United States · Federal civil procedure

When must a defendant serve objections to a federal condemnation?

A defendant objecting to the taking must serve an answer within twenty-one days after being served with the Rule 71.1 notice. It must identify the property and interest and state all objections and defenses. This calculator covers independently established personal notice service under Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A). Publication and disputed service require separate review.

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Period: Twenty-one days after qualifying personal notice service in this scoped branch
Trigger: Independently established personal service of the Rule 71.1 notice
Rule: FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

December 1, 2025 compilation

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Personal service of condemnation notice

Enter actual effective personal notice service. Complaint filing, notice preparation or publication does not replace this event.

Entry rules and timing exceptions

21 days from Service of the notice of condemnation

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)Binding

Rule notes

FRCP 71.1(d)(2)(B)(vi) requires the notice to warn that failure to serve an answer constitutes consent to the taking and to the court's authority to proceed and fix compensation. A defendant with no objection may instead serve a notice of appearance under FRCP 71.1(e)(1). Rule 4(m)'s 90-day service limit is expressly disapplied to service of a Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A) notice.

Calculation software, not legal advice. Check the current rule, orders and facts.

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Which event starts this procedure?

Identify the actual notice and establish personal service under Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A).

Establish the defendant’s objection or defense and property interest.

State all objections and defenses. Publication service and appearance without objections are separate branches.

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

How is the ordinary period counted?

Identify the actual actor, pleading and required act.
Establish the specified event and applicable order.
Exclude the verified event day and count the scoped calendar-day period.
Check final-day conditions and preserve service and filing evidence separately.

Exclude independently established personal notice service and count twenty-one calendar days under Rule 6(a). Original-process service under Rule 4 does not automatically invoke Rule 6(d). Check any actual granted extension.

Rule 6(a) excludes the operative event and counts intermediate calendar days. A final Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves forward. Rule 6(a)(6) includes federal and President or Congress declared holidays, plus state-declared holidays for forward periods in the district. Qualifying clerk inaccessibility matters separately for filing.

FRCP 6(a)(1)

What does an independently checked example show?

Fictitious example

Fictitious dates. Personal service of the condemnation notice is established as July 6. The defendant objects to the taking.

Example counting steps
Step	What is counted	Date
Event	Independently established personal service of the Rule 71.1 notice	July 6, 2026
Count	Twenty-one days after qualifying personal notice service in this scoped branch	July 27, 2026

Example resultMonday, July 27, 2026

Fictitious dates. The applicable event is established independently. No different statute, court-set time, granted extension, additional declared holiday or clerk inaccessibility is assumed.

Try these dates in the calculator

Which conditions change the assessment?

Scoped personal notice: Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A) uses personal notice service in accordance with Rule 4 for the stated known-address defendants. This calculator does not resolve contested service.
Complete objections and defenses: Subsection (e)(2) requires property, interest, objections and defenses. Subsection (e)(3) waives unstated objections and defenses and prohibits another pleading or motion asserting additional ones.
Compensation and publication: Subsection (e)(3) preserves the stated compensation evidence and award participation without prior answer. Publication is completed on the last publication date under subsection (d)(3)(B). Any granted enlargement is separate.

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

This page does not establish effective service, merits, compliance or an actual court grant.
Service and filing are different acts. Verify both when required.

What should I verify before acting?

Identify the actual notice and establish personal service under Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A).
Rule 71.1(d)(3)(A) uses personal notice service in accordance with Rule 4 for the stated known-address defendants. This calculator does not resolve contested service.
Subsection (e)(2) requires property, interest, objections and defenses. Subsection (e)(3) waives unstated objections and defenses and prohibits another pleading or motion asserting additional ones.
Subsection (e)(3) preserves the stated compensation evidence and award participation without prior answer. Publication is completed on the last publication date under subsection (d)(3)(B). Any granted enlargement is separate.
Serve the answer on the plaintiff’s attorney with every required interest, objection and defense. Check separate filing. For filing, Rule 6(a)(4) ordinarily uses midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing and scheduled clerk closing for other filing. A statute, local rule or order may set another time. These filing cutoffs do not establish effective service by every method. Preserve evidence of each actual required act.

Common questions

This procedure and its conditions

Does complaint filing start the period?

No. The event is service of the condemnation notice, using the independently established personal branch here.

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

Can omitted objections be added in another defense motion?

Rule 71.1(e)(3) waives unstated objections and defenses and prohibits another pleading or motion asserting additional ones.

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

Does failure to answer remove every compensation right?

No. Subsection (e)(3) preserves the stated right to present compensation evidence and share in the award.

FRCP 71.1(e)(2)

Official sources and review

Provisions used (5)

Provisions used in this guide
Provision	Purpose
FRCP 71.1(e)(2)	This actor, required act, operative event and period
FRCP 71.1(d)(2)–(3)	Required notice and personal service
FRCP 71.1(d)(3)(B)(ii) and (e)	Publication completion, answer, waiver and compensation
FRCP 6(a)(1)	Event exclusion and intermediate calendar days
FRCP 6(a)(3)–(6) and (b)(1)	Actual final-day conditions, filing boundaries and applicable extension limits

Read the official Civil Rules compilation

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What lawyers say

1Which event starts this procedure?

2How is the ordinary period counted?

3What does an independently checked example show?

4Which conditions change the assessment?

5What should I verify before acting?

6Common questions

This procedure and its conditions

Does complaint filing start the period?

Can omitted objections be added in another defense motion?

Does failure to answer remove every compensation right?

7Official sources and review

Which event starts this procedure?

How is the ordinary period counted?

What does an independently checked example show?

Which conditions change the assessment?

What should I verify before acting?

Common questions

Official sources and review