Final Administrative Action for Forfeiture
After your U.S. Currency or other property is seized by an agent the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP), you might receive a Notice of Seizure of Property and Initiation of Administrative Forfeiture Proceedings letter in the mail.
The letter explains the following options:
- Do nothing so the government can keep the property with no chance that it will ever be returned to you;
- File a petition for remission or mitigation which means you are stipulating the forfeiture was legal and the government is entitled to keep the property, but you are asking for relief that might be denied after a long delay with a form letter; or
- File a claim for court action so that the agency that seized your property now has to go to the court for any request to keep the property in a judicial proceeding.
As a general rule, the administrative petitions rarely result in money being returned. Instead of filing a petition, the better course of action might be to file a verified claim for court action, which is the ONLY way to contest the legality of the initial seizure.
What happens if you choose to file an administrative petition and are ultimately dissatisfied with the petition decision (initial petition or supplemental petition)? First of all, you should realize that these government agencies, including CBP, often take a “hide the ball” approach to discourage claimants from demanding court action.
The letter for the final administrative action might not explain your rights. But you can look at the original notice of seizure to see if it gives you an additional 60 days from the date of the initial petition decision (or 60 days from the date of the supplemental petition decision or such other time as specified by the Fines, Penalties & Forfeitures Officers) to file a verified claim for court action through a judicial referral. If so, you might have one last chance to hire an attorney and demand court action.
Don’t make the same mistake again – this time – hire an attorney to help you file a verified claim for court action. This is your last chance to bypass further administrative proceedings, which statistically have very little chance of success.
CBP has a very dysfunctional system for sending the petition decision or providing notice to the claimant of their options. By hiring an attorney, you can ensure the verified claim has all of the necessary information and is received by CBP by the deadline.
We can help you fight for the return of 100% of the money seized,
Attorney for Final Administrative Actions
If you received a final administration action letter from CBP or another federal agency concerning the seizure of money or other property for seizure, act quickly. If you do not include all of the correct information or miss a deadline, then the government will take 100% of the money or property through forfeiture.
On the other hand, if you hire an experienced attorney to fight the seizure, then you might have the best chance of getting all of the money back.
Contact attorney Leslie Sammis for a civil forfeiture action involving a notice of final administrative action by CBP or another federal agency. Many of these cases involve CBP seizing money at the airport before a domestic or international flight. Money or property might also be seized by CBP at a border crossing, on the highway, or at a train or bus station. No matter the circumstances surrounding the seizure of your U.S. Currency, we can help.
We are sometimes contacted by other attorneys who want to partner with us to act as co-counsel in cases throughout the United States. We can help you fight to get the money back.
Call for a free consultation at 813-250-0500.
What is an Administrative Forfeiture Proceeding?
Federal agencies seize property for forfeiture proceedings. If the property is worth five hundred thousand dollars ($ 500,000.00) or less, it is subject to administrative forfeiture without judicial involvement. See 19 U.S.C. § 1607.
Under the forfeiture statutes and regulations, the administrative process requires the government to send a notice of seizure to any party known to have an interest in the property within 60 days of the seizure (or 90 days if the federal agency adopts a seizure initiated by law enforcement officers at the state or local level). The federal agency must also publish notice of the intent to seek forfeiture of the property once a week for three weeks.
A claimant then has 35 days from the date on the personal notice (if received) or the date listed in the published notice, whichever occurs first, to file a verified claim for court action which must be received (in their hand) by the deadline.
The filing of the verified claim stops the administrative process and requires the seizing agency to commence a judicial forfeiture proceeding within 90 days.
If a claimant fails to file a claim by the deadline, the administrative agency may issue a declaration of forfeiture. This declaration vests the United States with title to the property and has the same effect as a final decree and order of forfeiture issued in a judicial proceeding.
Problems with “Final Administrative Action” by CBP
Instead of explaining the options, the “final administrative action” form used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is confusing and incomplete. So what does “claim” mean on the form for “final administration action”?
As explained in the initial notice of seizure, the verified claim for court action (sometimes called the “judicial action request”) requires the seizing agency to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Each U.S. Attorneys’ Office has a forfeiture unit and attorneys specially trained to handle civil asset forfeiture matters.
The claim for court action must include all of the requirements listed in the statute and be verified with an oath under penalty of perjury. If CBP does not actually receive (in their hands) a properly verified claim that includes all of the required information, then the property may be administratively forfeited to the United States.
The notice of “final administrative action” advises you that the property seized by the United States Customs and Border Protection is to be summarily forfeited to the government as provided for in 19 USC 1607, 1608, and 1609, including the amendments enacted by the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-382) approved August 20, 1990.
To stop the summary forfeiture proceedings, you must file a verified claim as required by the notice of CBP’s final administrative action, which might be the Port Director of Customs and Border Protection, Office of Fines, Penalties, & Forfeitures, in the appropriate field office.
Follow the directions in the original notice of seizure exactly, or hire an experienced attorney to ensure your rights are protected.
The notice might provide that the claim must be filed within 30 days from the date the notice of seizure and intent to forfeit is first published. The final administrative action letter will list the date the first legal notice appears on the Department of Justice website.
The notice usually provides that the property will be forfeited to the United States and disposed of according to law if no claim is filed by a specified date in the final administrative action letter.
If you received such a letter from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the seizure of money, contact attorney Leslie Sammis at Sammis Law Firm to discuss the best course of action.
Call 813-250-0500.
This article was last updated on Friday, October 25, 2025.