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SCRASAVER

Protect Your Home & Car

Foreclosure and repossession protections that keep your biggest assets safe during service.

The SCRA does not stop a lender from being owed money. It stops the lender from taking your home or your car without a judge looking at it first. That single requirement, a court order, is what nearly every enforcement case in our ledger comes down to.

Two different sections do the work. Section 3952 covers installment contracts, which is how most cars are financed, and applies only where you paid a deposit or an installment before entering service. Section 3953 covers mortgages and trust deeds, and applies to obligations that originated before your service began.

The foreclosure protection is the one people underestimate: it runs during your service and for one full year afterwards. A sale, foreclosure or seizure inside that window is not valid without a court order granted beforehand.

At a glance

Repossession
50 U.S.C. § 3952. No repossession for breach without a court order
Repossession applies when
You paid a deposit or installment before entering military service
Foreclosure
50 U.S.C. § 3953. No valid sale or foreclosure without a prior court order
Foreclosure window
During service and for one year after it ends
Eviction
50 U.S.C. § 3951. Court order required below a rent ceiling that started at $2,400 in 2003 and is inflation-adjusted annually
Eviction ceiling, current figure
Published each year in the Federal Register by the Secretary of Defense. Check the current year before relying on it
Illegal repossession
A misdemeanor under § 3952(b). Fine, up to one year imprisonment, or both
What a court can order
Repayment of your prior installments or deposits as a condition of the creditor taking the property back

Start here

Frequently asked questions

Does the SCRA stop a repossession even if I am genuinely behind?

It does not erase the debt, but it stops self-help repossession. Under § 3952 the creditor cannot rescind or terminate the contract for a breach, or repossess the property, without a court order. Being behind is what gets them into court; it does not let them skip court.

My loan is from before I enlisted. Does that matter?

It is the whole test for § 3952. The section applies only to a contract on which you paid a deposit or an installment before entering military service. Section 3953 has the equivalent test for mortgages: the obligation must have originated before your period of service.

I already left the service. Am I too late on a foreclosure?

Not necessarily. Section 3953(c) makes a sale, foreclosure or seizure invalid if made during your service or within one year after it ends, absent a qualifying court order. The one-year tail is real and it is frequently missed.

Is an illegal repossession a crime?

Yes. Section 3952(b) makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly resume possession in violation of the section, or to knowingly attempt it, punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to one year, or both. In practice these resolve as civil settlements, and our enforcement ledger records those.

What is the rent limit on eviction protection?

Section 3951 sets a monthly rent ceiling that was $2,400 in 2003 and has been adjusted for housing price inflation every year since. The Secretary of Defense publishes the current figure in the Federal Register each year, so check that year’s published amount rather than relying on the base number in the statute.

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