SCRA Eviction Protections: The 90-Day Stay, Filing, and Penalties

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act gives active-duty servicemembers and their dependents a set of eviction protections that no state landlord-tenant procedure can override: a landlord cannot evict you from your primary residence without a court order, and a judge must pause the case for at least 90 days if your military service is the reason you fell behind on rent.¹ The protection applies only to rentals below a monthly ceiling that adjusts each year with housing inflation. For 2026, that ceiling is $10,542.60.²

Who Is Covered

The Act covers members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard on active duty. It also reaches commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when they’re on active duty. National Guard members qualify when the President or Secretary of Defense calls them to active service for more than 30 consecutive days in response to a national emergency.³

Dependents are protected too, even when the servicemember isn’t personally living in the rental. A dependent is the servicemember’s spouse, the servicemember’s child, or anyone else whose living expenses the servicemember covered more than half of during the 180 days before seeking relief.⁴ In practice, this often means a spouse and children who stay in the rental while the servicemember deploys.

The rent itself has to fall under the annual ceiling — $10,542.60 for 2026, tracked to the Consumer Price Index rent component.¹ Most military households sit well under that, but confirm your monthly rent before you rely on the statute.

One boundary worth flagging: the rental must be a primary residence. The statute covers premises “occupied or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence.”¹ Investment properties and vacation rentals are not covered.

How the 90-Day Stay Works

No landlord can evict a covered tenant during military service without a court order, even in states that normally allow non-judicial evictions.⁵ Once a landlord files, the servicemember or a dependent can ask the court to stay the proceedings. The court must grant a stay of at least 90 days if the servicemember requests it and shows that military service has affected the ability to pay.¹

Ninety days is the floor. The statute lets the court set a longer or shorter period when justice and equity require it. Judges often extend the pause when a deployment or assignment prevents the servicemember from resolving the underlying problem. During the stay, the landlord cannot resort to self-help — no changed locks, no shut-off utilities, no belongings on the curb — without exposure to the penalties described below.

Instead of freezing the case, the judge can also adjust the lease obligation to balance both sides. That might mean reducing the rent temporarily to what the servicemember can actually afford during deployment.¹ The court can also grant the landlord equitable relief during the stay, such as ordering partial payment from the servicemember’s military pay, so the landlord isn’t left absorbing the full cost of the delay.

The “Materially Affected” Test

Protection isn’t automatic. A court grants the stay only if the servicemember’s ability to pay the agreed rent is materially affected by military service.¹ Judges look for a concrete link between the service and the financial strain, not just the general fact of being in uniform. Common scenarios that meet the standard include a deployment that ended a spouse’s local income, a reassignment to a much higher cost-of-living area while the old lease still runs, or an inability to manage financial obligations from overseas. A servicemember who earns the same or more and has no service-related reason for falling behind won’t get the stay.

Documentation and Filing

Section 3951 doesn’t set a rigid application checklist, but you’ll need to prove two things: that you’re on active duty, and that your military service is why you can’t pay. Bring these before you go to court:

A copy of your current military orders establishing active-duty status, branch, and the dates of your service obligation. This is the single most important document.
Recent Leave and Earnings Statements, bank statements, or pay records showing how your income changed when you entered service or received new orders. If your spouse lost a job because of a relocation, include documentation of that too.
A letter from your commanding officer confirming that your duties prevent you from appearing and that leave hasn’t been authorized. It isn’t required by the statute, but it’s standard practice and strengthens your request.
A short written statement tying your military service to your inability to pay — specifics about increased expenses, lost household income, or your inability to manage finances from a deployed location.
A copy of your lease showing the monthly rent, so the court can confirm you’re under the $10,542.60 threshold.²

File your request with the clerk of the court where the eviction case is pending. Serve the landlord or their attorney with a copy using certified mail, a process server, or whatever method your local court accepts, then file your proof of service.

If You Didn’t Know a Case Was Filed

Many servicemembers are thousands of miles from the courthouse when a landlord files, and some never receive notice at all. Before a court can enter a default judgment against a tenant who hasn’t appeared, the landlord must file an affidavit stating whether the tenant is in military service. If the tenant is in the military, the court cannot enter judgment until it appoints an attorney to represent the absent servicemember.⁶

Filing a false affidavit about a tenant’s military status is a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine, or both.⁶ A judgment entered without the required affidavit can be reopened.

Ending the Lease Instead

Sometimes the better move isn’t defending the rental. The SCRA also lets a servicemember terminate a residential lease early without penalty.⁷ You qualify if you entered military service after signing the lease, or if you signed while already serving and then received orders for a permanent change of station or a deployment of 90 days or more.

To terminate, deliver written notice with a copy of your orders to the landlord or their agent. You can do this by hand, by mail with return receipt requested, by private carrier, or electronically.⁷ If rent is paid monthly, the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment comes due.⁵ Rent for the period before termination is prorated. The landlord cannot charge an early-termination fee or penalty, and any rent paid beyond the termination date must be refunded within 30 days.

If a servicemember dies during military service or suffers a catastrophic injury or illness, the spouse or dependent can terminate the lease within one year of the death or injury.⁷

What a Landlord Faces for Violating the SCRA

Knowingly evicting or attempting to evict a covered tenant without a court order is a federal misdemeanor, punishable by a fine under Title 18, up to a year in prison, or both.¹

A servicemember or dependent whose rights were violated can also sue the landlord in federal court. The court can award equitable or declaratory relief and monetary damages, and it can order the landlord to pay the servicemember’s attorney fees and litigation costs.⁸

The U.S. Attorney General can bring a separate civil action against anyone engaged in a pattern of SCRA violations, or a single violation raising an issue of significant public importance. Courts can award monetary damages to the affected servicemember and civil penalties up to $55,000 for a first violation and $110,000 for each subsequent one.⁹ To report a violation, start with your local military legal assistance office. If you aren’t eligible for that, submit a complaint through the DOJ’s civil rights reporting portal. DOJ doesn’t investigate every complaint and doesn’t represent individual servicemembers, but it does pursue cases affecting multiple people or involving egregious conduct.¹⁰

Mistakes That Sink SCRA Claims

The most common problem is waiting. Servicemembers who don’t respond until after a default judgment is entered face a much harder path; reopening a judgment is possible, but preventing one is far easier. If you know eviction is likely, file your stay request early.

The next is skipping the connection to service. Judges see requests where the servicemember asserts active-duty status and stops there. If your income didn’t drop or even went up when you entered service, you need a specific explanation: your spouse had to quit a job, you’re maintaining two households, deployment cut you off from managing a side business. The material-effect requirement has real teeth, and courts won’t waive it out of sympathy.

The last is assuming any rental qualifies. The statute reaches only premises occupied or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence.¹ A home where your family lives during your service qualifies. A property you rent out to someone else does not.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
2
Federal Register. Notice of Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3911 – Definitions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3911 – Definitions
5
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 4042 – Private Right of Action
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 4041 – Enforcement by the Attorney General
10
U.S. Department of Justice. How We Can Help