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Collection Actions: 7.3 History of the Act and Amendments

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) was originally adopted in 1940 as the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act providing expanded rights, benefits, and protections for the servicemember.19 In 1991, Congress amended the Act to provide extra protections for military personnel called to active duty during the Desert Storm campaign.20

Collection Actions: 7.4 Who Is Protected by the Act?

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) applies to those in military service, defined to include the armed forces and the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service.27 To be entitled to the Act’s protections, the servicemember must either be in or recently released from “military service.” Military service is defined in part as active duty.28

Collection Actions: 7.5.1 Introduction

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) gives servicemembers important procedural protections in civil judicial and administrative proceedings.58 It divides these protections into two main categories: cases in which the servicemember has been notified of the proceeding and/or makes an appearance,59 and cases in which the servicemember has not been notified or does not make an appearance.60 When the servicemember has received notice of a pr

Collection Actions: 7.5.3.1 Automatic Stay of at Least Ninety Days

The SCRA gives a servicemember who has received actual notice of a civil action or proceeding other than an eviction87 the right to an automatic, non-discretionary stay of at least ninety days upon request.88 The stay under section 3932 is applicable regardless of the servicemember’s status as defendant or plaintiff.89

Collection Actions: 7.5.5 Deferring Enforcement of Obligations During Active Duty

Servicemembers have the right to apply to a court to stay enforcement of an obligation for the period of active duty, plus a period of time after the servicemember is released from military service.112 In the case of a contract to purchase real estate or a contract secured by a mortgage on real estate, the post-military service stay may last for a period equal to the remaining loan term plus the length of the military service, and the balance must be paid in equal installments at the contract interest rate during this combined period.

Collection Actions: 7.5.6 Tolling of Statutes of Limitations

Section 3936 of the SCRA prohibits counting the period of active duty toward any time limit for bringing any action or proceeding in a court, board, bureau, commission, department, or other agency of a state, a political subdivision of a state, or the federal government.129 Thus, the statute of limitations is tolled not only for lawsuits but also for zoning appeals, unemployment compensation appeals, and similar administrative matters while the servicemember is on active duty.130

Collection Actions: 7.6.6 Protections Against Execution Upon Judgments

The SCRA gives courts the authority to stay execution of any judgment against a servicemember and to vacate or stay any prejudgment or postjudgment attachment or garnishment of property.219 In addition, the personal assets of a servicemember are not available for satisfaction of a trade or business debt for which the servicemember is personally liable.220

Collection Actions: 7.6.7 Automobile Leases

Section 3955 of the SCRA gives the servicemember the option of terminating a vehicle lease, without penalty, upon entering active duty.221 This right also applies if, after executing the lease, the lessee enters active duty under a call or order for 180 days or more.222 Termination of a lease under section 3955 also terminates the obligations of a servicemember’s dependent under the lease.223

Collection Actions: 7.6.8 Termination of Telephone Service Contracts

Servicemembers may request the termination of telephone service contracts—including those for cellular service—any time after they receive orders that require relocation for a period of ninety days or more, if the new location does not support the contract.233 This right applies to contracts entered into prior to receiving military orders to relocate. The servicemember’s written or electronic request to terminate must include a copy of the orders.234

Collection Actions: 7.6.9.1 Eviction

The pre-2003 version of the SCRA prohibited non-judicial eviction of servicemembers or their dependents from rental property if the rent did not exceed $1200 per month and allowed the court to stay such an eviction up to ninety days.237 As revised in 2003, the law covered leases up to $2400 per month and includes an annual inflation adjustment.238 It also allows the court to “adjust the obligation under the lease to preserve the interests of all parties,” presumably meaning that the court ca

Collection Actions: 7.6.9.2 Right to Terminate a Lease

Servicemembers also have the right to terminate a lease of premises that they or their dependents occupy or intend to occupy for residential, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purposes.241 This right applies to leases signed before the servicemember enters active duty.242 In addition, it applies to leases signed after entering active duty if the servicemember executes the lease and thereafter receives military orders for a permanent change of station or to deploy with a milita

Collection Actions: 7.7 Prohibitions Against Retaliation and Waivers

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) prohibits issuing an adverse credit report, denying, revoking, or changing the terms of a credit transaction, or taking certain other specified adverse actions because of the assertion of rights under the Act.247 While the SCRA allows servicemembers to waive any and all rights provided under the Act,248 it restricts waivers of the protections relating to modification, termination, or cancellation of contracts, leases, bailments, or mortgage debts, o

Collection Actions: 7.8 Remedies for Violations

The 2010 amendments to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) clarified the private cause of action, provided explicit authority for the attorney general to prosecute civil cases, and established a fee-shifting provision for self-enforcement.256 The statute also allows a servicemember to recover “any appropriate equitable or declaratory relief” and “all other appropriate relief, including money damages.”257