The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and HOA Collections

Section 1: Overview — The SCRA and association collection

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act does not forgive assessments. It changes the procedure a court and a creditor must follow before an association can collect them, and a judgment obtained without the affidavit the Act requires is vulnerable to being reopened.¹ Congress codified the Act at 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043; it succeeds the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 and moved within Title 50 in a 2015 reclassification, so older opinions and secondary sources cite it as 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501 et seq.² The provision that touches every association collection suit is § 3931, which requires a military-status affidavit before a court enters a default judgment in any civil action or proceeding, not only in foreclosure.³ Section 3953 protects a servicemember against a sale, foreclosure, or seizure on an obligation secured by a mortgage or a security in the nature of a mortgage that originated before service, and whether an association's assessment lien falls within that language remains an open question.⁴ Section 3937 caps interest on pre-service obligations at six percent per year, but only after the servicemember gives written notice with a copy of orders.⁵ The Act is enforced through civil actions brought by the Attorney General and through a private right of action.⁶ The sections that follow set out who is protected, the protections that reach association collection, the waiver and enforcement rules, and recent activity.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. Who is protected and for how long

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act appears at 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043, reclassified from the former 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501 et seq. in 2015; the renumbering changed no substantive provision.² Section 3911 supplies the definitions that decide coverage. A "servicemember" is a member of the uniformed services as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(5). "Military service" means active duty for members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard, and for a member of the National Guard includes service under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for more than 30 consecutive days under 32 U.S.C. § 502(f) to respond to a national emergency.⁷ The Department of Justice describes the covered population as full-time active-duty members of the six branches, reservists on federal active duty, and National Guard members on federal orders for more than 30 days, along with commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.⁸ The "period of military service" begins the day the servicemember enters service and ends on release or death, and several protections extend for a defined period afterward rather than a single global period.⁷ Section 3911 defines "dependent" to include the servicemember's spouse, the servicemember's child, and an individual for whom the servicemember provided more than half of the support for the 180 days before an application for relief.⁷ To establish military status for the affidavit that other sections require, standard practice draws on a certificate from the Department of Defense's Defense Manpower Data Center verification service, which reports whether an individual was on active duty on a given date.⁹

2B. Protections that reach association collection

Section 3931 applies to any civil action or proceeding in which the defendant does not appear, which includes an ordinary assessment collection suit that ends in default. Before entering judgment for the plaintiff, the court requires the plaintiff to file an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service and the facts supporting that statement, or stating that the plaintiff could not determine military status; a declaration under penalty of perjury satisfies the requirement.³ If the defendant is in military service, the court may not enter judgment until it appoints an attorney to represent the defendant.³ If the affidavits leave military status undetermined, the court may require the plaintiff to post a bond to indemnify the defendant if the judgment is later set aside.³ A person who files an affidavit knowing it to be false faces a fine under Title 18 or imprisonment for up to one year.³ The court grants a stay of at least 90 days if it appears there may be a defense that cannot be presented without the defendant or counsel cannot locate the defendant.³ A default judgment entered against a servicemember during service or within 60 days after release must be reopened on application if the servicemember was materially affected in making a defense and has a meritorious defense, and the servicemember must file that application within 90 days after the end of service.³

Section 3932 lets a servicemember who has notice of a proceeding and is in service, or within 90 days after release, apply for a stay. The application must include a letter or communication stating how current military duty materially affects the ability to appear and a date when the servicemember will be available, plus a letter from the servicemember's commanding officer stating that current duty prevents appearance and that leave is not authorized.¹⁰ The court must stay the action for at least 90 days, and a servicemember may seek an additional stay; if the court refuses the additional stay, it must appoint counsel.¹⁰

Section 3937 caps interest on an obligation incurred before service at six percent per year. For a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, the cap runs during service and for one year afterward; for any other obligation it runs during service.⁵ The statute forgives interest above six percent rather than deferring it, and reduces the periodic payment by the forgiven amount.⁵ The cap does not operate automatically: the servicemember must give the creditor written notice and a copy of the orders no later than 180 days after release, and on receipt the creditor must apply the cap effective as of the date the servicemember was called to service.⁵ Whether a periodic assessment counts as a covered pre-service obligation remains arguable. The argument for coverage runs that the duty to pay assessments arises from a declaration recorded before service; the argument against runs that each assessment accrues periodically, so post-service assessments are not obligations incurred before service.

