The Soldiers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) was rewritten in 2003. The bulk of the SCRA was not changed by much and the majority of it was done so it reflected the way life has changed since the document was created in 1940. As per the new SCRA, the following goes:
- The new SCRA requires servicemen to have an additional 90 days on any court trial. They can also receive additional stays as requested and deemed OK by the judge or courts.
- The new SCRA lies out rules pertaining to the 6% interest rate rule, which says that all servicemen can only receive up to 6% interest rates on all debts acquired before joining the service. Servicemen must make this request in writing for the lender.
- The new SCRA says that rent ceilings must be granted for service people paying less than $2400 per month on leased or rented property. This is a drastic increase from the previous rent ceiling of $1200.
- The new SCRA gives servicemen the right to stop all leases before leaving for active military duty. Most servicemen are given at least 90 days notice before leaving for the military, but if they are requested to change basecamps, they are able to get out of any lease.
- The new SCRA added an amendment that requires all nonmilitary spouse members to file within the same tax bracket as the military spouse. This resulted in high taxes for many military families in comparison to previous years.
- The new SCRA adds legal services to the various services provided by the government. Up until this point, the SCRA only named health services for servicemen.
These new SCRA protections also cover all National Reserves. The SCRA is an important part of the military and gives a lot of benefits to military personnel. One very important thing to remember is that the SCRA is for military personnel only and does not apply to family members of any sort, including spouses and dependents. For example, if a man is in the military and serving abroad, the wife cannot request for the interest to be dropped on loans she took out in her name. All of these benefits and services are for military members only.
Learn more about the SCRA by reading each individual section of the document. With this you will gain a solid understanding of how the SCRA applies to military personnel.
If you need help finding someone who served in the military explore our site Servicememberscivilreliefact.com for the various services provided. Our FAQ section provides further insight on this.