Subchapter III. Rent, Installment Contracts, Mortgages, Liens, Assignment, Leases, Communications Service Contracts

50 U.S.C. § 3956: Cancel Phone, Internet, TV, Gym on Military Orders

Official heading: Termination of certain consumer contracts

In one line

Lets you cancel a cell phone, landline, internet, cable or satellite TV, gym, or home security contract without an early termination charge when you get relocation orders of at least 90 days to a place that does not support the service.

Six contract types: commercial mobile service, telephone exchange service, internet access, multichannel video programming, gym membership or fitness program, and home security
You may keep your phone number if you re-subscribe within 90 days after a relocation of three years or less
The provider must refund advance payments within 60 days; you must return provider-owned equipment within 10 days of disconnection

Text checked October 9, 2026

What § 3956 does to your money

Section 3956 ends the contracts that follow you around: cell service, home phone, internet, cable or satellite TV, gym memberships and fitness programs, and home security services. You can terminate a contract signed before your orders once you receive orders to relocate for at least 90 days to a place that does not support the contract. A second trigger covers a contract you signed after receiving PCS orders, when a stop-movement order of 30 days or more then keeps you from using the service.

Send written or electronic notice, a copy of your orders, and the date service should end. The provider may not charge an early termination fee and must refund, within 60 days, anything you prepaid beyond the billing period in which service ends. If you re-subscribe within 90 days after the relocation ends, it may not charge a reinstatement fee beyond its usual equipment and installation charges. Return any provider-owned modem, router or box within 10 days after disconnection.

For phone service on a relocation of three years or less, you keep your number by re-subscribing within 90 days after it ends. On a family plan, the account holder can drop just you, or the whole plan if every line goes with you. “Multichannel video programming service” means TV a distributor delivers over a system it owns or controls, which is why the site does not treat app-only streaming as covered. Spouses and dependents after a death or catastrophic injury in service, and reservists on drill or full-time Guard duty, are covered as paragraph (a)(4) lists.

Guides on this site that apply § 3956

Cancel Phone, Internet & Cable Contracts on Military Orders
Federal law (50 U.S.C. § 3956) lets military members cancel cell phone, internet, and cable contracts with no early-termination fee on 90-day orders.
24 Hour Fitness Military: A Freeze With No Time Limit on Orders
24 Hour Fitness freezes members on military orders with no minimum or maximum. To quit instead, § 3956 bars its commitment fee and can force refunds it denies.
ADT Military Cancellation Under the SCRA: Orders, Email, No ETF
ADT's SCRA page (effective April 9, 2026): email notice and orders to docs6273@adt.com. No early termination fee, refund in 60 days, free reinstatement in 90.
Anytime Fitness Military Discount: Clubs Opt In, 10% at DuPont
Anytime Fitness leaves military discounts to each club; DuPont, WA lists 10% off. On qualifying orders, § 3956 bars the club's early termination fee.
AT&T Military Suspension: 39-Month Number Hold, No ETF on Orders
AT&T wireless has no plain suspend on orders: you cancel with no ETF and hold the number up to 39 months. Home internet and TV can suspend. Forms, fax, steps.
CenturyLink Military: $10 Vacation Hold, Quantum Fiber Now AT&T
CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber list no military discount. CenturyLink pauses internet for $10 a month; on qualifying orders, § 3956 bars its term-plan ETF.
Cox Military: ETF Waiver on Orders and a 39-Month Number Hold
Cox shows no military discount, but its term agreements waive the ETF (up to $360) on 90-day orders, and it holds Mobile and Voice numbers up to 39 months.
Cricket Wireless Military: 36-Month Number Hold on Deployment
Cricket has no military discount but holds a deployed member's number up to 36 months, with 90 days to come back. Its no-refund prepaid year is another matter.
Crunch Fitness Military Discount: $0 Enrollment, $3 Off at Some Clubs
Crunch's military plan: $0 enrollment and $3 off Peak Results dues at participating clubs, via ID.me. On qualifying orders, § 3956 ends it with no exit fee.
DIRECTV Military: 9-Month Deployment Suspension vs. the $480 ETF
DIRECTV lists no military discount. Satellite has a 24-month term at $20 per month left; deployment suspension runs 30 days to 9 months; § 3956 can end the ETF.
DISH Military Discount: $240 Stars & Stripes Pack, $480 ETF Risk
DISH's military offer adds a $240 Stars & Stripes Pack and a 2-year price lock on a 2-year term. The $20-a-month ETF is barred on qualifying orders.
End a Car Lease Early with Military Orders, No Fee (SCRA)
Deploying 180+ days or PCSing OCONUS? The SCRA lets you return a leased car with no early-termination charge. Phone and internet contracts too.

