A petition for remission is a sworn written request asking the federal agency that seized your property to give it back, decided by the agency itself rather than a court. You file it with the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officer at the seizing agency, prove you are an innocent owner, and ask the ruling official to exercise discretion in your favor. The seizure does not have to be illegal for the petition to work; you are asking for relief, not a ruling that the government was wrong.
What a Petition for Remission Does
Federal forfeiture runs on two tracks. When the Department of Justice, DEA, CBP, or a similar agency seizes personal property worth $500,000 or less, it can forfeit the property through an internal administrative process without ever going to court.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1607 – Customs Laws Seizure and Forfeiture The agency publishes notice, and if nobody responds, the property is forfeited by default.
A petition for remission is one way to interrupt that default. You are not arguing the seizure was unlawful. You are telling the agency that you hold a legitimate interest in the property, that you had nothing to do with whatever conduct triggered the seizure, and that returning the property serves the interests of justice. The petition goes to the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officer (or equivalent) at the agency that took the property.2eCFR. 19 CFR 171.1 – Petition for Relief That official can grant full remission, offer mitigation (a conditional return, usually tied to a payment), or deny the petition.
Who Qualifies as an Innocent Owner
The regulation governing DOJ remissions tells the ruling official not to grant relief unless you establish two things: a valid, good-faith legal interest in the property as an owner or lienholder, and that you are an innocent owner under federal law.3eCFR. 28 CFR 9.5 – Criteria Governing Administrative and Judicial Remission and Mitigation
What “innocent” means depends on when you acquired your interest.
If you owned the property before the illegal conduct, you qualify by showing either that you did not know about the conduct or that, once you learned of it, you did everything reasonably in your power to stop it. The statute lists examples of reasonable steps: notifying law enforcement in a timely way, revoking permission for the person involved to use the property, or taking other reasonable steps in consultation with police. You are not required to put yourself in physical danger.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
If you acquired the property after the illegal conduct, you have to show you were a good-faith buyer who paid fair value and had no reason to believe the property was subject to forfeiture.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
The burden sits on you, and the standard is a preponderance of the evidence — more likely than not. A bare assertion that you did not know will not carry the day if the surrounding facts suggest you should have.
What the Petition Must Contain
For petitions filed with DOJ-affiliated agencies, the regulation requires specific elements:5eCFR. 28 CFR 9.3 – Petitions in Administrative Forfeiture Cases
- Your full name, address, and Social Security number or taxpayer identification number.
- The name of the seizing agency, the asset identifier number from your notice, and the date and location of the seizure.
- A complete description of the property, including make, model, and serial numbers for vehicles or electronics, or the exact amount for seized currency.
- A description of your interest in the property, backed by original or certified documents such as bills of sale, contracts, deeds, or mortgage papers. For seized currency, you need documentation showing the legitimate source of the funds.
Every factual statement must be supported by a declaration under penalty of perjury. Materially false statements will sink the petition and expose you to prosecution. The agency may also ask for a signed release from any other titled owner or known claimant.
CBP petitions follow a parallel framework. They go to the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officer named in your seizure notice and must be filed in duplicate unless submitted electronically.6eCFR. 19 CFR 171.2 – Filing a Petition
Supporting Documents That Help
The required elements are the skeleton; the attached evidence is what moves the ruling official. Receipts, bank statements, and purchase contracts show how you acquired the property. For a vehicle, a clean title in your name is essential. For real estate, you need the deed. For currency or a bank account, tax returns and pay stubs help establish a legitimate source. If the property was used in a business, employment records or corporate filings can show its role in lawful commerce. Organize everything chronologically and reference specific exhibits in the body of the petition so the reviewer is not hunting through loose pages.
Where and When to File
Deadlines are where petitioners most often lose. For DOJ agencies, the notice of seizure advises you to submit a petition within 30 days of receiving the notice to facilitate processing.5eCFR. 28 CFR 9.3 – Petitions in Administrative Forfeiture Cases Under the DOJ regulation, late petitions may still be considered any time before the property has been formally forfeited. Once forfeiture is complete, that door closes permanently.
