[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR274.1]

[Page 692-694]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 274--SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF CONVEYANCES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 274.1  Definitions.

    The following definitions apply to the following terms in this part:
    (a) The term appraised value means the estimated price at the time 
and place of seizure, if such or similar property were freely offered 
for sale.
    (b) The term beneficial owner means a person who has dominion and 
control over a conveyance, as well as a property interest therein.
    (c) The term claimant means any person who asserts a property 
interest in a seized or forfeited conveyance through a personal 
interview or by filing a claim and a bond or a petition for relief from 
forfeiture.
    (d) The term common carrier means an express carrier, a freight 
forwarder, a

[[Page 693]]

motor common carrier, a rail carrier, a sleeping car carrier, and a 
water common carrier, as each of those terms is defined in 49 U.S.C. 
10102; and an air carrier and a foreign air carrier, as each of those 
terms is defined in 49 U.S.C. 1301.
    (e) The term consenting party or privy to the illegal act means that 
the person knew of the illegal activity. A person shall be presumed to 
have knowledge of an illegal activity if the facts and circumstances are 
such that a person would reasonably be expected to know of the illegal 
activity.
    (f) The term conveyance means a vessel, vehicle, or aircraft as used 
in section 274(b) of the Act. A trailer shall be considered a vehicle if 
it is being towed or readily capable of being towed. An immobilized 
house trailer which has been placed on permanent foundations, which is 
not readily mobile, is not a vehicle.
    (g) The term custodian means the regional commissioner or the U.S. 
Marshals Service.
    (h) The date of an action in conjunction with the term filed means 
the following:
    (1) Date of receipt in the office specified in this part for filing, 
if filing is by personal delivery;
    (2) Date of postmark, if filing is by mail to the office specified 
in this part for filing;
    (3) Date five days prior to date of receipt in the office specified 
in this part for filing, if filing is by mail to the office specified in 
this part for filing and date of postmark is missing or illegible; or
    (4) Date of receipt in the office specified in this part for filing, 
if filing is by mail to any other office.
    (i) The term lien means in interest created by a conditional sales 
contract, mortgage, title retention contract, debt reduced to a judicial 
judgment upon which there has been an execution or an attachment against 
a conveyance, or other security interest in a conveyance. A lienholder 
is the holder of such an interest.
    (j) The term net equity means the amount of monetary interest of a 
lienholder in a conveyance. Net equity is to be computed by determining 
the amount of unpaid principal and unpaid interest as of the date of 
seizure, and by adding to that amount the unpaid interest calculated 
from the date of seizure through the last full month prior to the date 
of the determination granting relief from forfeiture. The rate of 
interest to be used in this computation will be the annual percentage 
rate specified in the security agreement which is the basis of the 
interest of the lienholder. In this computation there shall be no 
allowances for unearned extended warranty, insurance, or service 
contract charges incurred after the date of seizure, nor allowances for 
dealer reserves, attorneys fees, or other similar charges.
    (k) The term owner means a person who has the right to possess and 
use a conveyance to the exclusion of other persons. A person who has 
complied with the state formalities for a title or a registration for a 
conveyance is not the owner if such person does not have sufficient 
actual beneficial interest in the conveyance. In the consideration of a 
petition for relief from forfeiture the mere existence of a community 
property interest without proof of financial contribution to the 
purchase of a conveyance will not be deemed a property interest. 
Ownership is the interest that an owner has in a conveyance.
    (l) The term person means an individual, partnership, corporation, 
joint business enterprise, or other entity capable of owning a 
conveyance.
    (m) The term petitioner means a person filing a petition for relief 
from forfeiture of a seized conveyance.
    (n) The term property interest means ownership, lien, or other 
legally cognizable interest in or legal entitlement to possession of a 
conveyance existing on the date of seizure of the conveyance. A person 
who has complied with the state formalities of a title or a registration 
for a conveyance may not have sufficient actual beneficial interest or 
other legally cognizable interest in a conveyance. In the consideration 
of a petition for relief from forfeiture the mere existence of a 
community property interest without proof of financial contribution to 
the purchase of a conveyance will not be deemed a property interest.

[[Page 694]]

    (o) The term record means an arrest for a related crime followed by 
a conviction, except that a single arrest and conviction and the 
expiration of any sentence imposed as a result of the conviction, all of 
which occurred more than ten years prior to the date a claimant acquired 
a property interest in the seized or forfeited conveyance, is not 
considered a record; provided that two convictions of related crimes 
shall always be considered a record regardless of when the convictions 
occurred; and provided that the regional commissioner may consider as 
constituting a record an arrest for a related crime or series of arrests 
for related crimes in which the charge or charges were subsequently 
dismissed for reasons other than acquittal or lack of evidence.
    (p) The term regional commissioner means the Regional Commissioner 
of the Service for the region in which a conveyance is seized, or the 
designee of that Regional Commissioner.
    (q) The term related crime means any crime similar in nature to or 
related to the illegal bringing in, harboring, transportation, entry, 
reentry, or importation of aliens.
    (r) The term reputation means repute for related crimes with a law 
enforcement agency or among law enforcement officers or in the community 
generally, including any pertient neighborhood or other area.
    (s) The term seizure means the act of taking a conveyance into the 
custody of the Service for the express purpose of considering forfeiture 
pursuant to section 274(b) of the Act and this part.
    (t) The term state means any state or any like political division of 
any geographical territory defined in section 101(a)(38) of the Act as 
being part of the United States or any state or any like political 
division of any geographical territory of any other nation or territory, 
unless otherwise limited in this part.
    (u) The term sufficient actual beneficial interest means the 
interest in a conveyance of a beneficial owner.
    (v) The term violator means a person whose use of or actions with 
regard to a conveyance in violation of the law subjected the conveyance 
to seizure pursuant to section 274(b) of the Act and this part.