Cite as: 510 U. S. 43 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
which, by its very nature, can be neither moved nor concealed. In fact, when Calero-Toledo was decided, both the Puerto Rican statute, P. R. Laws Ann., Tit. 24, § 2512 (Supp. 1973), and the federal forfeiture statute upon which it was modeled, 21 U. S. C. § 881 (1970 ed.), authorized the forfeiture of personal property only. It was not until 1984, 10 years later, that Congress amended § 881 to authorize the forfeiture of real property. See 21 U. S. C. § 881(a)(7); Pub. L. 98- 473, § 306, 98 Stat. 2050.
The right to prior notice and a hearing is central to the Constitution's command of due process. "The purpose of this requirement is not only to ensure abstract fair play to the individual. Its purpose, more particularly, is to protect his use and possession of property from arbitrary encroachment—to minimize substantively unfair or mistaken deprivations of property . . . ." Fuentes, 407 U. S., at 80-81.
We tolerate some exceptions to the general rule requiring predeprivation notice and hearing, but only in " 'extraordinary situations where some valid governmental interest is at stake that justifies postponing the hearing until after the event.' " Id., at 82 (quoting Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U. S. 371, 379 (1971)); United States v. $8,850, 461 U. S., at 562, n. 12. Whether the seizure of real property for purposes of civil forfeiture justifies such an exception requires an examination of the competing interests at stake, along with the promptness and adequacy of later proceedings. The three-part inquiry set forth in Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319 (1976), provides guidance in this regard. The Mathews analysis requires us to consider the private interest affected by the official action; the risk of an erroneous deprivation of that interest through the procedures used, as well as the probable value of additional safeguards; and the Government's interest, including the administrative burden that additional procedural requirements would impose. Id., at 335.
Good's right to maintain control over his home, and to be free from governmental interference, is a private interest of
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