3 of the site’s state pages also cite § 3956 when they compare a state law to the federal rule.

Enforcement record: 2 Justice Department cases

Cases in the site’s DOJ enforcement ledger about the conduct § 3956 governs, newest first, each transcribed from the Justice Department’s own record.

ADT, LLC (ADT Security Services) (2026)

Settlement (April 14, 2026): $1,260,000 to compensate the servicemembers and a $79,380 civil penalty to the United States, plus revised policies, procedures, and training materials.
Teleguam Holdings, LLC (GTA) (2025)

Settlement (June 17, 2025): $450,000 in compensation to servicemembers, including double damages to those who paid the early termination charges, and a $50,000 civil penalty to the United States, plus policy changes.

The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3956

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) Termination by servicemember or dependent of a servicemember

(1) Termination

A servicemember may terminate a contract described in subsection (b) at any time after:

(A) the date the servicemember receives military orders to relocate for a period of not less than 90 days to a location that does not support the contract; or

(B) the date the servicemember, while in military service, receives military orders for a permanent change of station, thereafter enters into the contract, and then receives a stop movement order issued by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security in response to a local, national, or global emergency, effective for an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days, that prevents the servicemember from using the services provided under the contract.

(2) Notice

In the case that a servicemember terminates a contract as described in paragraph (1), the service provider under the contract shall provide such servicemember with written or electronic notice of the servicemember's rights under such paragraph.

(3) Manner of termination

Termination of a contract under paragraph (1) shall be made by delivery of a written or electronic notice of such termination and a copy of the servicemember's military orders to the service provider, delivered in accordance with industry standards for notification of terminations, together with the date on which the service is to be terminated.

(4) Additional individuals covered

For purposes of this section, the following individuals shall be treated as a servicemember covered by paragraph (1):

(A) A spouse or dependent of a servicemember who dies while in military service or a spouse or dependent of a member of the reserve components who dies while performing duty described in subparagraph (C).

(B) A spouse or dependent of a servicemember who incurs a catastrophic injury or illness (as that term is defined in section 439(g) of title 37), if the servicemember incurs the catastrophic injury or illness while in military service or performing duty described in subparagraph (C).

(C) A member of the reserve components performing military service or performing full-time National Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training (as such terms are defined in section 101(d) of title 10).

(D) The spouse or dependent of a servicemember, described in paragraph (1)(B), who accompanies such servicemember during the period of relocation.

(b) Covered contracts

A contract described in this subsection is a contract:

(1) for:

(A) commercial mobile service;

(B) telephone exchange service;

(D) multichannel video programming service;

(E) a gym membership or fitness program; or

(F) home security services; and

(2) entered into by a servicemember before receiving the military orders referred to in subsection (a)(1).

(c) Retention of telephone number

In the case of a contract for commercial mobile service or telephone exchange service terminated under subsection (a) by a servicemember whose period of relocation is for a period of three years or less, the service provider under the contract shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, allow the servicemember to keep the telephone number the servicemember has under the contract if the servicemember re-subscribes to the service during the 90-day period beginning on the last day of such period of relocation.

(d) Family plans

In the case of a contract for commercial mobile service entered into by any individual in which a servicemember is a designated beneficiary of the contract, the individual who entered into the contract may terminate the contract:

(1) with respect to the servicemember if the servicemember is eligible to terminate contracts pursuant to subsection (a); and

(2) with respect to all of the designated beneficiaries of such contract if all such beneficiaries accompany the servicemember during the servicemember's period of relocation.

