§1631f Claims to vested property

Summary

You can either sue in court or file a sworn claim to get back property (or the net money from it) that a presidential designee now holds after it was vested under the earlier rule. If you sue, the designee must be a defendant. The case goes to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, or to the federal district where you live, or where a company claimant has its main office. Your complaint must say that you are not Bulgaria, Hungary, or Rumania, and not a national as defined in Executive Order 8389 of April 10, 1940 (as changed). It must also say you owned the property right before it was vested or you inherited it. If you do not sue, you may instead file a sworn notice of claim with the designee in the form the designee requires. The designee may return the property or net proceeds if those same two conditions are met. This is the only way to get relief under these rules, and if the property was sold you can only claim the net money held by the designee. A stock-based claim is allowed if at least 25 percent of the company’s stock was owned at the vesting date by nationals of countries other than Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, Germany, or Japan. Claims by foreign nationals will be paid only after the State Department certifies that the foreign country treats U.S. nationals the same. The designee may keep or recover from the returned property an amount up to what was spent to preserve or maintain it.