Support our troops in rental properties –It’s the law.
Dating back to the 1776 our troops have been going off to defend our freedoms. Some of those troops have been renters. The recent conflict in the Middle East is no exception. Recently, we have been getting more questions about troops being deployed to serve our country during a tenancy. I believe we have a moral obligation to support those that are willing to give everything to defend us while we are safe here in the USA. Further more we have a legal obligation to offer them assistance.
The Service Members Civil Relief Act guarantees that our troops will be treated fairly when deployed. If a service member, including his/her dependants has a month to month tenancy or a longer term lease they can terminate the agreement with out penalty or withholding of the security deposit.
They do have to provide some evidence that they are being deployed and need to give written notice. The written notice can be in several forms. They can just provide the landlord with a written notice to terminate or they can provide written orders as evidence of termination. We usually ask for both, if available, but do not require both. The written notice can easily be done online at our web site www.4RentDenver.com. It provides a forwarding address for the security deposit. The orders are usually easy for them to provide and we keep those in the tenants file.
The lease is effectively terminated 30 days after written notice coinciding with the end of the next month. For example, if the landlord is provide written notice on the 4th of July, rent will be due on August 1st or as written in the lease and then the lease will be terminated August 31st. The service member owes no further rent and is not liable for any losses due to early termination sustained by the landlord. The landlord can still withhold security deposit for damages, repairs, cleaning or other lawful provisions within the lease agreement.
I still shake the hand of our men and women in uniform and say “thank for your service.”
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