Breaking Apt lease under SCRA?

[tingting]

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I'm in my last year of school with HPSP. Next summer at some point I will PCS for the start of my active duty (already did ODS). I'm currently selling my house and will need an apartment until then, but everyone wants 1-year leases around here and I only need it for about 9 months.

According to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act I can break a lease upon entering active duty or after receiving PCS orders.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[DocArmy]

Ask your apartment landlord. I always do and they tell me that it's fine. You will need to give them a copy of your orders and the normal notice (30 or 60 days), but other than that, you're good. I would call the places you're interested in and ask them point blank. "What will happen when I am activated from the Reserves and move to Active Duty with the military? What procedure do you follow in allowing Active Duty personnel to break their lease?" If they are anything but accommodating, remind them that it is federal law.

 

[backrow]

I'm in my last year of school with HPSP. Next summer at some point I will PCS for the start of my active duty (already did ODS). I'm currently selling my house and will need an apartment until then, but everyone wants 1-year leases around here and I only need it for about 9 months.

According to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act I can break a lease upon entering active duty or after receiving PCS orders.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

All I can tell you is that if you rent from a person who owns a house and do this you are pulling a seriously low-class move. Now if you're simply looking to rent from some big corporate apartment rental place, I'll give you a little pass.

The SCRA isn't meant for someone who knows they are going to be moving X date, but want to move into a new place for whatever reason and then break a lease early.

I can tell you as a landlord that if someone pulled this type of shenanigan on me I'd be pissed and it's pretty easy to spot if you know what you are dealing with as a landlord.

---Now, how do you go about doing this? Simply make sure you ask for a "military clause" in your lease when you sign the new lease. All you need to do most of the time is provide 30 days notice and a copy of your orders.

 

[MTGas2B]

Agree with above.

While you may be able to break the lease, you're still going to have to get a reference from your landlord in the future.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Regardless of what you think it's "meant for", this is a component of it. It wasn't meant for people who decided to stop paying their mortgage while deployed, but it still keeps people out of forclosure (or gets them punitive damages in the ensuing civil case).

I have a rental property that has been rented out to military personnel almost exclusively for the last 3 years. All of them have a military clause, and all of them have used it. It's not a big deal, and it's usually not hard to find a new renter these days.

This is why I haven't rented to military (plus the morass of dealing with a business relationship with someone else on AD).

 

[AF M4]

Property managers are a wonderful thing. I've never dealt with our renters directly.

To me, the irritation of getting a new renter once or twice a year is offset by the security of a military renter. They get BAH, so you know they have access to the money and aren't going to get laid off and stiff you. Plus, if they are a problem, you can just make a call to their CO, and usually the problem will be fixed.

In the civilian world, leaving a rental property a wreck loses you your security deposit. With us, it's a chargeable offence (and I only know that because we charged one of my corpsmen a few years back...)

Undeniably a plus. At the apartment complex I lived at, the adjoining apartment was rented by a young airman and his girlfriend. One day I woke up to a dog howling and scratching noises on the wall that bordered our apartments. This went on for awhile, so I called the property manager. Dogs weren't allowed, so she came over to investigate.

Turns out that the airman had decided to get a Doberman puppy. Then he and his girlfriend had decided to go on leave for a week, and decided that they could simply lock the puppy in a closet with a bowl of food and water and a litter box. Of course the poor lonely animal destroyed the closet, then chewed its way out and was destroying the room when the property manager arrived. The airman returned home to find a very angry commander, an eviction notice, and animal abuse charges. The damages to the apartment were garnished out of his pay, and a few months later he was booted out for some other dumb thing he did.

If he'd been a civilian, the apartment owner likely would have been screwed.

 

[tingting]

Thanks for the replys. I would rather not have to use the SCRA but I cannot find anywhere decent that does a 9mo lease. I have never encountered this in other places I've lived.

Today I'm reading the lease agreement and there is a paragraph that implies that the lease is for the TOTAL RENT (12mo), and the monthly payments are only for "convenience". Does this effect the ability to use the SCRA? I'm not sure if this is a common clause or not.

Essentially I'm wondering if it's common to get a lot of resistance when invoking the SCRA. Also do I really have to ask for a "military clause" in the lease? I thought the SCRA overpowers the common lease agreement. I feel like if I ask for a military clause I'm going to get flat out denied -- at any apt complex.

 

[AF M4]

Thanks for the replys. I would rather not have to use the SCRA but I cannot find anywhere decent that does a 9mo lease. I have never encountered this in other places I've lived.

