Break Leases & Contracts Penalty-Free
Cancel Phone, Internet & Cable Contracts on Military Orders
Part of: The Complete Guide to the SCRA
Here is a benefit almost nobody claims, because almost nobody knows it has a name. When the military moves you, you can walk away from your cell phone, internet, and cable contracts without paying the early-termination fee. That fee is usually $100 to $350 per line or service. On a family plan plus home internet plus cable, killing those fees on a PCS is real money back in your pocket.
This is not a carrier courtesy. It is federal law, 50 U.S.C. § 3956, part of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The same statute most people only know for breaking an apartment lease also covers your service contracts.
What you can cancel, fee-free
| Contract type | Covered by § 3956? | Early-termination fee |
|---|---|---|
| Cell phone / wireless | ✓ Yes | ✓ Cannot be charged |
| Home internet | ✓ Yes | ✓ Cannot be charged |
| Cable or satellite TV | ✓ Yes | ✓ Cannot be charged |
| Gym / fitness | ✓ Yes, added 2023 | ✓ Cannot be charged |
| Home security service | ✓ Yes, added 2023 | ✓ Cannot be charged |
| Streaming (Netflix, Disney+, etc.) | ✕ Not by this law | Usually cancel anytime anyway |
Two triggers open the right, and neither is simply joining the military. The main one: you receive orders to relocate for at least 90 days to a place the contract does not support (§ 3956(a)(1)(A)). A PCS qualifies. So does a deployment of 90 days or more. The second, added in 2023: you received PCS orders, signed the contract for the new location, and then a stop-movement order of 30 days or more (or indefinite) kept you from using the service (§ 3956(a)(1)(B)). The contract has to predate the orders (§ 3956(b)(2)). Entering active duty after signing is the trigger for apartment and car leases under § 3955, and people mix the two up; this section does not have it (statute read August 15, 2026).
The parts that save the most
No early-termination fee, no reactivation fee. Section 3956(e) bars the provider from charging the ETF when you cancel under the statute, and bars a reactivation fee if you come back within the 90-day period that begins on the last day of your relocation.
Prepaid money comes back, with one exception. The provider must refund anything you paid for time after the termination within 60 days of the effective date, except for the remainder of the monthly or similar billing period in which the termination occurs (§ 3956(f)). On a monthly bill that exception is usually the rest of the current month; on a prepaid year it is the part to watch.
Equipment goes back in 10 days. If the provider rented or loaned you a gateway, router, modem, cable box or remote, § 3956(e)(3) gives you 10 days after disconnection to return it. Many providers’ own terms allow 30 days, but the statute’s clock is the shorter one, and unreturned-equipment charges are not early-termination fees, so the statute does not stop them.
You keep your number. If your relocation is three years or less, the carrier must let you keep your phone number when you re-subscribe within the 90-day window after it ends. You are pausing the relationship, not losing your number.
How to cancel
Cancel a service contract on orders
- Gather your orders (PCS or deployment of 90+ days). The notice must also state the date you want service to end (§ 3956(a)(3)).
- Send the provider written notice of termination with a copy of the orders. Use the carrier’s military or SCRA channel if it has one. A dated letter is your proof.
- State that you are terminating under 50 U.S.C. § 3956 and that no early-termination fee applies. The letter generator can frame the request.
- Ask for prepaid amounts covering time after the termination; the provider has 60 days, and may keep the rest of the current billing period.
- Return any provider-owned modem, router or box within 10 days after disconnection, and keep the return receipt.
- If you want to keep your number, say you intend to re-subscribe within the 90-day period that begins on the last day of your relocation, and confirm the number is held.
Company by company: what each provider’s own terms say
- 24 Hour Fitness Military: A Freeze With No Time Limit on Orders
- ADT Military Cancellation Under the SCRA: Orders, Email, No ETF
- Anytime Fitness Military Discount: Clubs Opt In, 10% at DuPont
- Astound Military Discount: None, and Internet-Only Pays a Full Month
- AT&T Military Suspension: 39-Month Number Hold, No ETF on Orders
- Boost Mobile Military: 990-Day Deployment Hold at No Charge
- Brightspeed Military: $9.95 Vacation Hold, or a $600 Router Fee
- Brinks Home Military Cancellation: Every Month Left, or $0 on Orders
- CenturyLink Military: $10 Vacation Hold, Quantum Fiber Now AT&T
- Chuze Fitness Military Discount: None Posted, but a Hold for Orders
- Club Pilates Military: No Discount Posted; Studio Freezes Are Medical
- CorePower Yoga Military Discount: 20% Off All Access for New Members
- Cove Security Military Discount: ID.me, No Contract, a 30-Day Catch
- Cox Military: ETF Waiver on Orders and a 39-Month Number Hold
- Cricket Wireless Military: 36-Month Number Hold on Deployment
- Crunch Fitness Military Discount: $0 Enrollment, $3 Off at Some Clubs
- DIRECTV Military: 9-Month Deployment Suspension vs. the $480 ETF
- DISH Military Discount: $240 Stars & Stripes Pack, $480 ETF Risk
- EoS Fitness Military Discount: None, but Move Orders End PT Contracts
- Equinox Military: No Posted Discount; Sessions End With Membership
- F45 Military Discount: Reduced Rates on Base, None at 15 Studios Read
- Frontier Military Deployment: $5 Vacation Hold, or Cancel on Orders
- GCI Military: Orders Out of Alaska Bar the $20-a-Month Phone ETF
- Gold's Gym Military Discount: No Corporate Rate, Gym-by-Gym Exits
- Google Fi Military: 39-Month Deployment Pause, Overseas Data Rule
- Google Fiber Military Discount: None, but It Refunds Unused Days
- Hawaiian Telcom Military: $200 per Device Not Back Within 45 Days
- HughesNet Cancellation Fee on Military Orders: $400 Down to $0
- Kinetic Internet Military: No Fee Month to Month, a 30-Day Notice Rule
- LA Fitness Military: $10 Freeze or a Fee-Free Exit on Orders
- Life Time Fitness Military: Freeze Up to 90 Days, No Long Contracts
- Mediacom Military Connect: $29.99 Internet, Price Locked 5 Years
- Metro by T-Mobile Military: Deployment Unlock, but No Number Hold
- Metronet Military: Its Refund Policy Requires a Call Within 60 Days
- Mint Mobile Military: Deployment Unlock and Your Unused Prepaid Months
- Optimum Military: $10-a-Month Hold, No Contract, $130 Gateway Fee
- Orangetheory Military Discount: No Corporate Offer; 60-Day Freeze Cap
- Planet Fitness Military: No Listed Discount, $0 Buyout on Orders
- Pure Barre Military Discount: None Listed at 37 Studios Near Bases
- Ring Military Discount: VerifyPass Code, Not ID.me, and Plan Refunds
- SimpliSafe Military Discount: 50% Protectors Code and Why It Fails
- Snap Fitness Military Discount: Gym by Gym; One Lists 10% Off
- Sparklight Military: $0 Cancel Fee, No Refund for a Partial Month
- Spectrum Military Deployment: Number Hold, Mobile Suspension, Cancel
- Starlink Military: No Discount, and the $249 Change Fee on Orders
- Straight Talk Military: Early Unlock on Orders, a Lapse Ends Service
- T-Mobile Military Suspension: 39-Month Hold, EIP, and Cancelling
- Total Wireless Military: A Lapse Can End Your 5-Year Price Guarantee
- US Mobile Military: Hold Your Number for $2.98 per 30 Days
- VASA Fitness Military: No Discount; § 3956 vs. the $25 Cancel Fee
- Verizon SCRA Benefits: Military Suspension & Cancellation
- Viasat Military: No Discount, and a $15-a-Month ETF Orders Can Erase
- Visible Military Discount: None, and the 50-Day Number Window
- Vivint Military Cancellation Policy: Deployment, PCS, and the SCRA
- WOW Internet Military: Orders Waive the $345 Fee, in Writing First
- Xfinity Military Discount: 2-Year Mobile Line, 39-Month Suspension
- YMCA Military Discount: Local Rates, Free DoD Dues for Some Into 2027
- Ziply Fiber Military: No ETF, but a $300 Router Fee After 45 Days
Do not stop at the phone bill
The contract cancellation is one piece of a bigger move. The same orders that free you from a cable contract also let you break your apartment lease and terminate a car lease without penalty under § 3955. And the same active-duty status caps your pre-service debt at 6% interest. If you did not know the cable contract was cancelable, you probably have other money on the table. The complete guide walks the whole list.
The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3956
Termination of certain consumer contracts: cell phone, internet, and cable service: read the statute , or read § 3956 in plain English, with its enforcement record .
Do the next thing
- Find your exact termination date The § 3955 date from your notice and rent day.
- Generate the termination notice Orders attached, dates filled in.
- Your installation’s legal office Free review before you send it; 196 offices with phones.
- Landlords the DOJ has already caught Lease and eviction cases, with what they paid.
Frequently asked questions
Which contracts can I cancel?
Federal law (50 U.S.C. § 3956) covers cell phone and other telephone service, plus internet and cable or satellite television service contracts. You can cancel when you receive orders to relocate for at least 90 days to a place the contract does not serve (a PCS or a deployment), or, since 2023, when a stop-movement order blocks a move you signed the contract for. Entering active duty is the trigger for leases under § 3955, not for service contracts under § 3956. As of 2023 it also covers gym or fitness memberships and home security services. Over-the-top streaming (Netflix, Disney+) is not on the federal list; that depends on your state and the contract's own military clause.
Will I owe an early-termination fee?
No. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3956(e), the provider cannot charge an early-termination fee when you cancel under the statute. They also cannot charge a reactivation fee if you re-subscribe within the 90-day period that begins on the last day of your relocation. Amounts you prepaid for periods after the termination must be refunded within 60 days; the provider keeps the rest of the billing period you cancel in (§ 3956(f)).
Can I keep my phone number?
Usually, yes. If your relocation is for three years or less, the provider must let you keep your phone number if you re-subscribe within the 90-day window that begins on the last day of the relocation. That protects your number through a normal PCS or deployment.
Can I cancel my utilities (electric, gas, water) under the SCRA?
Not under federal law. 50 U.S.C. § 3956(b) lists the contracts you can end: commercial mobile service, telephone exchange service, internet access, multichannel video (cable or satellite TV), gym memberships or fitness programs, and home security services. Electric, gas, and water are not on the list. They are usually month-to-month and end when you close the account at move-out; check your state's military protections for anything more.
Does the SCRA let me close a safe deposit box?
No federal SCRA provision covers safe deposit boxes. Neither the lease-termination section (§ 3955) nor the service-contract section (§ 3956) mentions them. Ask the bank about its own military or relocation policy, and do not rely on an SCRA letter for this.
What about my gym membership or streaming services?
Gym and fitness memberships ARE covered by 50 U.S.C. § 3956 as of 2023, and so are home security services. They cancel the same way as your phone and cable: relocation orders of 90 days or more, written notice, and no early-termination fee. Over-the-top streaming (Netflix, Disney+) is not on the federal list, though some state laws and many contracts' own military clauses reach it. Read the contract, and check your state law.
Tools for this topic
- Lease termination date The exact day your lease ends under § 3955.
- Deadline checker Every SCRA window that applies to your dates.
- Letter generator A rate-cap or lease letter that cites the statute.
Sources
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.