Tenants submitted notice of early termination, 2 months into their lease, due to military reassignment. I’m using the TAR lease (Texas), and there is a military clause. My understanding of this clause is that it allows a tenant to break their lease, and absolves them of the responsibility of covering rent until another renter is found (like any other tenant would have to do if they terminated early). However does the military clause also prevent me from charging the early termination fee that’s written into my lease, signed by all parties? I want to be fair, and have great respect for our military, but also need to make sure I’m covering my investment now that I’m left to find a quality renter at the worst time of year for my market.
Thanks in advance!
Have them show you a copy of their orders. If the orders are valid, please don't hit them with a termination fee.
@Alyssa K. - also, senior enlisted do not have command authority such that they can issues official document-based orders. So a Master Sergeant (MSG) is not a commander. And nobody is promoted from SGT to a command position. "Command" positions, pursuant to Army regulations, are reserved for Officers. Sergeants are not officers. His immediate commander is probably a Captain (CPT) or maybe a 1st Lieutenant (1LT).
@Alyssa K. - This is critically important, but as far as I can tell nobody has yet mentioned it. However, this is something every landlord near a military installation should be aware of:
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043) is a FEDERAL law aimed at establishing civil protections for active duty servicemembers. It offers many protections for active duty servicemembers, including against certain default judgments, certain foreclosures, repossessions, and, among other things, early termination of leases.
Hearkening back to civics class - the supremacy clause means that Federal laws trump all State laws. States can offer MORE civil protections for citizens than the Federal government, but not fewer.
Now, to your specific situation: 50 U.S.C § 3955 is the statute dealing with early termination of residential leases for active duty servicemembers. Section (e)(1) details that a landlord may not impose any early termination fees for an early-termination of the lease that qualifies under the statute. To do so could be (depending on the circumstances) a misdemeanor (!!!) under this statute (see section H - withholding of property). Hopefully that answers your question long-term.
For further clarification on the supremacy clause and the SCRA generally, see below.
Navigating the supremacy clause specifically - Let's use a hypothetical: Let's say there's a statute in State X that says "Military members shall be allowed to terminate their lease early so long as they deploy for a period of no fewer than 15 days". This state is doing okay so far. They have further extended civil protections beyond what the Federal Government requires. That's constitutionally correct. Now let's say State Y says "Military members shall be allowed to terminate their lease early so long as they deploy for a period of no fewer than 360 days." That's a big no-no. Boooooo State Y! The Federal Government has already established 90 days as the minimum, so you can't further restrict their civil protections to make them less protective than the Federal Government has. Make sense? The upshot is that if the Federal Government has a statute on point, and if there are any state statutes that cover the same ground they will offer further protections to servicemembers.
Side note - lots of landlords will include a "military clause" in their lease that repeats the protections of the SCRA. I've had landlords tout that to me as if they're doing me a favor. I'm like "Cool story, bro. But I'm covered by the Federal Government already, so that language is superfluous. If you didn't have it in the lease, the Federal Government laws would still apply. So don't act like you're doing me a favor."
All that said, you must ensure that your lessee actually qualifies under this statute. The active duty servicemember must, to qualify under the SCRA, receive either PCS orders or be deploying for a period of over 90 days. (Alternately, instead of orders, they can give notice via a letter from their commander, because as @Luke Sanderson mentions above, orders can come in much, MUCH later than when a servicemember is notified that they will PCS. My buddy, for example, knew in April that he would PCS to the National Capital Region last summer from Fort Carson, CO. He didn't receive his official orders until two weeks before the move in June (it caused all sorts of issues).) Keep in mind that many official-looking documents are not, in fact, orders. Like a DA 4187, for example. We use those for interpost transfers and for marking people AWOL - they're certainly not PCS orders. In other words, ensure that the orders are in fact orders and that they qualify under the SCRA.
