[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 8, Volume 1] [Revised as of January 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 8CFR274.1] [Page 631-633] TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PART 274_SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF CONVEYANCES--Table of Contents Sec. 274.1 Definitions. Sec. 274.1 Definitions. 274.2 Officers authorized to seize conveyances. 274.3 Custody and duties of custodian. 274.4 Conveyances subject to seizure; termination of interest. 274.5 Return to owner of seized conveyance not subject to forfeiture; opportunity for personal interview. 274.6 Proof of property interest. 274.7 Appraisal. 274.8 Notice to owner and lienholder of seizure. 274.9 Advertisement. 274.10 Judicial forfeiture proceedings upon claim and bond. 274.11 Administrative forfeiture. 274.12 Judicial forfeiture. 274.13 Petitions for relief from forfeiture; filing. 274.14 Time for filing petitions. 274.15 Remission. 274.16 Mitigation. 274.17 Restoration of proceeds or appraised value. 274.18 Provisions applicable to particular situations. 274.19 Determinations on petitions; reconsideration. 274.20 Compromise of judicial forfeiture proceedings. Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1324(b). Source: 53 FR 43187, Oct. 26, 1988, unless otherwise noted. 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 [[Page 632]] 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 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 [[Page 633]] 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. (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.