IIB
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1658
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE 28, 1999
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
AN ACT
To provide a more just and uniform procedure for Federal
civil forfeitures, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
HR 1658 RFS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Asset Forfeiture
Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. CREATION OF GENERAL RULES RELATING TO CIVIL
FORFEITURE PROCEEDINGS.
Section 981 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(j)(1)(A) In any nonjudicial civil forfeiture pro-
ceeding under a civil forfeiture statute, with respect to
which the agency conducting a seizure of property must
give written notice to interested parties, such notice shall
be given as soon as practicable and in no case more than
60 days after the later of the date of the seizure or the
date the identity of the interested party is first known or
discovered by the agency, except that the court may extend
the period for filing a notice for good cause shown.
‘‘(B) A person entitled to written notice in such pro-
ceeding to whom written notice is not given may on motion
void the forfeiture with respect to that person’s interest
in the property, unless the agency shows—
‘‘(i) good cause for the failure to give notice to
that person; or
‘‘(ii) that the person otherwise had actual notice
of the seizure.
HR 1658 RFS
‘‘(C) If the Government does not provide notice of
a seizure of property in accordance with subparagraph
(A), it shall return the property and may not take any
further action to effect the forfeiture of such property.
‘‘(2)(A) Any person claiming property seized in a
nonjudicial forfeiture proceeding may file a claim with the
appropriate official after the seizure.
‘‘(B) A claim under subparagraph (A) may not be
filed later than 30 days after—
‘‘(i) the date of final publication of notice of
seizure; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of a person entitled to written
notice, the date that notice is received.
‘‘(C) The claim shall state the claimant’s interest in
the property.
‘‘(D) Not later than 90 days after a claim has been
filed, the Attorney General shall file a complaint for for-
feiture in the appropriate court or return the property,
except that a court in the district in which the complaint
will be filed may extend the period for filing a complaint
for good cause shown or upon agreement of the parties.
‘‘(E) If the Government does not file a complaint for
forfeiture of property in accordance with subparagraph
(D), it shall return the property and may not take any
further action to effect the forfeiture of such property.
HR 1658 RFS
‘‘(F) Any person may bring a claim under subpara-
graph (A) without posting bond with respect to the prop-
erty which is the subject of the claim.
‘‘(3)(A) In any case where the Government files in
the appropriate United States district court a complaint
for forfeiture of property, any person claiming an interest
in the seized property may file a claim asserting such per-
son’s interest in the property within 30 days of service
of the Government’s complaint or, where applicable, within
30 days of alternative publication notice.
‘‘(B) A person asserting an interest in seized property
in accordance with subparagraph (A) shall file an answer
to the Government’s complaint for forfeiture within 20
days of the filing of the claim.
‘‘(4)(A) If the person filing a claim is financially un-
able to obtain representation by counsel, the court may
appoint counsel to represent that person with respect to
the claim.
‘‘(B) In determining whether to appoint counsel to
represent the person filing the claim, the court shall take
into account such factors as—
‘‘(i) the claimant’s standing to contest the for-
feiture; and
‘‘(ii) whether the claim appears to be made in
good faith or to be frivolous.
HR 1658 RFS
‘‘(C) The court shall set the compensation for that
representation, which shall be equivalent to that provided
for court-appointed representation under section 3006A of
this title, and to pay such cost there are authorized to
be appropriated such sums as are necessary as an addition
to the funds otherwise appropriated for the appointment
of counsel under such section.
‘‘(5) In all suits or actions brought under any civil
forfeiture statute for the civil forfeiture of any property,
the burden of proof is on the United States Government
to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that the
property is subject to forfeiture.
‘‘(6)(A) An innocent owner’s interest in property
shall not be forfeited under any civil forfeiture statute.
‘‘(B) With respect to a property interest in existence
at the time the illegal conduct giving rise to forfeiture took
place, the term ‘innocent owner’ means an owner who—
‘‘(i) did not know of the conduct giving rise to
forfeiture; or
‘‘(ii) upon learning of the conduct giving rise to
the forfeiture, did all that reasonably could be ex-
pected under the circumstances to terminate such
use of the property.
‘‘(C) With respect to a property interest acquired
after the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture has taken
HR 1658 RFS
place, the term ‘innocent owner’ means a person who, at
the time that person acquired the interest in the property,
was—
‘‘(i)(I) a bona fide purchaser or seller for value
(including a purchaser or seller of goods or services
for value); or
‘‘(II) a person who acquired an interest in prop-
erty through probate or inheritance; and
‘‘(ii) at the time of the purchase or acquisition
reasonably without cause to believe that the property
was subject to forfeiture.
‘‘(D) Where the property subject to forfeiture is real
property, and the claimant uses the property as the claim-
ant’s primary residence and is the spouse or minor child
of the person who committed the offense giving rise to the
forfeiture, an otherwise valid innocent owner claim shall
not be denied on the ground that the claimant acquired
the interest in the property—
‘‘(i) in the case of a spouse, through dissolution
of marriage or by operation of law; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of a minor child, as an inherit-
ance upon the death of a parent,
and not through a purchase. However, the claimant must
establish, in accordance with subparagraph (C), that at
the time of the acquisition of the property interest, the