Today I'm reading the lease agreement and there is a paragraph that implies that the lease is for the TOTAL RENT (12mo), and the monthly payments are only for "convenience". Does this effect the ability to use the SCRA? I'm not sure if this is a common clause or not.

Essentially I'm wondering if it's common to get a lot of resistance when invoking the SCRA. Also do I really have to ask for a "military clause" in the lease? I thought the SCRA overpowers the common lease agreement. I feel like if I ask for a military clause I'm going to get flat out denied -- at any apt complex.

Odd. I've lived in 4 different apartment complexes over the past several years, and every one of them had a military clause.

I'm a believer in negotiating contracts in good faith. Tell your potential landlords straight up what your situation is, and ensure that the military clause is in your contract. If it's not on paper, it doesn't exist.

In your situation and if there is a particular apt complex you're in love with, ask if they have a standard six month lease with the option to pay month-to-month after that. This allows you some flexibility while also giving the landlord a guaranteed 6 months of rent, which is not an inconsiderable plus in this economy. Having a good credit rating and/or offering to pay the first couple of months up front can also help.

The SCRA is a last-ditch mechanism that will get you out of your contract, but as referenced above it can leave behind an irritated landlord who will give you bad references in the future, as well as be more apt to run up more charges on your security deposit and do things like file small claims lawsuits against you for damages to the apartment after you've left. Better to leave behind a good reputation and avoid using the SCRA except for a genuinely surprising move.

 

[jabreal00]

Don't listen to those on a soap box. All you have to do is give 30 days notice and copies of your orders. You are under no obligations to explain. We are in the military and have relative uncertainty with being in a particular location. The military clause is intended for that very purpose so you are not worrying about getting gouged by signing a 6 month lease or not finding a place because of pending orders. I would stick to apartment complexes rather than renting from individuals.

 

[edmadison]

All you have to do is give 30 days notice and copies of your orders. You are under no obligations to explain.

Actually, its not that simple. First, you must be on active duty for the law to apply. Thus, the landloard is not required to accept your notice until you are actually on active duty. Second, for a yearly lease, the lease termination is effective on the last day of the month following the notice. Let's take my dates. I entered on active duty on June 10,2004. If I deliver my written notice on that day, my lease would then be terminated on 31 July. So I still get stuck with an 7 weeks of rent.

Ed

 

[pgg]

This is why I haven't rented to military (plus the morass of dealing with a business relationship with someone else on AD).

I love renting to AD military. If nothing else, they've got a steady paycheck coming in.

Worst case, if they trash the place or don't pay their rent, I know where to find them and (eventually) have recourse through their chain of command.

It seems people don't often have their orders abruptly changed. My current tenant signed a 3 year lease to match his 3 year orders. Bonus: he's a chaplain, so I figure the odds of him retrofitting the place with a meth lab and stripper pole are low.

It helps that I'm renting a large 4-bedroom single family home, which limits military tenants to officers or more senior enlisted, so the chances of getting a flaky E3 who leaves his doberman locked in a closet for a week are a lot lower. And because it's a family-sized house, deployments mean the family is likely to stay there - in contrast to the single young guy who puts his 9 worldly possessions in a storage facility, parks the Mustang at a friend's house, and invokes the Act.

Beats section-8'ers.

 

[pgg]

Oh, and deliberately signing a 12-month lease when you know you'll be leaving in 9 months is a classless douchebag thing to do.

The Act is there to prevent servicemembers from getting screwed by unpredictable deployments or forced relocations at the convenience of the government.

It's not there to facilitate deliberate, pre-meditated manipulation of owners a year in advance. What you're contemplating may well be perfectly legal, but it would definitely make you an *******.

Especially since you have a house already, and are plotting this lease thing to minimize your own financial hit by timing your own home sale. Millions of servicemembers own homes, and time their sales to coincide with PCS moves. I've done it twice. Most of us can do it without playing unethical games with unsuspecting landlords.

 

[pgg]

Tell your potential landlords straight up what your situation is, and ensure that the military clause is in your contract. If it's not on paper, it doesn't exist.

The Act applies to all contracts unless it is specifically excluded in the contract (ie, the tenant or landlord specifically waive their rights). There doesn't need to be a military clause in the contract.


A less well known feature of the act is that it protects landlords too - if I got PCS orders back to a base within 50 miles* of my property, I could give my tenants 30 days notice and move back into my house.


