Can I break the lease agreement if I get military orders?

By Tenant

Due to the nature of work in the military, service men are entitled to a certain set of guidelines that would protect them from their financial obligations. According to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a military man can terminate his lease agreement when they go active on duty. This is if the lease was set into place before they even got to be on active duty. Also, if a residential lease was entered into while the military man is on active duty but then, he got a permanent change of station, then he can also break the lease agreement. He is also protected if he has received an order to deploy for a period of 90 days or more.

Does this privilege extend to the immediate family members too?

The protection covers any rental property that has been occupied or the military man is still planning to occupy. It also extends to his dependents or immediate family members. But again, you must understand that this is granted that the serviceman has resided or is planning to reside in a specific rental property.

For example, if you are on the lease agreement but your husband is in the military, then you can also break the lease agreement if your husband has received orders to move out.

How can you break a lease agreement?

To break a lease agreement, the serviceman has to do the following:

• Request, in writing, for a termination of the lease agreement.
• Include a copy of the orders your husband has received from the military.
• Deliver the notification in any way that you want as long as there is receipt of delivery.

If you are on a month-to-month lease agreement, your earliest termination date would be about 30 days after the due date of your payment. So for example, if you pay your rent every 1^st of the month and then your husband received his orders on the 18^th of the month, then you can terminate your lease agreement effective the first day of next month.

But if you are not on a month-to-month agreement, the earliest termination date would be the last day of the same month. Remember that there is a process for the termination and you cannot just pack up and go.

The apartment will still need to be inspected prior to your move to check for repairs that need to be done. Your security deposit will still be used to make the needed repairs and you will still get an itemized list of all the repairs that have affected your security deposit. The rest of the moving out process remains to be relatively the same.

What if there are other people on the list and they want to stay?

If this is the case, the military member can just request for his name to be taken off the lease agreement. The other people on the lease can then look for another roommate to replace the military member. But until a replacement tenant is found, the roommates left in the apartment will be responsible for the military member’s share of rent.

When should you file for a complaint?

Your landlord cannot hold your husband if he is the military. He can leave or be taken off the lease agreement. However, he also cannot hold you liable to the rest of the lease agreement. You are your husband’s immediate family.

If your landlord is being really difficult to deal with after you have followed all the required steps to terminating a lease agreement, then next logical step that you can do is to file a complaint with the RPA. You can use their mediation center that is accessible via this link: http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/complaint_center.php

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