In compliance with the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-132, Section 209, on July 24, 1996, the Attorney General issued the following guidelines for enforcement of restitution orders: Orders of restitution imposed under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act must be enforced to the fullest extent of the law. Restitution owed to victims of crimes is a critical part of the criminal judgment. The Financial Litigation/Asset Recovery Units in the United States Attorneys’ offices should take all steps possible to help ensure that this money is collected and that victims of crime are fully compensated for their losses. All prosecutors and Victim-Witness Coordinators must support the mission of criminal debt collection. See Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance.

Absent a court-ordered stay on appeal, a defendant who fails to pay restitution that is due immediately or defaults on a payment plan should be aggressively pursued for collection of the debt pursuant to the following guidelines:

In order to guarantee enforcement to the fullest extent of the law, a lien should be filed by the United States in all cases where non-federal restitution is ordered and not immediately paid. Additionally, discovery of the debtor’s assets should be pursued, including, but not limited to: reviewing the presentence report for asset information; requesting a financial statement from the debtor or completed interrogatories regarding assets and liabilities or, in the case of an incarcerated debtor, consulting with the assigned case manager regarding assets and liabilities; inquiring whether any victims have information about the debtor’s assets; requesting asset information from the prosecutor and case agent; and, researching on-line property locator services available to the Financial Litigation/Asset Recovery Unit.

In cases where the United States Attorney’s office has reason to believe that the debtor might have assets based on the inquiries and research set forth above or other information, a credit report should be obtained and, where practicable, the deposition of the debtor or other parties who may have knowledge of the debtor’s assets should be conducted.

If it is discovered that a defendant who has defaulted on payment of restitution has the ability to pay, a default hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3613A, or resentencing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3614, should be considered. All enforcement remedies, including those under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act, 28 U.S.C. 3001-3308, should be pursued, including garnishment of the debtor’s wages, pensions, investment accounts and/or bank accounts, execution on the debtor’s nonexempt property and filing of a fraudulent transfer action. Please be aware that where debt collection proceedings are public court proceedings, the crime victim must be notified of those proceedings pursuant to the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. 3771(a)(2).

Enforced collection remedies should be used against debtors under the supervision of the probation office only after consultation with that office. Additionally, while the law provides the government with the ability to reach substantial assets of a criminal defendant, the government must be cautious about seizing a debtor’s primary residenceto avoid the debtor’s family becoming a public charge. For this reason, approval of the United States Attorney is required prior to executing upon a criminal debtor’s primary residence. See JM 4-11.540.

Financial Litigation/Asset Recovery Unit efforts to collect restitution for nonfederal crime victims should be aggressively pursued. These efforts can, however, be minimal if the victim is willing and financially able to pursue collection on its own behalf. In many cases, corporate or nonfederal government victims may be in a better position to pursue enforcement than the United States Attorney’s office and they should be encouraged to do so, thus freeing up resources in the United States Attorney’s office to concentrate on other victims.

Information about the collection of special assessments and restitution for offenses under Chapters 77, 109A, 110, and 117, and 8 U.S.C. § 1324 can be found at Justice Manual 8-3.500.

[updated November 2022]