LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A permanent change of station, or PCS move, brings stress and much anxiety.
For military members living off base, getting household goods packed and shipped in preparation for their next assignment is stress enough without having to terminate their residential leases early in order to make the move.
In some instances, service members have to deal with landlords who are unwilling to help. Instead, they give their tenants a hard time about terminating the lease agreement early.
Some landlords are not familiar with the military lifestyle and the need for service members to move frequently and at times with little or no notice. If you are experiencing a similar situation, the Service members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) can offer you assistance.
Section 535 of the SCRA provides service members with certain rights when terminating a residential lease early. Under this law, your lease may be covered if, while in military service, you signed the lease and thereafter received military orders for a permanent change of station.
In order to terminate your lease early due to a PCS, you must deliver a written notice of termination and a copy of your military orders to your landlord or to your landlord's agent.
In the case of a lease that provides for monthly rent payments, termination of the lease will be effective 30 days after the first date on which the next rental payment is due and payable after the date on which the notice is delivered. It is very important to give notice to your landlord as early as possible.
Additionally, you may be entitled to a refund if you have paid rent in advance. The SCRA states that rent amounts paid in advance for a period after the effective date of the termination of the lease shall be refunded to the tenant by the landlord within 30 days of the effective date of the termination of the lease.
Another situation that may cause a service member stress is the effect of foreclosure on their preexisting tenancy. If you are currently leasing residential property and you are informed that the property is being foreclosed, you may have legal rights under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009.
This law provides that tenants must be given 90 days notice before they can be evicted when such eviction results from a foreclosure on the landlord. In order to take advantage of this law the mortgage must be federally related, which most are.