Likewise, don't be afraid to call the installation and ensure that the orders are legit. Sadly, some servicemembers try to take advantage of the generous benefits bestowed on them by the Government and use it to their advantage. I've seen fake orders to break a lease come up three times so far in my Army career. It's upsetting, but be aware that there are dirtbags in the military just like there are dirtbags in the civilian population. And a commander will want to know if one of their servicemembers is trying to take advantage of the good will of the civilian population for their own personal gain.
Hopefully that covers what you were asking about. If you have other questions about the special protections of the military in the context of residential leasing, please don't hesitate to reach out.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. Excellent points!
@Thadeous Larkin thank you very much for that throughout explanation! That is incredibly helpful! If I understand you correctly, it sounds like it will be most fruitful to ask for a letter from the commanding officer? I don’t want to place unnecessary stress and pile on by asking for official order paperwork that they may not have the ability to get, as they are already having to plan a move; but for my own systems, I want to make sure I’m consistent with the paperwork/documents I request. I would hate to think they would try to take advantage of this benefit, but appreciate opportunities to “trust but verify”.
@Alyssa K. - I LOOOOOOVE that you mentioned consistency within systems. That's a perfect way to avoid claims of discrimination in housing. I can't emphasize enough how much I love that.
Upshot - yes. Asking them to comply with the SCRA isn't piling on, and Commanders sign documents for their Soldiers all the time. 1SG will make sure it gets in front of the commander.
If they have other questions, you can helpfully suggest that they try visiting/direct them to the Legal Assistance attorneys on post (almost every post has attorneys dedicated to dealing with just these types of situations for Soldiers) who can help them draft a letter for the commander to sign and then send to you. TOO EASY.
Hi Alyssa, I have been there many times.
The 4187 could have been an extension to their tour or they requested to shorten it- either way they would have know they are short-timers and should have disclosed that
It's been 4.5 years since I got out but if I remember correctly we get our orders 60 days (more if its a TRADOC station) from the date we have to report to the next duty station. On the top right of the orders is the issue date. The report date is in the first few lines of the order REPORTING DATE: 26 NOV 2019. Hopefully the tenant notified you ASAP so you could prepare. Going forward it is a good idea to ask prospective military tenants for the orders that brought them to that station. You should be able to see how long they have left in the area and you can steer clear from short timers. I was in 10 years and can't remember a time I lost a Soldier to order coming out of nowhere. Hope this helps.
@Michael Deering thank you! I appreciate it! After talking more with @Chris Lockwood, it appears the paperwork they gave me is more than questionable. I have an email out to his supervisor, and am hopeful an explanation or resolution will quickly follow.
@Eric C. Thank you! I stumbled on that page yesterday when searching and it was very helpful in deciding my course of action. I haven’t verified with his commander, in fact when I was doing employment verification I skipped that step for him because I couldn’t get anyone on the phone, so I’m unsure of my likelihood of getting ahold of someone now. Unfortunately due to all this I’ll have to be that much of a stickler on every item. When it comes to a service member especially, I had hoped to be able to give the benefit of the doubt.
So not doubting this individual, but how long was he in your area? Did he just move there? People typically don’t PCS after a few months. Sadly it takes about 10 minutes to fake PCS orders to get out of a lease and if you can’t get a hold of someone at his command I’d flat out ask him for the commanders number, PM me and I’ll show you how to find it yourself.
This isn’t to say they are making it up, but it’s a easy thing to use to get out of a lease you don’t want to be in anymore.
@Eric C. After a lot of digging and advice I received here, it is looking extremely likely that he faked paperwork. Multiple boxes left blank, different names in the box for supervisor and supervisor signature, one of which I came to learn is not authorized to sign such a form. He supposedly transferred here in end of August (when the lease was signed), however looking at the paperwork he gave me it’s a transfer to a different position on the same base I was told he transferred here from. I don’t think he ever left his original base. Perhaps they hoped he’d be approved for a transfer and it was denied, or they always intended to take advantage of this benefit to secure a short term rental. I have an email out to his supervisor, and also emailed the tenant asking for the supervisor information and corrected paperwork along with official orders.
@Terrell Garren I agree. That is very fair.
@Alyssa K. That’s good to hear. Best of luck!
