50 U.S.C. § 3932: The 90-Day SCRA Stay When You Know of the Case

What § 3932 does to your money

When you know about the case, this is the section you use. It covers any civil action or proceeding, custody included, in which you are a plaintiff or defendant and are in military service or within 90 days after leaving it. At any stage before final judgment the court may stay the case on its own, and must stay it on your application, for at least 90 days.

The application needs two letters. Yours says how current military duty materially affects your ability to appear and gives a date you will be available. Your commanding officer’s says current duty prevents your appearance and military leave is not authorized now. Filing the application is not an appearance for jurisdiction and waives no defense, including lack of personal jurisdiction, so asking for time does not concede the court’s power over you.

You can ask for an additional stay with the same two letters, and if the court refuses it, the court must appoint counsel for you. Two traps: if your § 3932 application fails, you cannot later use § 3931’s default-judgment protections; and § 3932 does not apply to evictions, which get their own stay under § 3951.

Guides on this site that apply § 3932

• Pause Any Lawsuit 90+ Days: The SCRA Stay

  50 U.S.C. § 3932 forces a court to pause any civil case at least 90 days when military duty keeps you from appearing. Deploy without losing by default.

• Divorce While Deployed: SCRA Stays, Waivers, Custody & Defaults

  Filing for divorce against a deployed servicemember, or getting divorced while deployed: the SCRA stay, the military affidavit, the waiver, and custody.

• Does the SCRA Cover Veterans? What Survives Separation

  The SCRA is active-duty law, so most protections end when you separate. But five post-service windows keep paying. What survives, what dies, and the deadlines.

• How to Apply for SCRA Benefits (and How Long It Actually Takes)

  No SCRA application exists. You notify each creditor in writing with your orders, up to 180 days after service. What to send, where, and how long it takes.

• Refinance Before the Line, Never After: The SCRA Timing Rule

  Refinancing during service creates a new loan with no SCRA cap at all. Done before your start date, the same move caps everything at 6%. Where the line falls.

• SCRA & Contract Penalties: Fees a Court Can Erase

  50 U.S.C. § 3933 stops penalties from piling up during a stay and lets a court waive fines for missed contract terms when military service caused the miss.

• SCRA and Bankruptcy: How the Protections Fit Together

  The SCRA applies inside bankruptcy court, and a separate rule lets many veterans, reservists, and Guard members skip the Chapter 7 means test entirely.

• SCRA Deadlines & Timeline: Every Window Explained

  How long does SCRA protection last? Every deadline with its statute: the 180-day cap request, the 90-day stay, the 1-year mortgage tail, and more.

• SCRA Debt Relief: Stretch Pre-Service Debt by Your Time in Service

  A court can spread pre-service debt over your time in service, with no penalties, under 50 U.S.C. § 4021. Calculator, plus collections and co-signers.

• 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 Tolling: Your Legal Deadlines Pause During Service

  50 U.S.C. § 3936 freezes the statute of limitations during military service, for claims by AND against you. Automatic, no material-effect test. One exception.

• The SCRA and MLA Benefits Most People Never Use

  The lawful SCRA and MLA plays servicemembers rarely claim: 6% on your mortgage, penalty-free lease exits, a paused lawsuit, and tax you stop paying.

1 of the site’s state pages also cite § 3932 when they compare a state law to the federal rule.

The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3932

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.

Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title II, §202, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2842; amended Pub. L. 108-454, title VII, §703, Dec. 10, 2004, 118 Stat. 3624; Pub. L. 110-181, div. A, title V, §584(b), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 128.)

What changed, and when

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment notes for § 3932, newest first.

• 2008: Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110-181 inserted ", including any child custody proceeding," after "civil action or proceeding" in introductory provisions.
• 2004: Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108-454 inserted "plaintiff or" before "defendant" in introductory provisions.