50 U.S.C. § 3952: No SCRA Repossession Without a Court Order

What § 3952 does to your money

This is the car repossession section, though it reaches any real or personal property bought or leased on installments. Once you enter military service, a contract to buy, lease or bail property cannot be rescinded or terminated for a breach that happened before or during service, and the property cannot be repossessed for that breach, without a court order. It applies only if you paid a deposit or installment before entering service.

That last condition decides most cases. A car loan signed after you were already serving is outside this section, so the lender can repossess under state law; a car you started paying for before service is protected. In the hearing, the judge may order the lender to repay all or part of your prior installments or deposits as the price of taking the property back, must stay the case on your request when service materially affects your ability to pay, or may make another equitable arrangement.

Knowingly repossessing in violation of this section, or of the waiver rules in § 3918, is punishable by a fine and up to one year in prison. The Justice Department’s repossession cases are listed in the enforcement record below.

Guides on this site that apply § 3952

• SCRA & Installment Contracts: Rent-to-Own & Furniture

  Rent-to-own, furniture, or electronics on a pre-service installment contract cannot be repossessed without a court order. 50 U.S.C. § 3952, explained.

• American Credit Acceptance SCRA: 6% Cap, Request Form, 180-Day Window

  American Credit Acceptance caps pre-service auto financing at 6% and takes requests 180 days past release. Estimate your refund and write the letter.

• Exeter Finance SCRA: 6% Rate, No Late Fees, and DMDC Screening

  Exeter Finance publishes a 6% SCRA rate, no late fee assessments, and repossession protection, and screens the DMDC itself. How to file by fax or mail.

• GM Financial SCRA: 1-855-719-9693 & the 6% Auto Rate Cap

  GM Financial caps pre-service retail contracts at 6% in print and replies in about eight business days. Estimate your refund and generate the letter.

• Honda Financial Services SCRA: How to File and the 30-Day Response

  Honda and Acura Financial name a rate reduction and print no figure, so 6% governs. Estimate your refund and generate the letter for its SCRA team.

• How to Get Out of a Payday or Title Loan as a Servicemember

  Two federal laws plus interest-free aid end a predatory payday or title loan. The SCRA cap, the MLA ceiling, honest alternatives, and how to escalate a stall.

• How to Use the SCRA With Any Auto Lender

  Toyota Financial, Ally, GM Financial, Westlake, Exeter, Carvana, Credit Acceptance: one SCRA process. The 6% cap, repossession shield, and how to file.

• Hyundai Motor Finance and Kia Finance SCRA: One Desk, 3-Day Processing

  Hyundai Motor Finance and Kia Finance America share one SCRA desk: SCRA@hcs.com, fax (888) 780-4423, Atlanta mail, 3-day processing. Plus the 2024 DOJ case.

• Military Car Loans: 3.89% at Navy Federal, No MLA Cap at the Dealer

  Purchase-money car loans sit outside the MLA 36% cap; the SCRA 6% cap reaches only pre-service debt. Credit union APRs read Sep 2, 2026, and the $10,269 math.

• Nissan Motor Acceptance SCRA: 6% Cap, Fee Waiver, and the DOJ Case

  NMAC publishes a 6% SCRA rate, a fee waiver, and a Military Center of Excellence that answers in 3 business days. It also paid the DOJ $3 million in 2019.

• Payday & Title Loans: The SCRA Cuts Triple-Digit APRs to 6%

  A 391% payday loan or 300% title loan signed before active duty caps at 6% under the SCRA, and the "fees" count as interest. How to gut a predatory loan.

• Santander & Chrysler Capital Military Benefits: 6% SCRA

  A pre-service Santander or Chrysler Capital auto loan caps at 6%, and repossession needs a court order. Estimate your refund and generate the letter.

Enforcement record: 14 Justice Department cases

Cases in the site’s DOJ enforcement ledger about the conduct § 3952 governs, newest first, each transcribed from the Justice Department’s own record.

• CarMax, Inc. (2026)

  Settlement (February 23, 2026): at least $420,000 to compensate servicemembers and a $79,380 civil penalty to the United States, plus revised policies, procedures, and training materials.

• Holmes Motors, Inc. (2026)

  Settlement (July 30, 2026): $77,348 to compensate the servicemembers and a $60,000 civil penalty to the United States, plus revised policies, procedures, and training materials.

• New City Funding Corp. (2025)

  Settlement (September 29, 2025): at least $60,000 to compensate servicemembers and a $60,000 civil penalty to the United States, plus revised policies and training.

• Hyundai Capital America (Hyundai Motor Finance, Kia Finance America, Genesis Finance) (2024)

  Consent order (approved November 26, 2024): $10,000 plus any lost equity and credit repair to each affected servicemember, a $74,941 civil penalty, SCRA-compliant repossession policies and procedures, and SCRA compliance training for key employees.

• AmeriCredit Financial Services, Inc., d/b/a GM Financial (2022)

  Amended consent order (entered October 4, 2022): $3,534,171 to the affected servicemembers, a $65,480 civil penalty, credit repair, SCRA training, and SCRA-compliant policies and procedures.

• Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. (2019)

  Settlement (August 1, 2019): $2,937,971 in damages to servicemembers and a $62,029 civil penalty, $3 million in total, plus new policies and training.

• California Auto Finance and 3rd Generation, Inc. (2018 to 2019)

  Consent decree (filed March 6, 2019): new repossession policies, $30,000 to one servicemember, and a $50,000 civil penalty.

• Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union (2018)

  Settlement (November 2, 2018): $10,000 to each of six servicemembers whose vehicles were unlawfully repossessed, $5,000 to one whose vehicle was returned within 24 hours, SCRA training, complaint reporting to the United States, and a $30,000 civil penalty.

• CitiFinancial Credit Co. (2017)

  Settlement (September 18, 2017): $907,000 in compensation to the servicemembers whose cars were illegally repossessed, plus removal of the repossessions from their credit reports.

• Westlake Services, LLC and Wilshire Commercial Capital (2017)

  Settlement (September 27, 2017): $700,000 in compensation to the affected servicemembers, credit repair for all of them, a $60,788 civil penalty, and new SCRA policies and procedures. A 2022 addendum addressed separate rate-cap violations (listed in this ledger as its own entry).

4 more in the full ledger.

The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3952

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 III, §302, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2846; amended Pub. L. 111-275, title III, §303(b)(3), Oct. 13, 2010, 124 Stat. 2878.)

What changed, and when

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment notes for § 3952, newest first.

• 2010: Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111-275 amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) related to penalties.