The SCRA, found at 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901, et seq., is a federal law that grants legal and financial protections to servicemembers while they are on active duty. If you are in the military, the SCRA may allow you to lower the interest rates on your loans, break a lease or contract, or postpone legal actions taken against you. However, the SCRA only provides protection for civil legal issues. The SCRA does not provide any protections for criminal proceedings.

Members of the National Guard may also be eligible for SCRA benefits. They are eligible when they have been called to active duty under specific circumstances. 50 U.S.C. § 3911.

You become eligible the moment you receive your orders to assume active duty. Active military service includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance at a school designated as a service school. These benefits may continue to be available for 90 days after the servicemember’s termination or release from military service.

SCRA may allow you to cap the interest rates of your loans at 6% while you are on active duty. Car loans, boat loans, credit card debt, home mortgages, home equity loans, and student loans may all qualify for the 6% cap. To have the interest on your loan capped, you must have taken out the loan prior to entering military service.

If you have a mortgage, the interest is capped at 6% for the time you are in active service and for a full year after active service has ended. For other types of loans, the 6% cap only applies during the period of active service. A creditor must also forgive interest on the loan that accrued while you were on active duty.

Again, you must give written notice of your military service to your creditors within certain timeframes. The sooner you can do so, the better. At the very latest, you must give written notice to your creditor within 180 days after the end of your military service to be eligible for SCRA’s interest rate cap.

Please be aware that a court may find that your ability to pay an interest rate greater than 6% is not materially affected by your military service and may, therefore, find that you are not eligible for this protection. 50 U.S.C. § 3937.

If you are being deployed on active duty for at least 90 days or have received orders for a permanent change of station, SCRA may allow you to get out of your residential lease. Your lease can be terminated 30 days after the next payment is due and after the landlord has received written notification, which includes a copy of your orders.

To get out of your lease, you must have entered into it when you were not on active duty OR you were in military service when you signed the lease but then later received orders to deploy or for a permanent change of station. Again, you must present to your landlord, as soon as possible, proof of your military service and written notice that you wish to end your lease.

You are only responsible for paying rent for the months prior to the date of termination. If rent has been paid in advance, you are entitled to a refund. If you placed a security deposit, that must also be returned to you, less any charges for the repairs or cleanup of your rental property. Also, if you end your lease through SCRA, it does not count as an early termination, and your landlord cannot charge you early termination fees. 50 U.S.C. § 3955.

If you have made at least one installment payment on your vehicle or placed a deposit for the vehicle, a lender is prohibited from terminating the contract if you fail to make payment or otherwise break the contract before or during your military service. Furthermore, your creditor may not repossess a vehicle during your period of military service without a court order. 50 U.S.C. § 3952.

Even if you are an active duty servicemember, your creditor may still foreclose upon your mortgage or other debts. Your property may be foreclosed on if you waived your rights to these protections in writing. However, SCRA can protect you from non-judicial foreclosures. In other words, during your period of active service and for a full year afterward, a creditor must obtain a court order to foreclose on your mortgage. Courts do have the power to postpone foreclosure proceedings or to make adjustments to payments if they find that your military service impacts your ability to pay. 50 U.S.C. § 3958.

If the court finds that you are in active duty military service, the court will not enter a judgment against you until after it has appointed an attorney to represent your interests. The court must postpone the proceedings for at least 90 days if that attorney is unable to contact you or if your presence and participation are necessary to properly defend the action.

Civil proceedings include any court proceeding that does not concern a criminal offense. Again, the SCRA does not offer any protections for criminal proceedings. Examples of civil proceedings include divorce, child support, and child custody.

If the court finds that your military service prevents you from attending a civil proceeding, it may postpone it until you are fully informed on the case and able to participate in some way. If you are aware of the hearing, you should let the court know or have your lawyer inform the court that your service will prevent you from attending.

If the court does approve your motion to postpone, the civil proceeding will be postponed for at least 90 days. If you are still not able to attend after this postponement, a court may postpone the proceeding again or appoint a lawyer, if you have not already retained one, to represent your interests. However, if the court determines that your military service does not prevent you from attending or if your attendance wouldn’t change the outcome, it may deny your request to postpone the hearing.

You will need two things to postpone your civil proceedings:

1. A letter or other notice explaining how your military duty prevents you from appearing in court and stating a date when you would be able to appear in court.
2. A letter or other notice from your commanding officer stating that your military duty prevents you from appearing in court and that military leave is not authorized at that time. 50 U.S.C. § 3932.

Department of Justice: Financial and Housing Rights For Veteran’s, Servicemembers, and Military Families

The Official Servicemembers Civil Relief Act website

Legal Aid: Apply For Help