(e) Other obligations and liabilities

(1) In general

For any contract terminated under this section, the service provider under the contract may not impose an early termination charge, but any tax or any other obligation or liability of the servicemember that, in accordance with the terms of the contract, is due and unpaid or unperformed at the time of termination of the contract shall be paid or performed by the servicemember.

(2) Reinstatement of service

If the servicemember re-subscribes to the service provided under a covered contract during the 90-day period beginning on the last day of the servicemember's period of relocation, the service provider may not impose a charge for reinstating service, other than the usual and customary charges for the installation or acquisition of customer equipment imposed on any other subscriber.

(3) Return of provider-owned equipment

If a servicemember terminates a contract under subsection (a), the servicemember shall return any provider-owned consumer premises equipment to the service provider not later than 10 days after the date on which service is disconnected.

(f) Return of advance payments

Not later than 60 days after the effective date of the termination of a contract under this section, the service provider under the contract shall refund to the servicemember any fee or other amount to the extent paid for a period extending until after such date, except for the remainder of the monthly or similar billing period in which the termination occurs.

(g) Definitions

For purposes of this section:

(1) The term "commercial mobile service" has the meaning given that term in section 332(d) of title 47.

(2) The terms "military orders" and "permanent change of station" have the meanings given such terms in section 3955 of this title.

(3) The term "multichannel video programming service" means a subscription video service offered by a multichannel video programming distributor, as that term is defined in section 522 of title 47, over a system the distributor owns or controls.

(4) The term "provider-owned consumer premises equipment" means any equipment that a provider of internet access service or multichannel video programming service rents or loans to a customer during the provision of that service, including gateways, routers, cable modems, voice-capable modems, CableCARDs, converters, digital adapters, remote controls, and any other equipment provided.

(5) The term "telephone exchange service" has the meaning given that term under section 153 of title 47.

Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title III, §305A, as added Pub. L. 110-389, title VIII, §805(a), Oct. 10, 2008, 122 Stat. 4188; amended Pub. L. 111-275, title III, §302(a), Oct. 13, 2010, 124 Stat. 2875; Pub. L. 115-407, title III, §304(a), Dec. 31, 2018, 132 Stat. 5374; Pub. L. 116-285, §2, Jan. 5, 2021, 134 Stat. 4878; Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6136.)

What changed, and when

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment notes for § 3956, newest first.

2023: Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(1), substituted "certain consumer" for "telephone, multichannel video programming, and internet access service" in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(2)(A), inserted "or dependent of a servicemember" after "servicemember" in heading. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(2)(B), substituted "after: " for "after the date the servicemember receives military orders to relocate for a period of not less than 90 days to a location that does not support the contract." and added subpars. (A) and (B). Subsec. (a)(4)(D). Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(2)(C), added subpar. (D). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(3), added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "A contract described in this subsection is a contract for commercial mobile service, telephone exchange service, internet access service, or multichannel video programming service entered into by the servicemember before receiving the military orders referred to in subsection (a)(1)." Subsec. (g)(2) to (5). Pub. L. 117-333, §17(a)(4), added par. (2) and redesignated former pars. (2) to (4) as (3) to (5), respectively.
2021: Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 116-285 added par. (4).
2018: Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(1), inserted ", multichannel video programming, and internet access" after "telephone" in section catchline. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(2), substituted "commercial mobile service, telephone exchange service, internet access service, or multichannel video programming service" for "cellular telephone service or telephone exchange service". Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(3), inserted "for commercial mobile service or telephone exchange service" before "terminated". Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(4), substituted "commercial mobile service" for "cellular telephone service" in introductory provisions. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(5), designated first sentence of existing provisions as par. (1) and second sentence of existing provisions as par. (2), inserted headings, and added par. (3). Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 115-407, §304(a)(6), added pars. (1) to (3), redesignated former par. (2) as (4), and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: "The term 'cellular telephone service' means commercial mobile service, as that term is defined in section 332(d) of title 47."
2010: Pub. L. 111-275 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to termination of telephone service contracts for provisions relating to termination or suspension of contracts for cellular telephone service.

Every section of the Act, including the short administrative ones without their own page, is on the section-by-section index.

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