Under civil forfeiture laws, the government may seize and become the owner of your property—including your home, car, and cash—when your property is used to facilitate the commission of a crime.
Civil Forfeiture Information
Under civil forfeiture laws, the government may seize and become the owner of your property—including your home, car, and cash—when your property is used to facilitate the commission of a crime. The most common use of civil forfeiture involves police claims that your property was connected to a drug-related crime.
You may lose your property even if you are not charged or convicted of a crime. Once your property is forfeited, law enforcement agencies will keep your property or sell it and keep the proceeds.
There are important legal defenses to civil forfeiture. For example, you may be an innocent owner who did not know or consent to any wrongful use of your property. Perhaps your property was not really connected to a crime or, even if it was, the forfeiture of your property may be constitutionally excessive under the circumstances.
You should act promptly to obtain a lawyer to assert your rights and protect your property if it has been wrongfully seized by the police. If you do nothing, you may lose your property by default.
Under civil forfeiture, Americans who haven’t been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes. Is that all we’re losing?
Police agencies have used hundreds of millions of dollars taken from Americans under federal civil forfeiture law in recent years to buy guns, armored cars and electronic surveillance gear.
Under state and federal laws, the government may seize and become the owner of your property– such as homes, cars, and cash—when your property is used to facilitate the commission of a crime. In Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth may file a petition and obtain court approval to permanently take your property when it can show that your property was involved with certain crimes. While civil forfeiture of private property is authorized for many crimes, the most common use of civil forfeiture involves property that is connected to drug-related offenses.
Yes. Civil forfeiture is a legal action brought against the property itself based upon the legal fiction that the property has done wrong. This type of forfeiture is what is called an in rem proceeding (an action brought against the thing). Because the civil action is against the property, the case has a different title. It may sound something like Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. 1234 Main Street,Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. 2003 Ford Escort, or Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. $640 U.S. Currency.
Criminal forfeiture is a legal action brought against a person who has been charged with a crime. Unlike civil forfeiture, criminal forfeiture is an in personam proceeding (an action brought against the person). It usually has a title similar to any other criminal case, such as Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. James Smith. In criminal forfeiture, the government may only forfeit a person’s property after the person has been convicted of, or has plead guilty to, the underlying crime. If the accused is found not guilty, the property cannot be forfeited in criminal forfeiture.
No. In civil forfeiture, a property owner does not have to be convicted or even charged with a crime. This is because civil forfeiture is an action against the property based upon the legal fiction that the property has done wrong. If the Government can show a nexus between the crime and the property, it may be able forfeit your property unless you present legal defenses. There are important defenses to a civil forfeiture action and therefore you should seek the assistance of an attorney.
Yes. The seizure of property by the police is usually the first step in civil forfeiture but not all seizures of property result in civil forfeiture proceedings. The police may seize your property if there is probable cause to believe that the property is connected to the commission of a crime. In other words, if your property was used to facilitate a crime or is the proceeds of criminal activity, the police may choose to seize your property.
For example, if your car was used to sell drugs or if your cash is the proceeds of drug activity, the police may seize your property and hold it. However, you are still the owner of your property and you may request a judge to order that your property be returned to you. If the government seeks to forfeit your property and become the permanent owner of your property, it must file a civil forfeiture petition and obtain a court order forfeiting the property. If the government files a civil forfeiture petition, you will have the opportunity to contest the forfeiture and present defenses to the loss of your property.
If the state or local police seize your property in Pennsylvania – such as your car or your cash – and you want it returned you should promptly file what is known as a Rule 588 Motion for the Return of Property in the Court of Common Pleas in your county. It is important to file this motion promptly. In Philadelphia County, there is a local Rule 588 and a special form for filing a Motion for Return of Property. Information on how to prepare and file a Rule 588 Motion for Return of Property is outlined in the Civil Forfeiture Manual.
It is important to understand that different rules and procedures may apply depending on whether the civil forfeiture petition is filed under state or federal forfeiture laws. In either case, however, it is important that you act quickly to protect your property. If you do nothing, you could lose your property automatically by default.