For CBP seizures, the deadline is firmer: petitions for relief must be filed within 30 days from the date the notice of seizure was mailed. The Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officer can grant extensions when the circumstances warrant, but do not count on it.6eCFR. 19 CFR 171.2 – Filing a Petition
One deadline runs against the government. Federal law requires written notice of an administrative forfeiture to be sent to interested parties within 60 days of the seizure. If the agency misses that notice deadline and you have not waived it, the government cannot administratively forfeit the property and must either return it or begin a judicial forfeiture proceeding.7Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-112.000 – Administrative and Judicial Forfeiture
How the Agency Decides
Once the petition is in, the agency verifies your documentation and investigates your claims. Reviews often take several months, and the agency may ask for additional information. No regulation forces a quick decision.
The ruling official eventually issues a written decision in one of three forms.
Full remission. Your property is returned, or if the government already sold it, you receive the proceeds minus any costs the government incurred. The ruling official has discretion to waive those costs.828 CFR Part 9. 28 CFR 9.7 – Terms and Conditions of Remission and Mitigation Agencies commonly require you to sign an agreement holding the government harmless from future claims related to the seizure or the condition of the property on return.
Mitigation. You get the property back subject to conditions, typically a monetary payment. This outcome is for situations where you do not quite meet the standard for full remission but complete forfeiture would be unjust.3eCFR. 28 CFR 9.5 – Criteria Governing Administrative and Judicial Remission and Mitigation If a monetary condition is imposed, you have 20 days from receiving the decision to accept and pay. Miss the window and the agency sells the property, subtracts the condition and costs, and sends you whatever remains.
Denial. The agency keeps the property. You have a narrow path to request reconsideration.
Petition for Remission vs. Judicial Claim
The remission petition is not your only option, and the choice matters. You can instead file a formal claim contesting the forfeiture, which forces the government to take the case to federal court. Under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, no cost bond is required. The deadline is no earlier than 35 days after the personal notice letter is mailed, or 30 days after final publication of the seizure notice if you never received the letter.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
These are generally alternatives rather than parallel tracks. Filing a judicial claim typically ends any pending administrative proceeding, and the ruling official loses authority to act on your petition. Once the matter goes judicial, it is referred to the U.S. Attorney’s office. If the government then fails to file a forfeiture complaint within 90 days of your claim, it must return the property.
The practical tradeoff: a petition for remission is cheaper, informal, and does not require a lawyer, but the agency has the last word and there is no independent review. A judicial claim gives you a judge, rules of evidence, and the chance to argue your case, at the cost of legal fees and a longer timeline. Many people start with the administrative petition because a denial does not waive other legal options. Watch the judicial-claim deadline closely so it does not expire while you wait for the agency to decide.
If the Petition Is Denied
Under the DOJ regulations, you may file one request for reconsideration within 10 days of receiving the denial notice.9eCFR. 28 CFR Part 9 – Regulations Governing the Remission or Mitigation of Administrative, Civil, and Criminal Forfeitures That window is short, and the reconsideration must be based on information not previously considered that is material to the basis for the denial. Rephrasing your original arguments will not work.
A different ruling official handles the reconsideration, so you get fresh eyes, but only once. After that decision, the administrative process is finished, and whatever remains depends on whether the judicial-claim deadline has passed and whether a separate legal challenge is available on the facts.
Costs That Come Out of Your Property
Winning does not always mean a clean return. For DOJ-administered forfeitures, the ruling official may deduct the government’s costs from the value of the property before returning it, though the official has discretion to waive them.828 CFR Part 9. 28 CFR 9.7 – Terms and Conditions of Remission and Mitigation If the property was sold before remission was granted, you receive the sale proceeds minus those costs. Vehicles and anything requiring special storage are the most likely to come back with a bill attached, so plan for that possibility when you decide what the fight is worth.