Index seizure and notice dates for a civil forfeiture response

Key facts

Human involvement

Red · Lawyer-led

How AI is used

List the seizure date, the notice date if the file shows it, the deadline printed on any personal notice letter, and the property description taken from that notice. Do not draft the claim and do not state the claimant's interest.

What the lawyer must review

You write any claim. It is made under oath. The tool writes none of it. Section 983 applies to a civil forfeiture statute. Subsection (i) defines that term as a provision of Federal law providing for forfeiture of property other than as a sentence imposed upon conviction of a criminal offense, and it excludes title 19, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2016, and 22 U.S.C. § 401. In a nonjudicial proceeding under such a statute, written notice goes out as soon as practicable and in no case more than 60 days after the seizure, except as clauses (ii) through (v) provide. Those clauses include no notice where a civil judicial action is filed and noticed before the 60 days expire, a 90-day period where a State or local agency seized the property and turned it over for Federal forfeiture, and notice not later than 60 days after the Government later determines an identity or interest, if that determination is before a declaration of forfeiture. A headquarters supervisory official may extend the notice period by not more than 30 days, and a court by not more than 60 days at a time, only for an adverse result of the kinds listed in § 983(a)(1)(D). If notice is not sent to the person from whom the property was seized and no extension is granted, the Government returns that property, without prejudice to a later proceeding, except contraband or other property the person may not legally possess. A nonjudicial claim is due by the deadline in the personal notice letter, which may not be earlier than 35 days after the letter is mailed, or, if that letter is not received, not later than 30 days after final publication. The claim must identify the specific property, state the claimant's interest, and be made under oath subject to penalty of perjury. It need not use a particular form, and no bond is posted. Within 90 days after a claim is filed, the Government files a complaint in the manner of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims or returns the property pending a complaint, unless the court extends the time for good cause or the parties agree. Those Supplemental Rules were not opened. If the only forfeiture proceeding is an allegation in a criminal indictment, continued possession is governed by the applicable criminal forfeiture statute, which was not opened. Do not treat § 983 as that statute. In a civil forfeiture suit the Government's burden is a preponderance of the evidence. An innocent owner's interest is not forfeited, and the claimant bears the burden of proving that status by a preponderance. You apply subsections (d)(2) and (d)(3). A temporary restraining order under § 983(j)(3), entered without notice before a complaint, expires not more than 14 days after entry unless extended for good cause or by consent. You do not prepare that application.

Written for / version

United States versionUSAU