JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
(Editor’s note: the information in this article pertains only to U.S. Army Soldiers. Members of other military services should contact their respective legal offices for more information on this subject.)
While the long-term effects of the coronavirus – COVID-19 – continue to be uncertain, the Army is taking immediate steps to protect the force, preserve readiness, and mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission among personnel.
Consequently, one protective measure the Army has taken was to publish an order March 7, directing Soldiers and family members who are on orders to move to or from Korea or Italy to stop movement and delay travel until May 6, 2020, or until further notice.
The order is Fragmentary Order 4, or FRAGO-4, which modified an Execution Order, or EXORD, put out by Headquarters Department of the Army to address the Army’s preparedness and response to the Coronavirus.
If FRAGO-4 affects you and your family because you are scheduled to move to or from Korea or Italy, what do you do?
For now, do not cancel any leases pursuant to your right under the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act, or SCRA. The SCRA is a great law, with many protections for Soldiers, including the authority to terminate a lease for a dwelling when a Soldier receives Permanent Change of Station, or PCS, orders.
However, the SCRA does not require a landlord to re-lease those premises to service members and their dependents following a valid termination.
In other words, if you use the SCRA to terminate a lease because you are on PCS orders to or from Korea or Italy, but FRAGO-4 kicks in, then you are stuck where you are, but the landlord is not required to re-lease you the property.
Meanwhile, if you have already requested to terminate your lease, we recommend you contact your landlord immediately to see if the landlord will agree, voluntarily, to a lease extension or a temporary re-lease.
Soldiers and their families who terminate their leases, but cannot PCS under the stop-PCS order in FRAGO-4, face the possibility of moving twice: first from the terminated residence, and then again to their new duty assignment when their PCS orders are re-issued. Funding for the two moves will be uncertain until further notice, as will the availability of temporary lodging.
For questions on the effects of FRAGO-4 and the legal application of the SCRA generally, consider first discussing the issue with your chain of command, your S-1, and/or a JBSA legal assistance attorney.
JBSA Legal News For Soldiers is a publication of Soldier Legal Services at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, located at 2422 Stanley Road, building 134, and can be reached at 210-808-0169.