Important Changes to Reporting Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. Appx. 501 et seq., herein “SCRA”1) is the successor to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Relief Act.  It offers protections for persons in active military service.   The protections may include mandated 6% interest on some loans, and halting court judgments, evictions and foreclosures.  “Military Service” covers seven agencies (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force, as well as certain employees of the National Health Service and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. (See SCRA §  511(2)). 

It is important to note that the SCRA provides protection not only to persons on active military service but also up to nine (9) months after termination of active military status.  Foreclosures, for example, are invalid if conducted during or within nine (9)2 months after a servicemember’s period of military service.   The court could review the promissory notes that gave rise to the foreclosure and could change the mortgage payment and maturity date.  Similarly, the 6% interest rate cap extends one (1) year after termination of a servicemember’s period of military service. §527(a). 

There are dangers in proceeding against someone without verifying if the person is in active military service.   A person who knowingly causes a foreclosure or seizure or attempts to do so in contravention of the SCRA is subject to imprisonment. (see §533 (d))

Until now, searches under the SCRA only provided confirmation of whether a person was or was not in active military status.  This resulted in a severe vulnerability:  there was no ability to verify if a servicemember was within his/her period of post-service protection.  Effective October 11, 2009, the military active duty verification provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Centralized Verification (www.servicememberscivilreliefact.com) will include active duty termination dates.  This change in reporting was made possible because the Defense Department’s Manpower Data Centers DEERS database (hosted by the Defense Manpower Data Center (“DMDC”)) responses now include this information, at the request of the SCRACVS and at the suggestion of Rod Powers who covers US Military issues at About.com.

At the SCRACVS site, active duty military status verification requests may be conducted without a social security number or date of birth, provided that other identifying information (such as addresses) is provided.  The DMDC site will not permit a search without SSN or d.o.b., and, searches conducted with d.o.b. only include a disclaimer indicating that the search results cannot be verified because only a SSN provides a unique identifier. This, disclaimer, understandably, may draw court concern.  The SCRACVS has other data available to it to conduct the dispositive searches often required by courts.

Courts universally require an affidavit before a plaintiff may receive a judgment against an individual.  Those affidavits should now indicate the active duty termination date, if applicable.  The affidavits are sometimes referred to as “military affidavits”, “non-military affidavits”, and “affidavits in compliance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act”.

[1] The Act is the successor to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940.  The SCRA is sometimes and erroneously referred to as the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act, Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act, Service Member Civil Relief Act, Service Member’s Civil Relief Act, Servicemembers Civil Release Act, and similar.

[2] On July 30, 2008 the protection was extended from 90 days to 9 months.  Effective January 1, 2011, a sunset provision will roll the 9 months back to 90 days.  §2203(c)(2) of Act July 30, 2008, P.L. 110-289. On the other hand, §522, which applies to other proceedings, remains at 90 days.