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With Scott Air Force Base bringing more than 13,000 personnel through the region, St. Louis-area landlords run into Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lease terminations more often than owners in most other markets. The law itself is straightforward in principle, but the exact timeline and documentation requirements trip up more landlords than almost any other tenant-related issue, and getting it wrong carries real federal exposure.
Key Takeaways
Allows active-duty tenants to terminate a residential lease early upon receiving permanent change of station (PCS) orders or deployment orders lasting 90 days or more.
Requires written notice and a copy of military orders delivered by hand, private business carrier, or mail with return receipt requested.
For monthly leases, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent due date following notice delivery, not 30 days from the notice date itself.
Any rent paid in advance for a period after the termination date must be refunded within 30 days of the effective termination date.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has logged over 400,000 SCRA-related complaints, underscoring the need for strict compliance.
Who the SCRA Actually Protects
SCRA protections apply to active-duty members of the five military branches, reservists on federal active duty, and National Guard members on federal orders for more than 30 days. This includes the personnel and dependents connected to Scott Air Force Base's mission as headquarters for Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command. The right to terminate a lease applies when a servicemember receives PCS orders, deployment orders lasting 90 days or more, or a stop movement order, and it applies regardless of whether the lease was signed before or after the tenant entered military service.
The SCRA also extends the same lease termination right to a service member's spouse in the event the service member dies while in military service, so this protection isn't limited strictly to situations where the service member themselves initiates the request.
The Notice and Documentation Requirements
To exercise SCRA lease termination rights, the tenant must deliver a written notice of termination along with a copy of their military orders, or a letter from their commanding officer confirming the situation. This delivery must be made by hand, through a private business carrier, or by mail with return receipt requested, not through a casual verbal notification or an unsupported text message.
A landlord receiving this kind of notice should confirm both pieces are actually present, the written notice and the documentation, before treating the termination as valid. Consistent, careful tenant screening at move-in, including verifying military status where relevant, makes situations like this easier to handle correctly later in a tenancy.
Calculating the Actual Termination Date
This is where most landlords get tripped up. The lease doesn't end 30 days from when notice is given. For a lease with monthly rent, termination becomes effective 30 days after the next rent due date following the date notice was delivered. For example, if rent is due on the 1st of each month and a tenant delivers notice on the 10th, the lease continues through the next rent due date of the 1st, and then terminates 30 days after that, meaning the lease actually ends on the last day of the following month rather than 30 days after the original notice date.
Miscalculating this date in either direction, ending a tenancy too early or holding a tenant to rent obligations too long, creates real liability. Our accounting team works through this calculation carefully any time an SCRA termination notice comes in for a property we manage.
What Happens to Rent and Deposits?
Once a valid SCRA termination is in effect, rent obligations end on the calculated termination date, and any rent already paid for a period after that date has to be refunded to the tenant within 30 days of the termination date. The Department of Justice has also taken the position that requiring a service member to repay rent concessions or move-in discounts as a condition of the early termination functions as an early termination fee, which the SCRA prohibits. A standard security deposit return timeline and process still apply; an SCRA termination doesn't change the underlying deposit rules, only the lease term.
Can a Landlord Challenge a Termination Notice?
Yes, but only through the appropriate legal process, not by simply refusing to honor it. If a landlord has genuine doubts about whether a tenant's documentation is valid, the SCRA allows the landlord to challenge the termination notice in court prior to the termination date stated in the notice.
What a landlord cannot do is unilaterally decide the notice doesn't count and continue holding the tenant to the original lease term without pursuing that legal avenue. Given how seriously federal regulators treat SCRA compliance, and the volume of complaints tracked by the CFPB, working through proper legal channels rather than informal pushback protects a landlord's position far better than a dispute that plays out entirely outside the legal process.
It's also worth including a military termination clause directly in your lease template even though the SCRA applies regardless, since a clear clause helps set expectations for both parties from the start of the tenancy. Our owner FAQs page covers several related scenarios St. Louis-area landlords ask us about when a Scott AFB tenant needs to end a lease early.
FAQ
Can a tenant terminate a lease immediately after receiving PCS orders?
No. The tenant must provide written notice with a copy of orders, and the lease terminates 30 days after the next rent due date following that notice, not immediately upon delivery.
What documentation does a tenant need to provide to invoke SCRA protections?
Written notice of termination along with a copy of official military orders or a letter from their commanding officer, delivered by hand, private carrier, or mail with return receipt requested.
Do I have to refund rent paid in advance if a lease terminates under the SCRA?
Yes. Any rent covering a period after the termination date must be refunded to the tenant within 30 days of that termination date.
Can I dispute a servicemember's termination notice if I think it's not valid?
Yes, but only by challenging it in court before the stated termination date. You cannot simply refuse to honor the notice on your own.
Handling These Situations With Confidence
Scott Air Force Base's presence means St. Louis landlords will encounter SCRA lease terminations more often than owners in many other markets, and getting the notice requirements and termination date calculation right protects you from federal compliance exposure that has drawn increasing regulatory attention.
If you'd like help navigating an SCRA lease termination or reviewing your current lease language for military tenants, reach out to our team today.