Subchapter II. General Relief
50 U.S.C. § 3936: SCRA Tolling of Statutes of Limitations
Official heading: Statute of limitations
In one line
Tolls every statute of limitations, in court or before any agency, for the whole period of your service, in cases by you or against you. It also excludes service time from real property redemption periods.
- Military service time is not counted in any limitation period for bringing an action, by or against the servicemember
- Does not apply to limitation periods under the internal revenue laws of the United States
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3936 does to your money
Section 3936 stops the clock. Your period of military service may not be counted in any limitation period for bringing an action in a court or in a federal, state or local agency, by you or against you, or by or against your heirs, executors, administrators or assigns. If you have a claim against a lender, landlord or employer, your service time extends your deadline to sue.
It cuts both ways. A creditor’s deadline to sue you is also extended by your service time, so an old debt you assumed was time-barred may not be. The section also adds your service time to any period the law gives you to redeem real property sold or forfeited to enforce an obligation, tax or assessment, which can keep a tax-sale redemption window open.
The exception is federal tax: the section does not apply to limitation periods under the internal revenue laws. Combat-zone and similar IRS deadline extensions come from the tax code itself, not from this section. Example: a three-year state deadline to sue over a wrongful repossession, with 14 months of that period falling during active duty, runs for four years and two months.
Guides on this site that apply § 3936
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. § 3936
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.
(a) Tolling of statutes of limitation during military service
The period of a servicemember's military service may not be included in computing any period limited by law, regulation, or order for the bringing of any action or proceeding in a court, or in any board, bureau, commission, department, or other agency of a State (or political subdivision of a State) or the United States by or against the servicemember or the servicemember's heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.
(b) Redemption of real property
A period of military service may not be included in computing any period provided by law for the redemption of real property sold or forfeited to enforce an obligation, tax, or assessment.
(c) Inapplicability to internal revenue laws
This section does not apply to any period of limitation prescribed by or under the internal revenue laws of the United States.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title II, §206, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2844.)
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.