Filing Claims And Bonds

(1) Filing Claims. A properly filed claim commences a contested case proceeding under the Act. Each claimant shall file a separate claim, except a husband and wife with common interests may file a single claim but each must sign the claim. (2) The Legal Division shall stamp or write on the claim the date that a claim is received. Any document received after regularly scheduled business hours shall be date stamped as of the next business day. Regularly scheduled business hours for the Legal Division are as follows: For the central time region of Tennessee 8:00 A.M.-4:30 P.M. C.S.T. (C.D.S.T.) and for the eastern time region of Tennessee 8:00 A.M.-4:30 P.M. E.S.T.(E.D.S.T.) (3) A purported claim that does not comply with Paragraph (4) of this Rule does NOT commence a contested case proceeding and does NOT stay the thirty (30) day filing time. Claims not filed by an attorney may be reviewed less stringently. (4) Claim. (a) A claim is a written request, signed by the claimant, seeking to recover an alleged interest in seized property. If the claimant is an individual, the claim must be signed by the claimant and/or claimant’s attorney. If the claimant is a business entity, the claim must be signed by an individual whose authority to sign is reflected on the claim. Claims shall be filed with the Legal Division at the address below within thirty (30) days of notification of a forfeiture warrant. A claim must set forth the following: 1. The full name of claimant. 2. The address where claimant will accept mail. 3. The telephone number where claimant can be reached. 4. Identification of the seized property in which claimant asserts an interest. 5. The nature and extent of claimant’s interest in the seized property. 6. A valid cost bond or Pauper’s Oath per paragraph (5) below. (b) If a secured party with a duly perfected security interest receives notification pursuant to T.C.A. § 40-33-204(g) that a Forfeiture Warrant has been issued with regard to such secured property, such secured party must submit proof of the security interest (copy of THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ASSET FORFEITURE HEARINGS CHAPTER 1340-02-02 title and security agreement) to the department within thirty (30) days of receipt of such notification in order for the provisions of this subparagraph to apply. A secured party with a duly perfected interest or any successor in interest to such secured party who does not receive notice of intent to forfeit such interest pursuant to T.C.A. § 40-33- 204(b)(3), need not file a claim to preserve any right such party may have to such property. However, it shall be the duty of the lienholder who receives notice pursuant to T.C.A. § 40-33-204(g) to inform the department that there is a successor-in-interest. Upon receiving proof of a security interest, no cost bond or other pleadings need be filed by the secured party or successor in interest in order to protect its interest in the seized property or to assert a claim to the property as provided in T.C.A. § 40-33-206. If the department notifies a secured party that it intends to seek forfeiture of the secured party’s interest, it shall seek a Forfeiture Warrant against such secured party as provided in T.C.A. § 40-33-204(b). Upon receiving notice that such a Forfeiture Warrant has been issued, the secured party is required to file a claim for the property as provided in this part. Any secured party, other than one described above, or any successor-in-interest to such secured party may file a claim for seized property by complying with the provisions of T.C.A. § 40-33-206, within thirty (30) days of the date the Forfeiture Warrant is issued. (c) Claims, proof of security interests and any other filings in a contested case should be mailed or sent by facsimile to the Legal Office that serves the county in which the seizure took place: Legal Division-Nashville Bedford Cannon Cheatham Clay Cumberland Davidson DeKalb Dickson Giles Hickman Houston Humphreys Jackson Lawrence Lewis Lincoln Macon Marshall Maury Montgomery Moore Overton Perry Pickett Putnam Robertson Rutherford Smith Stewart Sumner Trousdale Wayne White Williamson Wilson Legal Division - Nashville Tennessee Department of Safety 1150 Foster Avenue, Nashville, TN 37243 Telephone number: (615) 251-5296 Facsimile: (615) 532-7918 Legal Division – East Tennessee Anderson Bledsoe Blount Bradley Campbell Carter Claiborne Cocke Coffee Fentress Franklin Grainger Green Grundy Hamblen Hamilton Hancock Hawkins Jefferson Johnson Knox Loudon McMinn Marion Meigs Monroe Morgan Polk Rhea Roane Scott Sequatchie Sevier Sullivan Unicoi Union Van Buren Warren Washington Legal Division - East Tennessee Tennessee Department of Safety 7175 Strawberry Plains Pike, Ste. 