SCRA Protections for Texas Service Members: Rate Cap, Leases, Eviction

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act gives Texas service members a set of federal protections that pause or soften civilian legal obligations while you serve: a 6% interest cap on debts you carried into service, the right to break a residential or vehicle lease when orders force a move, a block on evictions and foreclosures without a court order, protection against default judgments while you’re away, and a pause on statutes of limitation. The SCRA benefits for Texas service members also reach the Texas National Guard and Texas State Guard when the governor orders them to state active duty, because Texas law extends the same federal civil protections to state-service members who wouldn’t otherwise qualify.¹² None of them activate on their own. You have to ask, in writing, with a copy of your orders.

Who Is Covered

Federal SCRA coverage reaches active-duty members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard, along with commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while on active service. National Guard members qualify when they are called to active service by the President or the Secretary of Defense for more than 30 consecutive days in response to a federally declared national emergency.³

That 30-day federal threshold leaves a gap, and Texas closes it. Texas Government Code § 437.213 grants any member of the Texas military forces ordered to state active duty or state training by the governor or adjutant general the same civil protections federal law provides to service members in the U.S. armed forces.² A Texas Guard member activated by the governor for a hurricane response or a border mission has the same rights against creditors, landlords, and courts as a soldier deployed overseas by the Pentagon.

The 6% Interest Rate Cap

Debts you took on before you entered active duty are capped at 6% annual interest for the length of your service. The cap covers credit cards, car loans, student loans, and other pre-service obligations. “Interest” is defined broadly to include service charges, renewal fees, and similar costs, so lenders can’t dodge the cap by relabeling the charge.⁴ Anything above 6% is forgiven, not deferred. Your lender cannot push the excess interest to the back end of your loan.

Mortgages get a longer window. The 6% cap on a pre-service mortgage runs through your entire period of military service and continues for one full year after you leave active duty. For every other kind of debt, the cap applies only during the service period.⁴

How to Request the Cap

Send each creditor a written notice along with a copy of your military orders. A certified letter from your commanding officer works if orders aren’t available. You can submit the request at any point during service and up to 180 days after your release from active duty, and once the creditor receives your notice the rate reduction applies retroactively to the date you entered military service.⁴ The 180-day post-service window matters. Many service members only learn about the cap after they’re home.

Breaking a Lease on Military Orders

Residential Leases

You can terminate a residential lease without penalty if you receive permanent change of station orders, or if you receive deployment orders for 90 days or more. This covers housing occupied by you or your dependents, whether you signed the lease before or during military service. Deliver written notice with a copy of your orders to the landlord or the landlord’s agent. If rent is paid monthly, the termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent payment due date following your notice.⁵ So notice delivered on March 10, with rent due the first of the month, ends your obligation on May 1.

Vehicle Leases

A motor vehicle lease signed by a service member during military service can be terminated when that service member receives deployment orders for 180 days or more.⁵ Early termination fees, buyout charges, and similar penalties written into a standard Texas lease are unenforceable once the SCRA right applies. The trigger is a 180-day deployment, not the 90 days used for housing.

Eviction Protection

A landlord cannot evict you or your dependents from a primary residence for nonpayment of rent without first getting a court order, as long as the monthly rent falls below an inflation-adjusted ceiling. The statutory base was $2,400 per month in 2003, and the Department of Defense publishes an updated figure each year tied to the housing component of the Consumer Price Index.⁶ The adjusted threshold in recent years has run well above $4,000, which covers most Texas rentals.

If a case does reach court, the judge must stay the proceedings for at least 90 days when your ability to pay rent has been materially affected by military service, and the court can adjust the lease obligation to balance both sides’ interests.⁶ It isn’t a free pass on rent. It’s a pause.

Mortgage Foreclosure Protection

A home with a pre-service mortgage cannot be foreclosed on or seized during your service or for one year afterward without a court order. Any foreclosure sale conducted without that order is void.⁷ That matters in Texas, where non-judicial foreclosure is standard. Under the SCRA, a lender has to go through a judge before moving against a service member’s property.

