Resources

SCRA Resources

resourcesOur site has a single function: to determine if a person is in active military service to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”). Creditors (such as banks and mortgage companies) and their attorneys and agents, as well as others, need to be cautious. Taking certain action against people on active duty or who may have recently left active duty can be dangerous. This is because the act’s protections may extend up to a year after termination of active duty. Below are some valuable resources. SCRA Resources are abundant, but training of staff to recognize SCRA issues and comply with SCRA requirements is essential.

People who contract with servicemembers may need verification. Creditors do searches to determine whether a servicemember is active. If so, they are subject to the protections of the SCRA.

While we are happy to provide some SCRA resources, we do not offer legal advice. We recommend you contact your closest legal resource.

SCRA RESOURCES FOR SERVICEMEMBERS AND FAMILIES

  • MilitaryOneSource.mil is a free, Department of Defense-funded program that provides comprehensive information and support services including deployment, relationships, and education to active-duty, Guard, and reserve service members and their families.
  • Diligentia Group features an informative article explaining how to request public military records and verify service history for veterans.
  • The US Armed Forces Legal Services is the official government site for military personnel to locate their nearest JAG office and find general legal assistance within the continental United States.
  • Legal Assistance Resources are comprehensively compiled by the American Bar Association to connect military personnel and veterans with pro bono civil lawyers and localized legal aid centers.
  • LawHelp.org provides low-income individuals with essential legal aid referrals, self-help toolkits, local court forms, and clear guides detailing your legal rights by state.
  • The Servicemembers Law Center, focusing on the Reserves and National Guard, offers excellent guidance and resource materials on the SCRA, employment rights (USERRA), and overseas voting protections (UOCAVA).
  • MiMM (Misadventures in Money Management) training program built by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to teach service members smart financial decision-making.
  • USA.gov acts as a valuable guide for locating active military personnel and provides tracking rules for sending overseas care packages.
  • The North Carolina Bar published two essential regulatory guides to SCRA leasing rules – one for tenants and another article for property managers/landlords.
  • Servicemembers.gov is the official portal hosted by the Department of Justice to monitor federal enforcement actions and report SCRA consumer rights violations.

Whom does the act protect?

The SCRA protects active military members. This includes reservists, National Guardsmen (under certain circumstances), and commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who are in active federal service. Dependents of these people are eligible for some of the benefits of the act as well.

10 U.S.C. § 101(d)(1) defines “active duty” for armed services as “full-time duty in the active military service of the United States … [including] full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned.”

Section 101 of Title 10, U.S. Code, does not further define “active military service.” But Section 101(d)(3) says active service means service on active duty or full-time National Guard duty.

The SCRA covers those on active duty and those attending a service school. It may not cover those attending training prior to entering active duty, such as officer candidates. It is unclear, for example, whether “active military service” under 10 U.S.C. § 101(d) covers training as a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps or attendance at a military academy.

Dependents

The SCRA provides some protections for dependents.  While dependents could assert that they have the protections, at 50 U.S.C. Section 3959, those protections are only available in court if someone goes to the court to apply for them.  The protections would be granted only if the “dependent’s ability to comply with a lease, contract, bailment, or other obligation is materially affected by reason of the servicemember’s military service.”

The code defines “dependent” as a servicemember’s spouse or child (as defined for purposes of veterans benefits, in 38 U.S.C. Section 101), or another individual for whom the servicemember provided more than half of the support in the 180 days prior to an application for relief under the act.

This language appears to codify courts’ treatment of the term “dependent” as relating to financial dependency rather than strict familial relationships.

38 U.S.C. Section 101(4) defines child as an unmarried person under age 18; who before attaining age 18 became permanently incapable of self-support; or who after attaining the age of 18 and until completion of education or training (but not after attaining the age of 23) is pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution; and who is a legitimate child, a legally adopted child, a stepchild who is a member of a veteran’s household or was a member at the time of the veteran’s death, or an illegitimate child but, as to the alleged father, only if acknowledged in writing signed by him, or if he has been judicially ordered to contribute to the child’s support or has been, before his death, judicially decreed the father of such child, or if he is otherwise shown by evidence to be the father of the said child.

Military service

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act at 50 U.S.C. App. 511 (2) defines “military Service” as follows:

(2) Military service

The term “military service” means—
(A) in the case of a servicemember in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard—

(i) active duty, as defined in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code [see above], and
(ii) in the case of a member of the National Guard, includes service under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds (note that the DMDC does not report periods of service that are less than 30 days in duration);

(B) in the case of a servicemember who is a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, active service; and

(C) any period during which a servicemember is absent due to sickness, wounds, leave, or other lawful cause.
The code mentions “military service” in 10 U.S.C. § 101(d)(1), but it does not actually define it in that title.

Protections can continue after active duty terminates

Note that some protections extend for a period of time AFTER active military duty. For example, the 6% interest rate cap lasts for one year after termination. Proscriptions against foreclosure also extend after the active duty end date.

Also, see FAQ on Call-Up to Active Duty for other relevant information.

SCRACVS is unable to authenticate any information contained in the resources set forth above. The links and information are not to be construed as the rendering of any legal advice.