Forfeiture is the loss of money or property without compensation as a consequence of a breach of a legal obligation or criminal offense. In some cases, vehicles that are seized may be forfeited, and no longer be the property of the offender.

Forfeiture only applies to a vehicle if the offender is the owner of the vehicle. The court does not always order the forfeiture of seized vehicles, even when it has the option to do so once the offender is convicted. However, there are times when the court must order the forfeiture of the vehicle as a part of the sentencing of the offender.

Mandatory Forfeiture

There are times when the court must order the forfeiture of an offender’s vehicle.  The court must order forfeiture:

• For a vehicle that was involved in the offense, that is owned by the offender, and the offender is convicted of a third OVI in the past 6 years
• If an offender is convicted of operating a vehicle he/she owns while under an OVI suspension and has at least 2 prior convictions for that offense in the past 6 years
• If a vehicle is found being operated on any street or highway in Ohio while it is under an immobilization order

Optional Forfeiture

In some cases the court can choose whether or not to order the forfeiture of a vehicle. A court can choose to order the forfeiture of a vehicle if:

• It was involved in an offense, is owned by the offender, and the offender is convicted of driving under suspension or in violation of a restriction
• If the offender was previously convicted of driving under some type of suspension 3 or more times within the past 3 years
• If a vehicle owned by an offender was wrongfully entrusted to another person, the offender is convicted of that offense, and the offender was previously convicted of that offense 2 or more times within the past 3 years

Other Consequences of Forfeiture

In most cases the OBMV cannot accept an application for the registration of any motor vehicle in the name of any person for 5 years after any vehicle owned by the person was ordered forfeited.