Verification of Landholdings

FORM 7-21VERIFY
2018 Instructions

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

(7-17)

Bureau of Reclamation
Do not use this form after December 31, 2018

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, Reclamation Law
Administration Division, Code 84-55000, 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”
(Form 7-21VERIFY) 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.
(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.

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.

Change in Operator
Landholder Information
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.)

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.

(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
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 an effective term of 12 months or less,
• 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.
2

FORM 7-21VERIFY (2018)