Breaking lease under SCRA?

Lissa832

From what I've read, SCRA requires 30 days notice from the date in which the next month's rent is due with eligible orders. My lease requires 60 days notice from the date in which rent is due. Due to eligible PCS orders, SCRA's 30 days trumps my lease's 60 days, correct? 

I guess I'm just trying to talk myself out of the SCRA's notice clause because I know the property management people are going to be difficult. 

Carnation77

No one can answer this without reading your lease because it is possible to waive provisions of the SCRA under a lease (in which case the SCRA may not apply to you).  Do you have a legal assistance office where you're located?  They can read your lease for you and help you prepare a sample written notification for your landlord citing the applicable law or lease provision.  Any notification under the SCRA will also require a copy of the orders and/or a letter from the Servicemember's Commander verifying the PCS/deployment orders.

Lissa832

We didn't waive any SCRA rights. I wasn't asking to have my lease specifically interpreted. I was asking generalized question of SCRA notice trumps lease agreement, assuming no rights are waived. I don't know a single military family who would willingly sign away their presumed rights under SCRA.

More than anything,I was looking for additional experiences. Our leasing agent is very difficult in general. I know they are going to throw a fit about breaking the lease. I'm not opposed to paying the additional month, but I don't want to do it if it is not necessary under the guidelines of SCRA. When dh gets a POA, I'm going to have him ask legal at the same time. 

We're not even 100% sure that this tour is happening. We will have very little notice when we find out if it is going to be executed or not, which is why I would prefer the SCRA guidelines vs my lease. 

laurelita42

Lissa832:

More than anything,I was looking for additional experiences. Our leasing agent is very difficult in general. I know they are going to throw a fit about breaking the lease. I'm not opposed to paying the additional month, but I don't want to do it if it is not necessary under the guidelines of SCRA. When dh gets a POA, I'm going to have him ask legal at the same time.

If you're just looking for general information, maybe you could contact the local military housing office even though you're not in base housing. I have found that they often have general 'advocates' for military families that can give you good advice regarding landlords and that might be a good place to start. Good luck! 

Smudges*Mom

We have never had a problem terminating a lease due to PCS orders, even with our scumbag landlord in NoVA.

If your leasing agent is that difficult to work with, you might consider mentioning this to the office base housing office. If the agent/company is truly that difficult to deal with, and there is proof, then the company could be put on the "do not rent form" list. Military personnel, in theory, should be sought after tenants. Funds are provided for housing and there is a chain of command if problems do come up. This agent could be shooting herself in the foot.

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Carnation77

If you're sure you didn't waive any provisions of the SCRA under your lease then yes, the standard SCRA language of 30 days notice after the next time rent is due would apply.  Unfortunately many Servicemembers don't even realize they're waiving SCRA rights under their leases.  It's more common than you'd think.  Landlords get away with it by including their own "SCRA" provisions that aren't as comprehensive as the ones under the actual law and when the Servicemember signs he or she doesn't understand the differences.  If there is no mention of the SCRA under the lease then all of the SCRA automatically applies.  

Notice must be in writing and accompanied by supporting documentation.  If your landlord refuses to follow the SCRA then you can take him to court (probably small claims).  The SCRA now allows you to request attorney's fees and costs from another party when you're required to go to court to enforce your rights under it.  There's a sample lease termination letter at this link:  https://www.dix.army.mil/LegalOffice/files/LEASETERMINATION.pdf

Good luck!  Sorry if my original post offended you.  Sometimes I can come across too blunt.  It wasn't meant that way. 

Lissa832

Carnation77:

If you're sure you didn't waive any provisions of the SCRA under your lease then yes, the standard SCRA language of 30 days notice after the next time rent is due would apply.  Unfortunately many Servicemembers don't even realize they're waiving SCRA rights under their leases.  It's more common than you'd think.  Landlords get away with it by including their own "SCRA" provisions that aren't as comprehensive as the ones under the actual law and when the Servicemember signs he or she doesn't understand the differences.  If there is no mention of the SCRA under the lease then all of the SCRA automatically applies.  

Notice must be in writing and accompanied by supporting documentation.  If your landlord refuses to follow the SCRA then you can take him to court (probably small claims).  The SCRA now allows you to request attorney's fees and costs from another party when you're required to go to court to enforce your rights under it.  There's a sample lease termination letter at this link:  https://www.dix.army.mil/LegalOffice/files/LEASETERMINATION.pdf

Good luck!  Sorry if my original post offended you.  Sometimes I can come across too blunt.  It wasn't meant that way. 

No offense taken. I wanted to make sure it was clear I wasn't asking an "am I pregnant" type question, lol. We've broken leases in the past without any issues, but our prior leasing agents only required 30 days notice. With our current agent, they want 60 days from the date in which rent is due. We may not know until the last minute if the orders are going through or not, and we would be paying for 2 months that we aren't here. That would amount to $2900, and I'm not trying to pay that much if I don't have to. I was afraid to put in notice and then have the orders fall through. 

Thanks for all of the replies.