SCRA lease termination letter
If you signed a lease and then received PCS orders, deployment orders for 90 days or more, or orders onto active duty, federal law lets you end it early without a penalty. Answer the questions below and this page writes the formal notice under 50 U.S.C. §3955 and works out the date your lease ends.
What happens next
Your notice of lease termination
Who can end a lease under the SCRA
Section 3955 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act covers a lease of a home (or of premises used for professional, business, agricultural or similar purposes) that you or your dependents live in or plan to live in. You can end it in any of these situations:
- You signed the lease and later entered military service. For a Reserve member, the protection starts on the day you receive the order to report (50 U.S.C. §3917).
- You signed the lease while in military service and then received orders for a permanent change of station. Separation and retirement orders count as a PCS (§3955(i)(3)). The statute sets no minimum distance for a home lease.
- You signed the lease while in military service and then received orders to deploy with a unit, or as an individual in support of a military operation, for 90 days or more.
- You signed the lease when you received PCS or deployment orders, and then a stop-movement order (indefinite, or for 30 days or more) kept you or your dependents from moving in. This applies to stop-movement orders issued on or after March 1, 2020.
- The servicemember died while in military service, or while on full-time National Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training. The spouse or a dependent can end the lease within one year of the date of death (§3955(a)(3)).
- The servicemember suffered a catastrophic injury or illness (as defined in 37 U.S.C. §439(g)) during military service or that same kind of Guard or Reserve duty. Within one year, the servicemember can end the lease. If the servicemember lacks the mental capacity to manage their own affairs because of it, the spouse or a dependent can (§3955(a)(4)).
Termination is your choice. You can send the notice at any time after you enter service or after the date of your orders.
What to send
Send a written notice that you are ending the lease, together with a copy of your military orders, to the landlord or the landlord’s agent, such as the property manager. A phone call or a conversation at the leasing office does not count.
“Military orders” is broader than it sounds. It means official orders, including orders for separation or retirement, or any notification, certification or verification from your commanding officer about your current or future duty status (§3955(i)(1)). If your orders are not cut yet, a letter from your commanding officer is enough.
How to deliver it
The statute lists four ways (§3955(c)(2)):
- By hand. Ask for a signed and dated receipt, or keep a copy the landlord initials.
- By a private business carrier, such as FedEx or UPS. Keep the tracking record that shows delivery.
- By U.S. mail, in a stamped envelope with return receipt requested, addressed the way the landlord designated. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof. The certified mail guide walks through it.
- By electronic means: to an email address the landlord designated, by posting it to an online portal that you and the landlord both have access to, or by another electronic method reasonably calculated to reach the landlord. This option was added for notices delivered on or after January 5, 2021.
Whichever way you choose, keep the proof. If the landlord later says the notice never arrived, the receipt, tracking page or sent email settles it.
When the lease ends
If rent is due monthly, the lease ends 30 days after the first date the next rent payment is due after the landlord receives your notice (§3955(d)(1)(A)). Two examples with rent due on the 1st:
- The notice arrives July 21. The next rent is due August 1, so the lease ends 30 days later, on August 31.
- The notice arrives August 1, the same day rent is due. The next payment due after that day is September 1, so the lease ends October 1. Getting the notice in one day earlier would have ended it on August 31.
For any other lease, such as rent paid weekly or all at once, the lease ends on the last day of the month after the month the notice is delivered. A notice delivered on March 10 ends the lease on April 30.
A lease ended because of a stop-movement order ends on the day the notice and orders are delivered (§3955(d)(1)(B)).
Rent, fees and your deposit
- You owe rent up to the termination date, prorated for a partial month (§3955(e)(1)).
- The landlord may not charge an early termination fee. The Department of Justice takes the position that making a servicemember repay rent concessions or move-in discounts is an early termination fee.
- You still owe what the lease already required and that is due and unpaid when the lease ends, such as taxes or reasonable charges for excess wear.
- Rent you paid in advance for any time after the termination date must be refunded within 30 days of that date (§3955(f)).
- The SCRA does not set its own deadline for returning a security deposit. Your state’s law does; the security deposit deadline checker shows it. The SCRA does make it a federal misdemeanor to knowingly hold a servicemember’s deposit or belongings to cover rent for a time after a lawful termination (§3955(h)).
- A landlord who thinks the termination is unfair can ask a court to change it, but only before the termination date in your notice (§3955(g)).
Spouses and dependents
When the servicemember ends the lease, any obligation a dependent has under the same lease ends too (§3955(a)(2)). A dependent is your spouse, your child, or someone you provided more than half of the support for during the 180 days before you ask for relief (§3911(4)). The spouse or a dependent can also end the lease after the servicemember’s death or catastrophic injury, as described above. If only your spouse signed the lease, the answer depends on the facts, so ask your legal assistance office before you send anything.
Car and truck leases
The same section covers vehicle leases, with stricter triggers. You qualify if you signed the lease and then entered service on orders for 180 days or more, or received PCS orders from the continental United States to a location outside it (or from Alaska or Hawaii to anywhere outside that state), or deployment orders for 180 days or more, or a stop-movement order after leasing on those orders. Deliver the written notice and orders, then return the vehicle within 15 days. The lease ends on the day both are done. There is no early termination charge, but you still owe taxes, title and registration fees, and reasonable charges for excess wear, use and mileage. Lease amounts paid in advance come back within 30 days; the Department of Justice says that includes a capitalized cost reduction paid at signing. This page writes the home lease notice only.
Free help
Your installation’s legal assistance office (the JAG office) will review your notice for free, and it is the place to go if a landlord refuses to honor it. Find the nearest office with the Armed Forces Legal Assistance locator. Military OneSource explains the SCRA and other protections for service members and their families. If a landlord will not let you out of a lease the law says you can end, you can report it to the Department of Justice Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative. You can also sue for damages, and the court can award attorney fees (50 U.S.C. §4042).
Sources
- 50 U.S.C. §3955, Termination of residential or motor vehicle leases (Office of the Law Revision Counsel), also at Cornell Legal Information Institute
- 50 U.S.C. §3911, Definitions and §3917, Reserves ordered to report
- U.S. Department of Justice: financial and housing rights under the SCRA
Kits For That is not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. This tool is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney; your installation’s legal assistance office can review your notice for free. Facts verified against official sources in October 2026.