Section 3953 applies to an obligation on property the servicemember owns that originated before service, on which the servicemember is still obligated, and that is secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage.⁴ A sale, foreclosure, or seizure for breach of such an obligation is not valid if made during service or within one year afterward unless made under a court order issued before the sale, with a return approved by the court, or under a written agreement that satisfies § 3918.⁴ A knowing violation carries a fine under Title 18 or imprisonment for up to one year.⁴ Temporary legislation extended the one-year post-service period more than once, and section 313 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. 115-174 (2018), then made it permanent, changing the scheduled reversion to 90 days into a permanent one-year period.¹¹

This page frames one open question without resolving it: whether an association's assessment lien arising under a declaration recorded before the owner's service is a "security in the nature of a mortgage" for § 3953 purposes. The argument for coverage runs that the declaration creates a security interest in the unit before service and the lien merely enforces it, and that many state statutes provide that an association's lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage.¹² The argument against runs that assessment obligations accrue periodically, so amounts that come due during service are not pre-service obligations. No court decision squarely resolves whether an association assessment lien falls within § 3953, and the Department of Justice's published SCRA foreclosure enforcement has involved mortgage lenders and foreclosure trustees rather than community associations.¹³ The answer stays unsettled and fact-dependent. A court order under § 3953(c)(1) is available in either reading, which is why obtaining one removes the risk regardless of how the question resolves.⁴

2C. Waivers, enforcement, and exposure

Section 3918 lets a servicemember waive SCRA rights, but a waiver that applies to a listed action, including foreclosure of an obligation secured by a mortgage, trust, deed, lien, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, takes effect only if it is in writing and executed as an instrument separate from the obligation.¹⁴ A waiver that permits such an action takes effect only under a written agreement executed during or after the period of service that specifies the legal instrument to which it applies, and any written waiver in a contract or similar instrument must appear in at least 12-point type.¹⁴ A waiver buried in a declaration recorded before service, or in a payment plan a member signed before entering service, does not meet these conditions.

Enforcement runs two ways. Section 4041 authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action against a person who engages in a pattern or practice of violating the Act or commits a violation that raises an issue of significant public importance; the court may grant equitable and declaratory relief, award damages to aggrieved persons, and assess a civil penalty.⁶ The statute sets the penalty at up to $55,000 for a first violation and $110,000 for a subsequent violation, and the Department of Justice adjusts those figures for inflation; under DOJ's 2024 adjustment rule the first-violation maximum is $77,370 for penalties assessed after February 12, 2024.¹⁵ Section 4042, added in 2010, gives an aggrieved person a private right of action for equitable and declaratory relief, monetary damages, and class treatment, and lets a prevailing plaintiff recover costs and a reasonable attorney fee.¹⁶ Criminal exposure attaches to specific sections rather than to the Act generally: a knowingly false § 3931 affidavit and a knowing § 3953 violation each carry a fine under Title 18 or imprisonment for up to one year.³ For an association, the practical exposure is a default judgment or foreclosure sale that a court can reopen or invalidate later, a title defect that surfaces at resale, and fee-shifting.

Section 3: What the SCRA requires before associations sue or foreclose

A. Verification before action

The Defense Manpower Data Center verification service produces a certificate stating whether an individual was on active duty on a specified date, and it serves as the standard basis for the § 3931 affidavit.⁹ A certificate speaks only to the date queried and to the service the database records; it establishes status on that date, not that a person will remain a civilian, so anyone preparing an affidavit should confirm the underlying status close to the request for judgment when time has passed since filing.⁹ Documenting the check in the file supports the affidavit's factual basis.

B. Default judgments and stays

Section 3931 makes the military-status affidavit a filing requirement before default in any civil action, including a routine assessment collection suit, not a foreclosure-only step.³ If the defendant is in service, the court appoints counsel and may not enter judgment until it does.³ When a servicemember applies for a stay under § 3932 with the required letters, the court must grant at least 90 days, and the association's collection timeline moves accordingly.¹⁰ Because a court can reopen a default judgment entered against a servicemember during service and for 90 days after it ends, a default judgment taken without a documented affidavit is unreliable.³

C. Interest, fees, and account handling

Once a servicemember gives written notice with a copy of orders under § 3937, the statute forgives rather than defers interest above six percent on a covered pre-service obligation, effective back to the date the servicemember was called to service, which means the account balance requires recalculation rather than a pause.⁵ Whether an assessment obligation counts as a covered pre-service obligation remains arguable, so the treatment of an association ledger under § 3937 is not settled.

D. Lien enforcement and foreclosure

Where § 3953 applies, a foreclosure or sale during service or within one year afterward is valid only under a court order issued beforehand or a § 3918 written waiver.⁴ Because the question whether an assessment lien is a security in the nature of a mortgage remains unsettled, obtaining a court order before any sale is the conservative path regardless of how the question resolves.¹³ A § 3918 waiver takes effect only as a separate written instrument executed during or after service.¹⁴ State law supplies the lien and foreclosure mechanics the SCRA overlays, including whether foreclosure runs judicial or nonjudicial; those mechanics appear in the state Foreclosure column of the matrix. Preserving the affidavit, the status certificate, and any court order in the file supports clean title at resale.

