To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for an extension of lease protections for servicemembers under stop movement orders in response to a local, national, or global emergency.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6767 To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for an extension of lease protections for servicemembers under stop movement orders in response to a local, national, or global emergency. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CISNEROS, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. BRINDISI, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BARR, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. ROY, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BOST, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. SLOTKIN, and Mr. ALLRED) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for an extension of lease protections for servicemembers under stop movement orders in response to a local, na- tional, or global emergency. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6767.IH H6767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6767 IH SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF LEASE PROTECTIONS FOR 1 SERVICEMEMBERS UNDER STOP MOVEMENT 2 ORDERS IN RESPONSE TO LOCAL, NATIONAL, 3 OR GLOBAL EMERGENCY. 4 (a) TERMINATION.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 305 5 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3955) 6 is amended— 7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 8 inserting a semicolon; 9 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 10 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 paragraph: 13 ‘‘(C) the date of the lessee’s stop move- 14 ment order described in paragraph (1)(C) or 15 (2)(C) of subsection (b), as the case may be.’’. 16 (b) COVERED LEASES.— 17 (1) LEASES OF PREMISES.—Paragraph (1) of 18 subsection (b) of such section is amended— 19 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 20 or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 21 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 22 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 23 (C) by adding at the end the following new 24 subparagraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6767.IH H6767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6767 IH ‘‘(C) the servicemember, while in military 1 service— 2 ‘‘(i) executes a lease upon receipt of 3 military orders for a permanent change of 4 station or to deploy with a military unit, or 5 as an individual in support of a military 6 operation, for a period of not less than 90 7 days; and 8 ‘‘(ii) thereafter receives a stop move- 9 ment order issued by the Secretary of De- 10 fense in response to a local, national, or 11 global emergency, effective for an indefi- 12 nite period or for a period of not less than 13 30 days, which prevents the servicemember 14 or servicemember’s dependents from occu- 15 pying the lease for a residential, profes- 16 sional, business, agricultural, or similar 17 purpose.’’. 18 (2) LEASES OF MOTOR VEHICLES.—Paragraph 19 (2) of such subsection is amended— 20 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 21 or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 22 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 23 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6767.IH H6767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6767 IH (C) by adding at the end the following new 1 subparagraph: 2 ‘‘(C) the servicemember, while in military 3 service— 4 ‘‘(i) executes a lease upon receipt of 5 military orders described in subparagraph 6 (B); and 7 ‘‘(ii) thereafter receives a stop move- 8 ment order issued by the Secretary of De- 9 fense in response to a local, national, or 10 global emergency, effective for an indefi- 11 nite period or for a period of not less than 12 30 days, which prevents the servicemem- 13 ber, or the servicemember’s dependents, 14 from using the vehicle for personal or busi- 15 ness transportation.’’. 16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF TERMINATION.—Paragraph 17 (1) of subsection (d) of such section is amended to read 18 as follows: 19 ‘‘(1) LEASE OF PREMISES.— 20 ‘‘(A) ENTRANCE TO MILITARY SERVICE, 21 PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION, OR DEPLOY- 22 MENT.—In the case of a lease described in sub- 23 paragraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) that 24 provides for monthly payment of rent, termi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6767.IH H6767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6767 IH nation of the lease under subsection (a) is effec- 1 tive 30 days after the first date on which the 2 next rental payment is due and payable after 3 the date on which the notice under subsection 4 (c) is delivered. In the case of any other lease 5 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub- 6 section (b)(1) termination of the lease under 7 subsection (a) is effective on the last day of the 8 month following the month in which the notice 9 is delivered. 10 ‘‘(B) STOP MOVEMENT ORDERS.—In the 11 case of a lease described in subsection 12 (b)(1)(C), termination of the lease under sub- 13 section (a) is effective on the date on which the 14 requirements of subsection (c) are met for such 15 termination.’’. 16 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Subsection (i) is 17 amended, in the matter before paragraph (1), by inserting 18 ‘‘In this section:’’ after ‘‘DEFINITIONS.—’’. 19 (e) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—The amendments 20 made by this section shall apply to stop movement orders 21 issued on or after March 1, 2020. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6767.IH H6767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS