Subchapter I. General Provisions
50 U.S.C. § 3919: Using the SCRA Cannot Hurt Your Credit
Official heading: Exercise of rights under chapter not to affect certain future financial transactions
In one line
Bars lenders, insurers, and credit bureaus from treating your use of an SCRA stay or deferral as a reason by itself to deny credit, change terms, report you adversely, or refuse to insure you.
- Applying for or receiving a stay, postponement, or suspension cannot by itself support a credit denial, changed credit terms, or an adverse credit report
- A creditor or credit bureau may not annotate your record as National Guard, reserve, or Space Force because you used the SCRA
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3919 does to your money
Many servicemembers do not ask for relief because they expect the lender to retaliate. Section 3919 answers that fear. Applying for or receiving a stay, postponement or suspension under the Act in paying a tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium or other civil obligation cannot, by itself, be the basis for a lender deciding you cannot pay, denying or revoking credit, changing the terms of an existing account, or refusing credit in the amount or on the terms you asked for.
The same use of the Act cannot, by itself, support an adverse credit report, a refusal to insure you, or a change in insurance terms. Creditors and credit bureaus also may not annotate your record to identify you as a member of the National Guard, a reserve component or the Space Force on that basis. The phrase “by itself (without regard to other considerations)” is the limit: a lender can still act on your actual payment history and income.
If a denial or a new term follows your request, ask the creditor in writing for the specific reasons; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act requires a statement of reasons for a credit denial. Keep the request, the orders you sent and the response. That paper trail is your evidence if you later enforce the Act under § 4042.
Guides on this site that apply § 3919
- Will Using the SCRA Hurt Your Credit?
Invoking SCRA rights cannot legally trigger a closed account, a credit denial, or an adverse credit report. 50 U.S.C. § 3919 bars it. The one honest exception.
- SCRA Compliance for Lenders & Servicers: The Audit-Ready Checklist
The creditor-side rules of the SCRA: § 3937 rate cap mechanics, DMDC verification, court-order gates, HUD-92070, the $79,380 penalty, and what DOJ fined for.
- SCRA Eligibility: Who Qualifies, When It Starts & Ends
Who qualifies for the SCRA under 50 U.S.C. § 3911: active duty, Guard, Reserve, spouses, veterans, and which debts count. Status table, start and end dates.
- SCRA for Landlords & Property Managers: Eviction, Exits & Deposits
SCRA rules for landlords: no eviction under the $10,542.60 rent ceiling without a court order, § 3955 lease exits with no fee, deposits, affidavits, DOJ cases.
- SCRA Interest Rate Cap: The 6% Rule, How It Works, How to File
The SCRA 6% rule (50 U.S.C. § 3937): pre-service debt capped at 6%, excess forgiven, retroactive, mortgages one year after service. Who goes lower, how to file.
- SCRA Late Fees and Annual Fees: Both Count Inside the 6% Cap
Under 50 U.S.C. § 3937(d)(1), fees are interest. On a capped pre-service account, late, annual, and over-limit fees plus interest cannot exceed 6% a year.
- SCRA Request Letter Template: The 6% Rate Cap Letter That Works
The full SCRA request letter, the same one the site generator builds: § 3937 notice, orders enclosed, 6% retroactive to day one, excess forgiven, every account.
- The SCRA Rights You Can Be Tricked Into Waiving
The 6% cap, the penalty-free lease exit, the no-foreclosure shield: you can sign them away. 50 U.S.C. § 3918 says a waiver only counts as a separate document.
- Veterans United SCRA Benefits: 6% Cap, Who Services Your Loan
Veterans United confirms the 6% SCRA cap for service plus a year but names no SCRA desk, and some loans sit with Mr. Cooper. Find who services yours first.
- What Is the SCRA? The Military Law Worth Thousands a Year
The SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) caps pre-service debt at 6%, ends leases on orders, and blocks foreclosure without a court order. How it works.
The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3919
From the United States Code, 2024 Edition, current through January 6, 2025, as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office on GovInfo (retrieved October 10, 2026). No amendment enacted after the edition cutoff was found on Cornell LII or in GovInfo’s compiled SCRA (amended through Pub. L. 118-159, Dec. 23, 2024). House style: the Code’s em dashes before a list are shown as colons, and en dashes as hyphens or “to”; no word of the text is changed.
Application by a servicemember for, or receipt by a servicemember of, a stay, postponement, or suspension pursuant to this chapter in the payment of a tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium, or other civil obligation or liability of that servicemember shall not itself (without regard to other considerations) provide the basis for any of the following:
(1) A determination by a lender or other person that the servicemember is unable to pay the civil obligation or liability in accordance with its terms.
(2) With respect to a credit transaction between a creditor and the servicemember:
(A) a denial or revocation of credit by the creditor;
(B) a change by the creditor in the terms of an existing credit arrangement; or
(C) a refusal by the creditor to grant credit to the servicemember in substantially the amount or on substantially the terms requested.
(3) An adverse report relating to the creditworthiness of the servicemember by or to a person engaged in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information.
(4) A refusal by an insurer to insure the servicemember.
(5) An annotation in a servicemember's record by a creditor or a person engaged in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information, identifying the servicemember as a member of the National Guard or a reserve component or as a member of the Space Force.
(6) A change in the terms offered or conditions required for the issuance of insurance.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title I, §108, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2840; amended Pub. L. 118-31, div. A, title XVII, §1742(c)(3), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 681.)
What changed, and when
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment notes for § 3919, newest first.
- 2023: Par. (5). Pub. L. 118-31 inserted "or as a member of the Space Force" before period at end.
Effective date: Section applicable to any case not final before Dec. 19, 2003, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108-189, set out as a note under section 3901 of this title.
Every section of the Act, including the short administrative ones without their own page, is on the section-by-section index.
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.