When a lender does file a foreclosure action during your service or within a year after it ends, you can request a stay. The court must grant it where military service has materially affected your ability to pay, and the court can adjust the mortgage obligation to protect both sides.⁷ The one-year tail after discharge is where service members often slip, assuming protection ended on their last day of active duty.

Default Judgment Protection

If someone sues you while you’re deployed and you can’t appear, the SCRA keeps them from winning simply because you weren’t there. Before a court can enter a default judgment, the plaintiff must file an affidavit stating whether you are in military service. If the plaintiff can’t tell, the affidavit has to say so. When the court determines you are in the military, it cannot enter a default judgment until it appoints an attorney to represent you.⁸ That appointed attorney’s job is to find you, inform you of the lawsuit, and ask whether you want to request a stay.

When the court can’t determine your military status from the affidavit, it can require the plaintiff to post a bond before entering judgment, protecting you against losses if the judgment is later overturned.⁸ A default judgment entered without these safeguards is voidable, meaning you can challenge it after you return.

Statute of Limitations Tolling

Time spent in military service doesn’t count toward any deadline for filing a lawsuit, whether you’re the plaintiff or the defendant. The SCRA pauses the clock on all statutes of limitation for the full duration of active duty, in any court and before any state or federal agency.⁹ If you had two years left to file a claim when you deployed, you still have those two years when you return.

Tax Relief

Federal Filing Extensions

Service members stationed in a combat zone receive automatic extensions to both file federal tax returns and pay federal income taxes. You don’t apply for the extension; the IRS grants it based on your combat zone status, though the agency asks you to self-identify so the provision is applied correctly.¹⁰

Texas Property Tax Deferral

Texas offers a property tax deferral for active-duty members transferred out of state during a war or national emergency. If you qualify, you can defer payment and avoid all penalties and interest on the delinquent amount. The deferral covers property you own on the transfer date and property you later acquire by inheritance or gift. You must pay the deferred taxes within 60 days of whichever comes first: discharge from active duty, return to non-active reserve status, return to Texas for more than 10 days, or the end of the war or national emergency.¹¹

If you don’t qualify for the state deferral, say because you’re stationed within Texas or your activation doesn’t fall under a declared war or emergency, the federal 6% interest cap still applies to delinquent property taxes. Under that fallback, you owe 6% interest on the late taxes and no penalties.

How to Actually Invoke These Protections

None of this triggers automatically. For every protection you want, you need two things: a written notice stating which benefit you’re requesting, and a copy of your military orders. A certified letter from your commanding officer substitutes for orders when they aren’t available.⁴ Your notice should include your full name, the date your military service began, and the specific protection you’re requesting. A vague letter saying only that you’re in the military won’t do it.

Send everything by certified mail with return receipt requested. The receipt is your proof the creditor or landlord received the notice, and you’ll need it if you ever have to enforce your rights in court. Keep copies of every document. For the interest rate cap, the reduction applies retroactively to the date you entered service once the creditor receives your notice and orders.⁴ For a lease termination, the clock on the effective end date starts when the landlord receives your notice.

If a Creditor or Landlord Ignores You

A service member harmed by an SCRA violation has the right to file a civil lawsuit seeking equitable relief, monetary damages, and class action status when the violation affected multiple service members. A prevailing plaintiff can also be awarded attorney fees and litigation costs.¹² Most Texas service members never need to litigate. A well-documented notice referencing the specific statute usually gets compliance, and the private right of action is what gives that letter its weight.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. Chapter 50 – Servicemembers Civil Relief
2
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 437.213 – Certain Benefits and Protections for State Service
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3911 – Definitions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3937 – Maximum Rate of Interest on Debts Incurred Before Military Service
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3951 – Evictions and Distress
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3953 – Mortgages and Trust Deeds
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3931 – Default Judgments
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 3936 – Statute of Limitations
10
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Extensions and Tax Return Preparation Assistance for Military Personnel Stationed Abroad or in a Combat Zone
11
Denton County, TX. Military Deferral
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S.C. 4042 – Private Right of Action