ADT Military Cancellation Under the SCRA: Orders, Email, No ETF

ADT is the one home security company with both a published SCRA page and a DOJ record under 50 U.S.C. § 3956. Its “SCRA Termination Rights” page carries an effective date of April 9, 2026 (read August 15, 2026). On April 14, 2026 the Justice Department announced a $1.26 million settlement over ADT’s prior 30-day notice practice; the case record has the full account. This page is the how-to.

What ADT’s SCRA page states

The page tracks the statute clause for clause, which is what a settlement with policy changes tends to produce. The generic contract guide explains the section for every provider; home security services have been a covered contract since the January 2023 amendment.

The DOJ record, briefly

The DOJ alleged that ADT required 30 days’ notice from at least 3,400 servicemembers who terminated home security contracts on relocation orders. Under the statute, once a lawful notice is delivered the provider cannot charge beyond the current billing period. ADT agreed on April 14, 2026 to pay up to $1,260,000 to the affected servicemembers, a $79,380 civil penalty, and to change its policies and training. ADT’s own statement says it “enhanced our processes” and that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. Details, quotes, and how the count compares with other cases are on the case page and in the enforcement ledger.

How to cancel ADT on orders

Terminate ADT under § 3956

1. Write a short notice: your name, ADT account number, service address, the termination date you want, and the sentence “I am terminating under 50 U.S.C. § 3956.” The letter generator produces it.
2. Attach your orders, or a commander’s letter verifying the relocation. ADT’s page accepts either.
3. Email both to docs6273@adt.com. Keep the sent copy. If you prefer, call (888) 955-6882 during ADT’s stated hours and ask where else to send it, then send it there too.
4. Expect ADT’s written or electronic confirmation of your SCRA rights. If it does not arrive, follow up by phone with the date you emailed.
5. Check the final statement: no early termination fee; a charge only through the end of the billing period in which you terminated; equipment loan installments continuing if you financed hardware.
6. If ADT owes you money you prepaid past the termination date, it has 60 days. Mark the date; the deadline checker tracks it.
7. If you want ADT at the new address within 90 days of the relocation ending, cite the reinstatement rule so no reactivation fee appears.

Things members trip on at ADT

The 30 days are gone; make sure the bill knows it. ADT’s current page attaches no notice period to an SCRA termination, and its DOJ settlement was about exactly that. If a representative says you owe another month, point to the effective-date line on ADT’s own page and to § 3956(f). The most common SCRA violations guide shows how often “one more billing cycle” is the whole violation.

Equipment financing survives. ADT’s page names equipment loan balances as an obligation that stays with you. A monitoring contract and a hardware loan are two agreements; the statute ends the first and does not touch the second. Ask ADT for the loan payoff and the remaining schedule the same day you cancel.

The ETF you are avoiding is real. ADT’s move offer page (read August 2026) describes 36-month monitoring plans and says “early cancel fees apply,” without printing the amount. Whatever your agreement sets, that is the figure at stake when someone offers you a “courtesy” instead of the statutory cancellation; ask what the fee would have been and confirm in writing that it is $0.

Move offers are marketing. ADT’s Safe Move program pitches a free starter system at the new address in exchange for a new 36-month plan. It can be a fine deal, and it is not an SCRA right; declining it does not cost you the no-ETF cancellation.

Stop-movement orders count. ADT’s page repeats the 2023 amendment: a customer who signed after a PCS and then could not use the service because of a stop-movement order of 30 days or more can terminate too. Few providers print that.

Self-setup systems. ADT’s SCRA page does not distinguish professionally installed from self-installed systems; a monitoring subscription of either kind gets the same notice. If any hardware is ADT-owned rather than yours, ask for return instructions in the same email and keep the receipt.

The same orders reach your lease and your phone; PCS money moves walks the set, and the apartment lease guide covers the biggest one.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3956

Termination of certain consumer contracts: mobile, landline, internet, TV, gym, and home security: read the statute.