Section 4: Recent enforcement, litigation, and legislative activity

A. Recent enforcement and guidance

B. Recent court decisions

C. Legislation and active debates

Two related bills, S.1550 and H.R.3159 in the 119th Congress, each titled the Improving SCRA Benefit Utilization Act of 2025, would expand the § 3937 interest-rate protections and the ways a servicemember can submit documentation, and would broaden financial-literacy training and notice of SCRA rights.²² Both remained pending in committee as of the last verification.

Section 5: Interaction with state law and related coverage

The SCRA sets a federal floor, not a ceiling. Many states have their own servicemember relief statutes that reach further than the federal Act, and some state courts impose a military-status affidavit requirement by court rule that operates alongside § 3931.²³ State law also supplies the lien and foreclosure mechanics the SCRA overlays, including whether an association forecloses judicially or nonjudicially, which determines where the § 3953 court-order requirement bites and how a servicemember raises the protection. Readers should consult the state Foreclosure and Collections & Liens columns of the state matrix for the state-law overlay, and the sibling federal money pages for adjacent federal requirements.

HOA Weekly updates its federal SCRA coverage quarterly as the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the courts act. State foreclosure procedure and any state servicemember relief statutes appear in the Foreclosure and Collections & Liens columns of the state matrix.

Footnotes

1. 50 U.S.C. § 3931 (Protection of servicemembers against default judgments), affidavit requirement and vacatur of default judgments ↩
2. 50 U.S.C. ch. 50 front matter (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, formerly Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940; editorial reclassification and renumbering within Title 50) ↩
3. 50 U.S.C. § 3931(a)-(g) (applicability to any civil action; affidavit; appointment of counsel; bond; false-affidavit penalty; 90-day stay; reopening default judgment within 60 days of service and 90-day filing window) ↩
4. 50 U.S.C. § 3953 (Mortgages and trust deeds; obligation originating before service and secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage; court-order or § 3918 waiver requirement; criminal penalty) ↩
5. 50 U.S.C. § 3937 (Maximum rate of interest; 6 percent cap; forgiveness of excess; written notice with orders within 180 days of release; limitation effective as of date called to service) ↩
6. 50 U.S.C. § 4041 (Enforcement by the Attorney General; pattern or practice; significant public importance; equitable relief, damages, civil penalty) ↩
7. 50 U.S.C. § 3911 (Definitions: servicemember, military service, period of military service, dependent, court, State) ↩
8. U.S. Department of Justice, Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative, Financial and Housing Rights (scope of SCRA coverage) ↩
9. Defense Manpower Data Center, SCRA military verification service (single-record active-duty status certificate) ↩
10. 50 U.S.C. § 3932 (Stay of proceedings when servicemember has notice; required letters including commanding officer's letter; minimum 90-day stay; additional stays and appointment of counsel) ↩
11. Pub. L. 115-174, § 313 (Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, May 24, 2018), Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers ↩
12. Minn. Stat. § 515A.3-115 (Uniform Condominium Act; association assessment lien may be foreclosed as if a lien under a mortgage) (illustrative state statute) ↩
13. United States v. Northwest Trustee Services, Inc. (W.D. Wash.), DOJ § 3953 foreclosure enforcement against a foreclosure trustee (mortgage foreclosures without court orders) ↩
14. 50 U.S.C. § 3918 (Waiver of rights pursuant to written agreement; separate instrument; executed during or after service; 12-point type) ↩
15. Dept. of Justice, Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment, 89 Fed. Reg. 9764 (Feb. 12, 2024); 28 C.F.R. § 85.5 (SCRA first-violation penalty adjusted to $77,370) ↩
16. 50 U.S.C. § 4042 (Private right of action, added by Pub. L. 111-275, Oct. 13, 2010; equitable relief, damages, class treatment, costs and reasonable attorney fee) ↩
17. Settlement Agreement, United States and Rental Marketing Solutions, LLC (Feb. 2024 false affidavit; unlawful default eviction judgment; §§ 3931, 4041(a)(2)) ↩
18. U.S. Department of Justice, "Property Management Company to Pay $60,000 to Servicemember for False Affidavit" (press release, statement of AAG Harmeet K. Dhillon) ↩
19. U.S. Department of Justice, "Justice Department Secures Relief from Morningstar Storage to Resolve Alleged Violations" (United States v. Morningstar Properties, LLC (M.D. Fla.), § 3958; consent order entered Nov. 1, 2024) ↩
20. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of Servicemember Affairs 2023 Annual Report (released Sept. 24, 2024) ↩
21. In re Cortney Austin, No. 04-25-00300-CV (Tex. App.—San Antonio Nov. 5, 2025) (general appearance renders § 3931 inapplicable; § 3932(e)) ↩
22. S.1550, 119th Congress, Improving SCRA Benefit Utilization Act of 2025 (companion H.R.3159); expands § 3937 interest-rate protections and notice/training requirements ↩
23. Massachusetts Trial Court Military Affidavit (Under 50 U.S.C. § 3931) (state court military-status affidavit requirement by rule, illustrating state overlay) ↩