Introduction
Active duty servicemembers are entitled to protections against eviction under the federal SCRA and Minnesota law. 50 U.S.C. §§ 3931, 3932, 3935, 3936, 3951, 3955. Minnesota law incorporates and expands on these federal protections. Minn. Stat. §§ 190.055(a)(1); 325G.55, subd. 2. In particular, active duty servicemembers have the following protections:
- Landlords must apply for and obtain a court order to evict;
- Servicemembers may request a stay to court-ordered eviction proceedings;
- Servicemembers may request the court to adjust lease obligations;
- Servicemembers are entitled to lease termination and refund of deposits;
- Eviction-related deadlines are tolled by active military service; and
- Servicemembers may request to reopen default judgments.
Statutory housing protections for active duty servicemembers trace their origins to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940, which codified Congress’s intent to shield servicemembers from adverse civil actions during active duty. Pub. L. No. 76-861, 54 Stat. 1178 (1940). In 2003, Congress expanded these protections under an amended act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901–4043. As amended, the SCRA provides an express right of private action for individuals affected by violations of the Act. § 4042(a)–(b) (authorizing equitable and declaratory relief, monetary damages, and other appropriate relief, including costs and reasonable attorney’s fees).
A. Evictions Must Be Court-Ordered.
A landlord may not evict a servicemember, or subject the covered premises to distress, during a period of military service except by court order. § 3951(a)(1). The statute applies to premises occupied or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence and falling within the statutorily defined rent threshold, which is adjusted annually based on inflation. § 3951(a)(1)(A)(ii). In 2025, the annual rent threshold was $10,239.63. See Notice of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment for Calendar Year 2025, 90 Fed. Reg. 21,473 (May 20, 2025).
By conditioning eviction on judicial order, § 3951 establishes a supervised framework for eviction proceedings involving active servicemembers in which the court must evaluate the impact of military service before eviction occurs. An enforcement provision in § 3951 gives the court-order requirement teeth by making it a misdemeanor to knowingly attempt or participate in a noncompliant eviction or distress. § 3951(c).
i. Separate Standard Under § 3951
Notably, the standard for housing-related relief under § 3951 turns on practical impacts of military service on lease performance, rather than the servicemember’s ability to appear in the eviction action. This is less stringent than the standard for obtaining a stay of eviction proceedings under § 3932. Compare § 3951(b) (directing courts to grant relief when military service “materially affect[s]” the servicemember’s “ability to pay the agreed rent”) with § 3932(f) (authorizing stay when military duty “materially affect[s] the servicemember’s ability to appear” in the action and requiring a formal showing supported by a servicemember statement and commanding-officer communication); § 3951(e) (excluding application of § 3932 to any provision of § 3951).
ii. Limitations to § 3951
There are limitations to the significant protections of § 3951. In Hale v. Strano & Associates, Ltd., an active duty servicemember and his family alleged that a property manager violated the SCRA by evicting them without obtaining a specific Illinois eviction form. No. 3:23-CV-3530-NJR, 2023 WL 8372824, at *3 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 4, 2023). The district court held that § 3951(a) requires only that eviction occur pursuant to a court order, which had been entered through the state eviction judgment, and rejected the argument that the SCRA incorporates additional state procedures. Id. Thus, plaintiffs may not use § 3951 as a vehicle to enforce additional state law requirements beyond the baseline existence of a court order.
Courts have also declined to extend § 3951 to claims premised on constructive eviction or habitability disputes where no court-ordered removal occurs. Greer v. Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC, No. CV 124-215, 2025 WL 2382938, at *7 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 15, 2025) (dismissing SCRA claim where servicemembers alleged that unsafe military housing conditions, including mold and flooding, effectively forced them from their residence because the SCRA’s prohibition on eviction “except by court order” contemplates an affirmative act to expel a tenant rather than a landlord’s failure to maintain the premises); Yarbrough v. Hunt Southern Group, LLC, 836 F. App’x 238, 241 (5th Cir. 2020) (affirming dismissal of SCRA claim where plaintiffs alleged constructive eviction arising from housing conditions but failed to show actual displacement).
B. Servicemembers May Seek to Stay Eviction Proceedings.
Even if the landlord obtains a court order, the servicemember has the right to seek a stay of eviction proceedings under § 3951(b). If a servicemember “whose ability to pay rent is materially affected by military service” requests a stay, the court must stay the proceedings for ninety days, unless “justice and equity require a longer or shorter period of time.” § 3951(b)(1)(A).
C. Servicemembers May Seek to Adjust Rental Obligations.
Another form of relief is adjusting rental obligations. The SCRA grants courts authority to tailor relief to the circumstances of the tenancy, including restructuring payment obligations or otherwise modifying performance during military service, “to preserve the interests of all parties.” § 3951(b)(1)(B). Courts may exercise this authority at the request of the servicemember or sua sponte. § 3951(b)(1). Courts may also “set the terms and amounts for such installment payments [for the duration of a stay] as is considered reasonable.” § 3935(a).
