Opinion ID: 587597
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Merits of the Orders Permitting the Interlocutory Sale

Text: 18 Forfeitures with respect to controlled substances are governed by 21 U.S.C. § 881, which provides for the initiation of a civil forfeiture action by process issued pursuant to the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Supplemental Rules). 21 U.S.C. § 881(b). We infer that, though § 881 does not explicitly so state, the Supplemental Rules are also to be applied to the ensuing proceedings in the civil forfeiture action. See generally United States v. $38,000.00 in United States Currency, 816 F.2d 1538, 1545 n. 13 (11th Cir.1987). Those Rules allow the court, on motion of the government or any other party to the action, to order an interlocutory sale of seized property 19 [i]f [that] property ... is perishable, or liable to deterioration, decay, or injury by being detained in custody pending the action, or if the expense of keeping the property is excessive or disproportionate, or if there is unreasonable delay in securing the release of property. 20 Supplemental Rule E(9)(b). 21 In granting the government's motion under this Rule, however, the district court did not make any findings of fact and did not mention any of the factors listed in Rule E(9)(b). Nor is it clear whether those factors in the present case could justify an order for the interlocutory sale of a home. For example, though a building is of course subject to depreciation, real property is not. Further, there was no finding that the Espositos' home was liable to deterioration, decay, or injury by being detained in custody pending the action. Even as to the market value of the home, differing views were presented to the district court, both by means of written statement, and neither particularly probative. The marshal merely stated conclusorily that the real estate market in New Jersey was soft; Klare Esposito relied on hearsay statements attributed to several local realtors in the Monmouth County area ... indicat[ing] that real estate prices have remained stable recently. (Klare Esposito affidavit dated October 1991 [sic ], p 7.) Neither proffer seems a sufficient basis for a finding as to whether or not an immediate interlocutory sale was needed. And certainly we have been cited to no evidence in the record suggesting that the government should be permitted to make the interlocutory sale for a price of $675,000, given the government's representations (a) that the most recent appraisal of the property, just four months prior to its motion, was $910,000, (b) that in the more than three years between the seizure and the most recent appraisal the value of the property had declined by less than 10%, and (c) that in the past year there had been numerous and frequent inquiries from brokers and persons interested in purchasing the property. 22 Further, though the government stated that it had expended about $22,000 for maintenance and repairs in the nearly four years since seizure--an average of $6,000 a year--there was no finding that this amount was excessive or disproportionate. Nor would such a finding seem reasonable given the most recent assessment of the property's value at $910,000. 23 Finally, though there plainly had been unreasonable delay in proceeding with the adjudication of the forfeiture action, it appears that the delay was principally the fault of the government. Following Esposito's conviction, the government apparently did nothing for about a year to pursue the forfeiture action; then it served interrogatories that the Espositos said they were unable to answer because the government had seized their documents; the government took no steps to compel answers or any other steps to advance the action. 24 Nor could the court simply accept the government's contention that the Espositos had consented to the interlocutory sale. Rosen's February 1991 letter proposed such a sale, but not unconditionally. It expressly presumed a sale at a price reasonably related to the assessed value which Rosen thought he recalled was near $1,500,000. And it stated that the proposal was without prejudice and without waiver of any of the Esposito's [sic ] rights or claims. This record cannot support the proposition that the Espositos had consented to the interim sale of their home for $675,000.