What happens when you get a seizure letter?
Henry Morales
Published Apr 10, 2026
This letter will warn you that if you do not file a claim within the stated time allowed, the property will be forfeited to the US government. The form lists the information describing the seized property, such as notice data, asset ID numbers, property description, value of the assets, and more.
What is a notice of seizure?
A notice of seizure is a written notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to inform either an individual taxpayer or business that the government has seized its property.
What happens if you ignore customs seizure letter?
What happens if you ignore the letter from Customs and Border Protection? If you simply ignore the notice of seizure letter from CBP, then CBP will note that you made no effort to “clear” the property. In fact, if you want to get your property back, then you should retain an attorney to file a demand for court action.
What is a Notice 12a?
A common seizure information notice which you may have received is a Notice 12a which applies to the seizure of things, such as goods and vehicles, under section 139 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. …
What to do if customs seizes package?
If you believe that U.S. Customs & Border Protection has no legal right to seize your shipping items or should not have been seized, you may challenge a seizure through an administration petition with the Customs, within 30 days of receiving the seizure notice.
What happens when package seizes?
Once the package is ‘seized’, it may be examined by a drug dog, and a warrant will be issued to open the package should the dog alert for the presence of drugs (typically, the post office will line up 6 packages, five which they know do not contain drugs, and the suspected package).
What happens when customs destroys your property?
Cutting up property is intentional and often necessary to find contraband. As a matter of policy the United Staes has determined that the individual owning the damaged property will bear the costs of property damaged during customs searches.