D. Servicemembers Are Entitled to Terminate the Lease and Receive a Refund.
Servicemembers are not only entitled under federal law to terminate a lease without penalty, but Minnesota law further entitles servicemembers to receive a refund of deposits made for that lease. Minnesota law fully incorporates the SCRA and provides this extra protection. Minn. Stat. § 190.055(a)(1) (incorporating SCRA protections into Minnesota law).1
i. Lease Termination
Servicemembers may elect to terminate a lease “at any time” after the servicemember’s (1) “entry into military service;” (2) date of “military orders;” or (3) date of “stop movement order.”2 § 3955(a)(1)(A)–(C). Similarly, the servicemember or their spouse may terminate the lease if the servicemember experiences “catastrophic injury or illness” during “a period of military service or while performing covered service.” § 3955(a)(4)(A). These protections apply to “leases of premises occupied, or intended to be occupied, by a servicemember or a servicemember’s dependents for a residential, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purpose[.]” § 3955(b)(1); see § 3955(c) (describing procedural requirements for termination); see also Minn. Stat. § 325G.55, subd. 2 (servicemembers who are “issued orders into active duty, for deployment, or for a permanent change of duty station, subsequent to the execution of the [rental] contract” are “entitled to cancel the contract at no penalty”).
Furthermore, a servicemember who terminates a residential lease under § 3955 is obligated to pay rent only through the effective termination date. § 3955(d)(1). Any rent paid in advance for a period after that time must be refunded within 30 days. § 3955(f). The SCRA expressly provides that rent unpaid for the period preceding termination must be paid on a prorated basis and prohibits the imposition of any early termination charge. § 3955(e)(1). The servicemember remains responsible only for those “taxes, summonses, or other obligations and liabilities . . . in accordance with the terms of the lease” that are “due and unpaid at the time of termination.” Id. Moreover, a landlord may not offset lost profits from lease termination by keeping a servicemember’s personal effects, security deposit, or other property. § 3955(h).
ii. Refund
Beyond adopting the SCRA, as noted above, Minnesota law adds the right to full refund of deposits. Minn. Stat. § 325G.55, subd. 2 (providing that servicemembers who are “entitled to cancel the contract at no penalty” are also entitled to “a full refund of any money which may have been placed on deposit”).3
E. Active Duty Tolls Applicable Deadlines.
Section 3936 preserves servicemember rights by tolling applicable deadlines during active duty. 50 U.S.C. § 3936 (“The period of a servicemember’s military service may not be included in computing any period limited by law, regulation, or order for the bringing of any action or proceeding in a court . . . or the United States by or against the servicemember or the servicemember’s heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.”). The Supreme Court has characterized § 3936 as “unambiguous, unequivocal, and unlimited,” and rejected arguments that tolling requires a showing of material effect. Conroy v. Aniskoff, 507 U.S. 511, 514–15 (1993).
F. Servicemembers May Apply to Reopen Default Judgment.
The SCRA also provides a mechanism for reopening default judgments entered against servicemembers unable to appear due to military service. § 3931. If a default judgment is entered during active duty (or within sixty days thereafter), the court must reopen the judgment upon application if the servicemember shows that military service materially affected the ability to defend the action and that a meritorious defense exists. § 3931(g)(1)(A)–(B). The filing deadline for an application to reopen is ninety days after the end of active military service. § 3931(g)(2).
Conclusion
The SCRA and Minnesota laws that shield active duty servicemembers against eviction reflect legislators’ intent to protect those who protect us. Courts have also reiterated that the SCRA, like its predecessor statute, is to be construed “with an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country’s call.” See, e.g., Addi v. Corvias Mgmt.-Army, LLC, No. ELH-19-3253, 2020 WL 5076170, at *40 (D. Md. Aug. 27, 2020) (quoting Le Maistre v. Leffers, 333 U.S. 1, 6 (1948)); U.S. Bank Tr., N.A. v. Chae, No. 1:17-cv-1171-AT-AJB, 2017 WL 8217730, at *5 (N.D. Ga. Apr. 17, 2017) (quoting same); Bright Horizons Props. v. Simpson, No. 1:11-CV-02458-SCJ-AJB, 2011 WL 13319203, at *5 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 8, 2011) (quoting same). With this backing, servicemembers have legal tools to contest unlawful evictions.
1 Minnesota Statutes cite the SCRA at 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501–596, as codified prior to amendment in 2003. The SCRA is now codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901–4043.
2 The SCRA does not define a “stop movement order.” However, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a memorandum in connection with COVID-19 that exemplifies such an order. See DoD Memorandum, Stop Movement for All Domestic Travel for DoD Components in Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19) (Mar. 13, 2020) (directive ordering military personnel and certain civilians to temporarily “stop movement,” including suspending permanent change-of-station moves, temporary duty assignments, and other official travel, except for mission-essential or specifically authorized movement).
3 Note the statute is titled “CANCELLATION WITHOUT PENALTY OF RENTAL.” Accordingly, the phrase “full refund of any money” indicates that the refund may not be reduced by a cancellation penalty. The statute does not expressly address whether a full refund is warranted if premises are damaged or destroyed during tenancy.
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