* I think it's 50 miles, not 100% sure.

 

[tingting]

Oh, and deliberately signing a 12-month lease when you know you'll be leaving in 9 months is a classless douchebag thing to do.

The Act is there to prevent servicemembers from getting screwed by unpredictable deployments or forced relocations at the convenience of the government.

It's not there to facilitate deliberate, pre-meditated manipulation of owners a year in advance. What you're contemplating may well be perfectly legal, but it would definitely make you an *******.

Especially since you have a house already, and are plotting this lease thing to minimize your own financial hit by timing your own home sale. Millions of servicemembers own homes, and time their sales to coincide with PCS moves. I've done it twice. Most of us can do it without playing unethical games with unsuspecting landlords.

Is the name-calling necessary?

I really had no idea that the apt lease term was gonna be an issue when I put my house for sale. I lived in apartments for 7 years prior to buying and never once have I signed a 12-month lease, and never once have I left on negative terms.

What would you suggest I do, sir? Am I supposed to cut a goodbye check for $2700 next July to a faceless corporation that will rent the place a week later so that I can feel good about myself? Move into a hotel? I'm still looking for a better solution.

 

[notdeadyet]

Is the name-calling necessary?

Probably not. But his point is valid. SCRA doesn't exist so that folks can lie and not put value in their word.

I really had no idea that the apt lease term was gonna be an issue when I put my house for sale. I lived in apartments for 7 years prior to buying and never once have I signed a 12-month lease, and never once have I left on negative terms.

If you've never once had to sign a 12 month lease in your 7 years as a renter, you know how easy it is to find a month-to-month lease. Don't sign a 12 month lease if you're not expecting to honor it.

And you might be surprised how some landlords will be negotiable. Some are willing to write a slightly shorter than 1 year lease for someone with a guaranteed paycheck, drug test, etc.

What would you suggest I do, sir? Am I supposed to cut a goodbye check for $2700 next July to a faceless corporation that will rent the place a week later so that I can feel good about myself?

You honor the contract you signed and are wiser for the experience next time. You don't lie and cry "discrimination!"

Move into a hotel? I'm still looking for a better solution.

Get a place that rents month-to-month, which is really what anyone should do if they can't rent for a year. You know how to do this, having done it for the past 7 years, right?

 

[pgg]

Is the name-calling necessary?

Probably not.

I really had no idea that the apt lease term was gonna be an issue when I put my house for sale.

Well, live and learn. Now you know.

Your error in judgment and learning curve doesn't justify the premeditated screwing of the property owner, however you rationalize it.

What would you suggest I do, sir? Am I supposed to cut a goodbye check for $2700 next July to a faceless corporation that will rent the place a week later so that I can feel good about myself?

You have several reasonable options

1) sign the 12-month lease and write your goodbye check, or
2) find someone to sub-lease the place for the last few months, or
3) negotiate with the owner/manager up front for a shorter lease, or
4) find a place that will rent month-to-month, or
5) live in your van down by the river

Well, maybe 5 isn't so reasonable.

I've personally done 2, 3, and 4 as a renter in the past. 2 takes some effort, but if you give the owner some notice, they will often help you find someone to sub-lease the place.

Move into a hotel?

That's not likely to save you any money, unless you move into a dive.

We lived in one of those extended stay hotels for about 6 weeks once, when we couldn't perfectly time the sale of our house with our PCS. It wasn't so bad, but I wouldn't want to do it for 9 months.

I'm still looking for a better solution.

Have you even attempted to negotiate a 9-month lease? You might be surprised. I'd certainly consider such an offer. I gave my current tenants a substantial discount for signing a 3-year lease.

If they're reluctant, maybe offer an extra $100/month, so in the end you're only out an extra $900 instead of the $2700 you cited above?


That $2700 is worth just as much to the owner as it is to you. Don't be a jerk (sorry) deadbeat and enter a contract you have no intention of honoring. The lease breaking application of the Act is there to protect servicemembers from the unpredictable whims of the military, not facilitate defrauding the general public.

 

[tingting]

I'm in a different city right now then when I use to rent, that's why the unexpected problem of lease terms has come up. I've never had any intention of screwing anyone over, I was simply inquiring about the SCRA.

After 2 weeks of frantically searching, I think I have found a place that will let me end the lease in the summer. They are wise, because they understand a lease ending in July in a college town is much better than one ending in September or October. Thanks for the discussion.