions to a class of
beneficiaries. The submittal of Form 7-21VERIFY is not
acceptable for such trusts or estates, and their beneficiaries. You
may use Form 7-21VERIFY to identify a change in operator if this
is the only change since the most recently submitted standard form.
However, farm operators cannot use Form 7-21VERIFY to meet
any applicable RRA forms submittal requirement.
Form 7-21VERIFY may also be used to identify extensions and
renewals of your annual leases, as long as the original and new
terms are each for 12 months or less and the renewal or extension
is the only change being made. Please see item 5 below (page 2)
for further guidance regarding annual leases. Form 7-21VERIFY
cannot be used to identify changes in any non-annual leases.
You do not need to submit either a standard form or a
Form 7-21VERIFY if you hold land only indirectly (as a part
owner, beneficiary, trustee, or grantor), your landholdings have not
changed since the submittal of your last standard form, and the
information on your form remains correct. (Note: The direct
landholder(s) must submit RRA forms each year.)
WHERE TO SUBMIT FORMS
Submit this form to each district in which the land is held (directly
or indirectly owned or leased). You must submit the original form
to one district and may submit copies to the others if you hold land
in more than one district.
IF LANDHOLDINGS CHANGE
If your landholdings change during the water year, you must notify
all districts in which you hold land within 30 calendar days after
the change and submit new standard forms within 60 calendar
days after the change. These 30- and 60-day grace periods do not
apply to a new landholder. A new landholder must submit the
appropriate standard forms prior to the delivery of Reclamation
irrigation water to your land.
For more information on landholding changes, see Fact Sheet 11,
which is available at your district office.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

(a) Name of the other party to the lease. Enter the lessee’s
name if you are the lessor. Enter the lessor’s name if you
are the lessee.

Type or print in ink all answers. You must initial and date any
crossouts and corrections. You may attach continuation sheets to
list information. Please contact your district office or the
appropriate Reclamation office if you have any questions.

(b) Effective date of the lease. Enter the effective date as
specified in that document if a new lease document has
been created. Enter the date the new lease document was
signed if no effective date is specified in the new lease
document. Enter the effective date as specified in the
original lease document if the original lease document is
being extended or renewed. Enter the date the original
lease document was signed if no effective date is specified
in the original lease document.

ITEM BY ITEM INSTRUCTIONS
Identification of Previously Submitted Form(s)
1. (a) Check the box corresponding to the standard RRA form
that this form verifies, and enter the date the form is signed.
Check only one box.

(c) Length of the lease renewal or lease extension (in months).
This should be 12 months or less. You must submit a
new standard form rather than a verification form if the
lease has been renewed or extended for a period of time in
excess of 12 months.

(b) Check the box(es) corresponding to Form 7-21FC
and/or Form 7-21XS if one or both of these forms
accompanies the standard RRA form you are verifying (as
designated in item 1(a)) AND you are also verifying the
information on the Form 7-21FC and/or Form 7-21XS.

(d) Name of district in which the leased land is located.
2. On the line provided, enter the landholder’s name exactly as it
appears on the standard form this form verifies. Religious and
charitable organizations must provide its employer
identification number if the organization is verifying a standard
form dated prior to 1996.

(e) Provide an accurate legal description or an assessor’s
parcel number for each parcel of leased land. Be sure to
break down land parcels as far as necessary to ensure
accurate identification.

Landholder Information

Change in Operator

3. (a) Enter your street address or rural route number, city, state,
and ZIP code. Your attorney's address, relative's address,
“c/o” address, etc., is not acceptable in place of a street
address. Post office box numbers may be used only if no
other address exists.

6. Complete this section only if you are identifying a change in
operator under a farm operating arrangement. (Form
7-21VERIFY cannot be used to identify changes in lessees.)
(a) Name of the previous operator farming the land under the
farm operating arrangement.

(b) Enter your mailing address if it is different from your street
address.

(b) Name of the new operator farming the land under the farm
operating arrangement.

4. (a) Enter the telephone number where questions can be
directed.

(c) Name of district in which the land being farmed under the
farm operating arrangement is located.

(b) Enter the contact person’s name at that telephone number.
(d) Provide an accurate legal description or an assessor's
parcel number for each parcel of land being farmed by the
new operator. Be sure to break down land parcels as far
as necessary to ensure accurate identification.

Annual Lease Renewal or Annual Lease Extension
5. Complete this section only if you are renewing or extending the
length of an existing annual lease. For RRA purposes, annual
leases are only those that:

Signatures

• Have an effective term of 12 months or less,

7. Read the attestation statements carefully and sign and date the
form in ink. Both you and your spouse, if married, must sign
this form. This requirement applies even if the land is not
jointly held. All partners, joint tenants, or co-tenants must sign
the form if the landholder is a partnership, joint tenancy, or
tenancy-in-common. However, a written signature
authorization may be used to permit one spouse to sign for the
couple or to permit one natural person to sign for the entity and
a copy must be submitted to each district the landholder submits
RRA forms. All trustees, administrators, or executors must sign
this form unless the trust or a power-of-attorney authorizes one
individual to sign for the trust or estate. The district office must
keep any such signature authorizations on file.

• Have either a clause requiring written affirmative action be
taken annually or a clause providing for annual withdrawal
opportunity from the lease, and
• The renewal or extension is for a term of 12 months or less.
You must submit a new standard RRA form rather than a
verification form if you have changes to leases (including any
renewals or extensions of leases) that do not meet all three of these
criteria.
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FORM 7-21VERIFY (2012)