301 Knoxville, TN 37914 Telephone Number: (865) 594-6519 Facsimile: (865) 594-5311 THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ASSET FORFEITURE HEARINGS CHAPTER 1340-02-02 Legal Division – West Tennessee Benton Carroll Chester Crockett Decatur Dyer Fayette Gibson Hardeman Hardin Haywood Henderson Henry Lake Lauderdale McNairy Madison Obion Shelby Tipton Weakley Legal Division - West Tennessee Tennessee Department of Safety 6174 Macon Road Memphis, TN 38134 Telephone Number: (901) 372-0622 Facsimile: (901) 372-1294 Note: Claimants and secured parties may file at the Legal Division-Nashville address for any property seizure pursuant to the Act, regardless of the county of seizure. (5) Cost Bonds. A claim shall have a valid cost bond or no contested case proceeding will commence. The following will be considered a valid cost bond: (a) Money order or cashier’s check. (b) Attorney’s check. Only checks from an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee will be accepted. (c) Surety. The commissioner may accept a surety signed by an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Tennessee, a bond from a licensed bonding company approved by the commissioner, or a corporate surety bond. (d) Pauper’s Oath. Any individual claimant may file a claim without filing a cost bond if the individual claimant submits the Pauper’s Oath forms, properly completed, signed and notarized, provided by the Department. The factors that will be considered by the department in determining indigence are yearly income, the value of real and personal property owned, debts, other household income, and whether or not the claimant has hired an attorney to represent the claimant. (e) To be a valid cost bond, any of the above bonds must be filed with the Legal Division, and not with the seizing agency. (f) If a cost bond or a pauper’s oath is rejected, then claimant shall have ten (10) days from receipt of notification by Certified United States Mail Return Receipt Requested, or 10 days from the return to the department of the unclaimed notice: 1. To request a hearing on the improper cost bond or pauper’s oath. Failure to request a hearing is deemed a waiver of claimant’s right to a hearing on the improper cost bond or pauper’s oath and shall result in rejection of the claim; or 2. To provide a proper cost bond. (6) Debarment. No check, surety, or bond shall be accepted from any attorney or bonding company that has failed to pay costs pursuant to a previous cost bond within thirty (30) days of notice by the department to pay. A claim accompanied by a cost bond from a debarred attorney or bonding company shall not commence a contested case proceeding. (7) Bonding Out Seized Property. Bond for release of seized property for safekeeping purposes only shall consist of the following: (a) Pending any contested case proceeding to recover a vehicle, aircraft or boat, the commissioner may bond out such seized property for its retail value per the N.A.D.A., Southeastern Edition for vehicles and boats and per a source approved by the THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ASSET FORFEITURE HEARINGS CHAPTER 1340-02-02 commissioner for airplanes to a claimant who has established a right to immediate possession. The bond may be revoked at the discretion of the commissioner. 1. If the property seized was other than the property stated above, the bond shall be in an amount equal to two times the retail value of the property. 2. If the property seized was a motor vehicle titled in the name of one or more persons who are not secured parties, the bond shall be in an amount equal to the N.A.D.A., Southeastern Edition, retail value of the vehicle. (b) A secured party may obtain immediate possession of the seized property by executing a bond in an amount equal to two (2) times the retail value of the property or by executing an annual bond or letter of credit with a regulated financial institution in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). Upon submitting proof of such bond or letter of credit, the department or seizing agency shall release the property to the secured party. (c) The following will be considered valid bonds: 1. Cashier’s check or money order. 2. Bond from a bonding company licensed in the State of Tennessee and approved by the commissioner. 3. An annual bond or letter of credit with a regulated financial institution in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) submitted by a secured party. (d) Bonded out property shall be returned in the same condition as of the date of the bond- out order. If the bonded out property is returned in worse condition or not at all, at any settlement or contested case hearing, the bond shall be substituted for the bonded out property.