When They Take Your Property

The petition, within one year. The Attorney General or district attorney files a petition of forfeiture as soon as practicable, and in any case within one year of the seizure, or of the filing of a lis pendens or other process against the property, whichever is earlier.

• §Health & Saf. Code 11488.4

Notice, and the claim form. Everyone named on the receipt for the seized property is served, and anyone else with an interest is given notice by personal delivery or registered mail, with a claim form and directions. The notices say in plain language what an interested party must do, the time to do it, and the consequences of not responding.

• §Health & Saf. Code 11488.4

Thirty days to claim. A person claiming an interest files a verified claim with the superior court within 30 days after receiving actual notice, or within 30 days of the last publication of the notice if not personally served or served by mail, and serves an endorsed copy on the prosecutor within 30 days of filing. No filing fee is charged when the property is worth five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less.

• §Health & Saf. Code 11488.5

A conviction first. For most contested forfeitures, the government proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the property meets the criteria, and a judgment of forfeiture requires that a defendant be convicted of a qualifying offense that occurred within five years of the seizure or the notice. Cash or negotiable instruments worth not less than forty thousand dollars ($40,000) may be forfeited on clear and convincing evidence without a conviction.

• §Health & Saf. Code 11488.4