Pennsylvania law requires that the Commonwealth file a civil forfeiture petition in order to start a civil forfeiture action. If your property is the subject of a civil forfeiture petition for a drug-related offense, you are required to file a written response to a civil forfeiture petition within thirty (30) days of service of the petition upon you. In your Answer to the civil forfeiture petition, you may dispute that there is any connection between the property and the alleged criminal offense. You may also assert affirmative defenses in your Answer under the heading of New Matter. For example, you may allege that you are an “innocent owner” because your property, even if used in connection with a crime, was done so without your knowledge or consent. You may also raise constitutional defenses such as the forfeiture of your property would be an excessive fine in violation of the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions, or that the taking of your property would violate due process of law. There are other legal defenses that may be available to you to contest the forfeiture of your property. More information and sample forms are included in the Civil Forfeiture Manual on this website.
In a Pennsylvania civil forfeiture action, the Commonwealth is represented by the District Attorney’s office or the Attorney General’s office. If at all possible, you should have an attorney to assist you. Even if you do not have a lawyer, you should always go to court on the date and time listed in the documents you receive. Explain to the judge that you need more time to obtain a lawyer and ask the Court to give you additional time in which to obtain a lawyer.
No. Unlike a criminal case, there is no right in Pennsylvania to have the court appoint a free lawyer for you in a civil forfeiture action if you cannot afford a lawyer. However, there may be free legal help available to help you at a local legal services program, a law school clinical program, or a local pro bono program. To obtain a lawyer, either paid or free, you may want to call the lawyer referral service operated by your local bar association.
In a federal civil forfeiture case, you have a right to a free lawyer if you are low-income and the government is trying to take away your primary residence for an alleged drug offense.
There are important legal defenses that may apply to your case. For example, you may be able to show that your property was not sufficiently involved in the crime in question such that there is not a nexus between the criminal activity and the property. Even if there is a nexus between your property and the underlying crime, you may be able to demonstrate that you are an innocent owner, meaning that you did not know or did not consent to your property being involved in a crime. You may also be able to show that the government waited too long to bring a forfeiture action against your property, or that the process used in obtaining forfeiture did not comply with due process of law. Or, you may be able to show that the forfeiture of your property would constitute an excessive fine in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Sec. 13, of the Pennsylvania Constitution. These and other legal defenses may apply to your case and that is why you should try to obtain a lawyer to help you. More information about legal defenses is contained in the Civil Forfeiture Manual that is available on this website.
If the Court of Common Pleas enters an order of forfeiture, your property will be permanently taken by the Commonwealth and you will no longer be the owner of that property. You have a right of appeal to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania if you disagree with the forfeiture decision. If you desire to appeal, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days.
Under Pennsylvania’s Drug Forfeiture Act, all forfeited property goes to law enforcement authorities (the District Attorney’s office or Attorney General’s office) which can retain your property for its own use or sell it at a public auction and keep the proceeds from the sale.
There are resources, media, and scholarly articles on our civil forfeiture page. If you have a Philadelphia civil forfeiture case involving your home, cars, or cash, you may want to look at the Civil Forfeiture Manual. The Manual was prepared to help train lawyers who volunteer their services to help low-income property owners in civil forfeiture cases. There are sample forms at the back of the manual that also may be helpful. Remember, however, that the information in the Civil Forfeiture Manual and on this website is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to convey legal advice in connection with an actual case or legal matter.
You should promptly seek legal help if you are served with a civil forfeiture petition. If you do not know where to turn for legal help, you may want to call your local bar association’s lawyer referral service. In Philadelphia, call the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service at (215) 238-6333. If you are low-income and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, you may be able to obtain free legal help. You may want to contact the Civil Practice Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School at (215) 898-8427. However, the Civil Practice Clinic only accepts a limited number of cases during certain times of the school year. You may also want to contact Community Legal Services at (215) 981-3700 or Philadelphia Legal Assistance at (215) 981-3800 for legal assistance.
