Subchapter III. Rent, Installment Contracts, Mortgages, Liens, Assignment, Leases, Communications Service Contracts
50 U.S.C. § 3951: No SCRA Eviction Without a Court Order
Official heading: Evictions and distress
In one line
Bars a landlord from evicting you or your dependents from your home during service without a court order, so long as the monthly rent is under an inflation-adjusted ceiling. A court can also stay the eviction 90 days.
- The rent ceiling was $2,400 in 2003 and is adjusted each year by the CPI rent index; the Federal Register notice of March 10, 2026 sets it at $10,542.60 as of January 1, 2026
- The court shall stay eviction proceedings 90 days (or adjust the lease) on request when service materially affects ability to pay rent
- Knowingly evicting in violation is punishable by fine or up to one year in prison
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3951 does to your money
Self-help eviction of a servicemember is a crime. During your period of military service, a landlord may not evict you or your dependents from a home occupied or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence, or seize your belongings for unpaid rent (a “distress”), except by court order. The protection covers homes whose monthly rent does not exceed a ceiling that started at $2,400 in 2003 and is adjusted every year by the CPI rent index; the Federal Register notice of March 10, 2026 puts it at $10,542.60 for 2026.
In the eviction case itself, the court must, on your request when service materially affects your ability to pay the rent, either stay the proceedings for 90 days (longer or shorter if justice and equity require) or adjust the lease obligation to preserve everyone’s interests. The landlord can get equitable relief in return, and the court can order an allotment from your military pay to cover what it orders.
Two details people miss. The § 3932 stay procedure does not apply here; the eviction stay comes from this section. And anyone who knowingly takes part in an eviction or distress without the required court order faces a fine and up to one year in prison, which is the leverage when a landlord changes the locks.
Guides on this site that apply § 3951
- Can't Be Evicted: SCRA Eviction Protection
Rent under the federal threshold means no eviction without a court order, and the judge must pause it 90 days. 50 U.S.C. § 3951 turns a notice into a fight.
- Military Affidavit: What It Is, When Courts Require It, How to Get One
Before any default judgment, 50 U.S.C. § 3931 makes the plaintiff swear to the defendant's military status. The rule, the DMDC check, and 14 state forms.
- 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 for Military Spouses & Families: What You Get
What the SCRA gives spouses and dependents: eviction protection in your own right, the cap on joint debt, MSRRA tax residency, and license portability.
- 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. § 3951
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) Court-ordered eviction
(1) In general
Except by court order, a landlord (or another person with paramount title) may not:
(A) evict a servicemember, or the dependents of a servicemember, during a period of military service of the servicemember, from premises:
(i) that are occupied or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence; and
(ii) for which the monthly rent does not exceed $2,400, as adjusted under paragraph (2) for years after 2003; or
(B) subject such premises to a distress during the period of military service.
(2) Housing price inflation adjustment
(A) For calendar years beginning with 2004, the amount in effect under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be increased by the housing price inflation adjustment for the calendar year involved.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph:
(i) The housing price inflation adjustment for any calendar year is the percentage change (if any) by which:
(I) the CPI housing component for November of the preceding calendar year, exceeds
(II) the CPI housing component for November of 1984.
(ii) The term "CPI housing component" means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor known as the Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers, Rent of Primary Residence, U.S. City Average.
(3) Publication of housing price inflation adjustment
The Secretary of Defense shall cause to be published in the Federal Register each year the amount in effect under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) for that year following the housing price inflation adjustment for that year pursuant to paragraph (2). Such publication shall be made for a year not later than 60 days after such adjustment is made for that year.
(b) Stay of execution
(1) Court authority
Upon an application for eviction or distress with respect to premises covered by this section, the court may on its own motion and shall, if a request is made by or on behalf of a servicemember whose ability to pay the agreed rent is materially affected by military service:
(A) stay the proceedings for a period of 90 days, unless in the opinion of the court, justice and equity require a longer or shorter period of time; or
(B) adjust the obligation under the lease to preserve the interests of all parties.
(2) Relief to landlord
If a stay is granted under paragraph (1), the court may grant to the landlord (or other person with paramount title) such relief as equity may require.
(c) Misdemeanor
Except as provided in subsection (a), a person who knowingly takes part in an eviction or distress described in subsection (a), or who knowingly attempts to do so, shall be fined as provided in title 18, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(d) Rent allotment from pay of servicemember
To the extent required by a court order related to property which is the subject of a court action under this section, the Secretary concerned shall make an allotment from the pay of a servicemember to satisfy the terms of such order, except that any such allotment shall be subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned establishing the maximum amount of pay of servicemembers that may be allotted under this subsection.
(e) Limitation of applicability
Section 3932 of this title is not applicable to this section.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title III, §301, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2845; amended Pub. L. 111-275, title III, §303(b)(2), Oct. 13, 2010, 124 Stat. 2877.)
What changed, and when
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment notes for § 3951, newest first.
- 2010: Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111-275 amended subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) related to penalties.
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.