Cite as: 507 U. S. 111 (1993)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
the condemnation, when obtained, relates back to that time, and avoids all intermediate sales and alienations, even to purchasers in good faith." United States v. Stowell, 133 U. S., at 16-17 (emphases added).
If the Government wins a judgment of forfeiture under the common-law rule—which applied to common-law forfeitures and to forfeitures under statutes without specific relation back provisions—the vesting of its title in the property relates back to the moment when the property became forfeitable. Until the Government does win such a judgment, however, someone else owns the property. That person may therefore invoke any defense available to the owner of the property before the forfeiture is decreed.
In this case a statute allows respondent to prove that she is an innocent owner. And, as the Chief Justice further explained in Grundy, if a forfeiture is authorized by statute, "the rules of the common law may be dispensed with," 3 Cranch, at 351. Congress had the opportunity to dispense with the common-law doctrine when it enacted § 881(h); as we read that subsection, however, Congress merely codified the common-law rule. Because that rule was never applied to the forfeiture of proceeds, and because the statute now contains an innocent owner defense, it may not be immediately clear that they lead to the same result.
The 1984 amendment provides:
"All right, title, and interest in property described in subsection (a) of this section shall vest in the United States upon commission of the act giving rise to forfeiture under this section." 21 U. S. C. § 881(h).
Because proceeds traceable to illegal drug transactions are a species of "property described in subsection (a)," the Government argues that this provision has the effect of preventing such proceeds from becoming the property of anyone other than the United States. The argument fails.
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