@Alyssa K., I really hope you're not even considering trying to charge the early termination fee. The entire purpose of the military clause is to allow our service members to exit for reasons beyond their control. Like others have mentioned, just ask to see their orders for verification. As a military reservist, I wouldn't mind taking a look at them to check their legitimacy if you want another set of eyes.
@Andrew Ashby I was attempting to fully understand my rights and obligations in this situation so I’m able to create systems that are consistent. However, it appears they submitted incorrect paperwork, and what they did submit was fraudulent, incomplete, and misleading. Hopefully the service members commanding officer can explain it as a misunderstanding in the am, but it doesn’t currently look likely that that will be the case.
@Alyssa K., in that case, hit them as hard you can by showing the evidence of their fraud to their commanding officer who will deal with it swiftly. Military service comes with great respect but also a responsibility not to betray the public trust, and there's no room for those who do. Please reach out to me if you have any difficulty reaching the powers that be or if they don't handle it satisfactorily.
@Matt K. This is incorrect information. TDY/TAD longer than 90 days allows a member to get out of a lease according to the SCRA. This is usually a deployment order. I am an Active Duty member and often get 90-100 day orders and I am able to break leases due to this. However, I have never used this because I own.
@Alyssa K. I know it’s not ideal for a military member to move so quickly on you and if these orders are fake, I hope this doesn’t deter you from choosing a tenant that is military. As an AD member, I see the benefits of having a military member as a tenant. You are essentially guaranteed payment, because the member is required to handle all finances responsibility. If they do not pay, contact their First Sargent (Shirt) or commander and they will help you. Their pay is guaranteed to them and they don’t have to worry about getting a smaller check. I would just do a credit check to ensure they are not overspent and show signs of not getting paid.
Because I am active duty, I can also verify people in the same service with just checking their email on our global email system. Since you are not having luck getting a hold of their leadership, you probably didn’t get correct information. Seems like you were a little relaxed on your screening. I would give their commander or Shirt a call during the screening to check how long they’ve been with the unit and if they are any disciplinary issues. Good luck with this one!
@Matt K. This is incorrect information. TDY/TAD longer than 90 days allows a member to get out of a lease according to the SCRA. This is usually a deployment order. I am an Active Duty member and often get 90-100 day orders and I am able to break leases due to this. However, I have never used this because I own.
Solid point, however I know in some branches it can be easy to get tdy orders under 90 days.
But seeing as the tenant didn't even bother to furnish the actual orders and potential fraud... I figure they'd of already submitted the legit ones if they had them.
@Kao Saeteurn I definitely made errors in my screening of this particular tenant. I was unable to get in touch with his commanding officer during the screening process to verify employment, however, because his wife more than qualified financially for the property on her own, I let his verification go and chalked it up to it must be hard to get ahold of someone in the military ; never realizing I’d need that information should I find myself in a early termination situation. He did have a great deal of debt, and terrible credit. However, as she had excellent credit, and they just become married, I accepted the explanation that she was working with him to improve his credit. I did the same thing for my husband when we met, and most likely let my personal experience dictate my reaction more than I should have. Thankfully the lesson will help me to further improve my systems and know better next time.
I have to add as well; I’ve been truly impressed by the number of active duty investors who have reached out offering assistance in ensuring I get correct contact information. It is delightfully refreshing to see so many want to ensure the integrity of such a program goes untainted so that others can continue to benefit from it, and makes me certain that just because I had one bad experience, doesn’t hold any weight on the quality and character of future military tenants I may have the opportunity to work with.
@Alyssa K. Are you in Killeen or Ft Bliss ? There are ways to verify orders. I am in military in Texas
@Alyssa K. I know this is solved and being a Veteran myself...you can call their chain of command to very their orders. Some have been known to make up orders (which is illegal) to get out of a lease. With that said, when they apply I’d always ask for their commands POC to verify. Also, I recommend officers or E-6 and above. Usually a little more mature and not into the party phase so much :)
@Alyssa K. I’m in the military. Every set of orders has the unit address on it (normally at the top). Contact the unit admin section and verify.