The Military Clause in a Texas Lease: How SCRA § 3955 Actually Works on PCS Orders

If you get PCS orders out of JBSA — or to JBSA from another base that makes your current San Antonio lease impossible — you can terminate the lease early without penalty under federal law. The authority is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955 (often still called "SCRA § 535" by older lease addenda). Texas layers its own parallel statute on top at Property Code § 92.017. Together they tell a landlord: the lease ends 30 days after the next rent due date following proper written notice, and there is no early-termination fee, no liquidated damages clause, no "two months' rent" penalty that survives.

Landlords around Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam are generally familiar with this — the ones on the Military Bypass and up 281 near 1604 see it constantly. That familiarity cuts both ways. Some process a clean termination in a day. Others try to tack on fees they are not allowed to charge, because they know most E-3s and junior officers will not push back. Knowing what the statute actually says is the difference.

Who qualifies

SCRA § 3955 covers:

• Active duty members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.
• Commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and NOAA on active service.
• National Guard members called to active duty for more than 30 consecutive days under federal orders (Title 10), and in some cases state active duty exceeding 30 days.
• Reservists on active duty orders.

Two qualifying events trigger the termination right:

1. You entered military service after signing the lease (you were a civilian when you signed, then enlisted or commissioned).
2. You are already in service and receive PCS orders or deployment orders of 90 days or more.

A training TDY of six weeks does not qualify. A one-year unaccompanied remote tour does. Orders to base housing at the same installation also qualify — you do not have to be leaving San Antonio; you just have to be ordered to move.

The notice mechanics — the part people get wrong

This is where money is made or lost. The statute is specific.

• Give the landlord written notice of termination.
• Deliver a copy of the orders (or a letter from your commanding officer confirming the move) with the notice.
• Delivery can be hand-delivery, private carrier with return receipt, or mail. Email is not listed in the federal statute, but Texas § 92.017 accepts it if the lease allows electronic notice. Send both to be safe.

The termination date is not the date you hand over the notice. It is 30 days after the next rent due date that follows proper notice.

Example: rent is due the 1st. You deliver notice with orders on September 18. The next rent due date is October 1. Termination is effective October 31. You owe October's rent. You do not owe November.

If you deliver notice on September 30, the next rent due date is still October 1 (the very next day), so the same October 31 termination applies. You still owe October.

If your lease has rent due on the 15th, the math shifts accordingly. Do not let a landlord tell you "30 days from today" — that is not the rule.

What the landlord cannot do

Under SCRA § 3955 and Texas § 92.017, once you have given proper notice with orders:

• No early-termination fee. No "two months' rent" buyout. No re-letting fee. No lease-break penalty of any name.
• No acceleration of future rent. They cannot demand the remaining 7 months of the lease.
• Any prepaid rent covering the period after the termination date must be refunded within 30 days.
• The security deposit is handled under the normal rules — Texas Property Code § 92.103 requires return within 30 days of surrender and forwarding address, with an itemized list of any deductions under § 92.104. Military status does not change that clock; it also does not let the landlord hold the deposit longer.

What the landlord can do:

• Charge rent through the termination date.
• Deduct from the deposit for actual damage beyond normal wear and tear.
• Enforce specific move-out cleaning standards that were in the original lease.

Texas Property Code § 92.017 — the state overlay

The Texas statute mirrors SCRA but adds a few useful pieces:

• It explicitly covers dependents who are co-tenants. If the servicemember is on the lease with a spouse, the termination ends the lease for both.
• It prohibits waiver. A lease clause that says "tenant waives military termination rights" is void. You cannot sign those rights away even if the landlord puts it in bold at the top of page one.
• It requires the landlord to provide, on request, a written statement of any amount owed at move-out. This matters if you are PCSing on a 10-day window and need a clean paper trail before you leave Bexar County.

Orders, LES, and what documentation to send

A landlord is entitled to proof — not your whole personnel file. Acceptable:

• A copy of the PCS orders themselves (redact SSN and anything sensitive; leave name, rank, reporting date, and the fact that it is a permanent change of station).
• A letter from your commander on unit letterhead confirming the qualifying move and effective date.
• For deployments: mobilization orders or a memo confirming 90+ days.

Do not send your LES. It is not required and it contains pay data the landlord has no business seeing.

If the landlord refuses or charges fees anyway

Options, in escalating order:

1. Send a written demand referencing SCRA § 3955 and Texas Property Code § 92.017 by name, with a deadline.
2. Contact the JBSA Legal Assistance Office. Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam each have one. Legal assistance attorneys handle SCRA disputes routinely and will often send a letter on military letterhead that ends the problem immediately.
3. File in Bexar County Justice of the Peace court (small claims, up to $20,000) for the refund of improperly withheld prepaid rent or deposit. The four JP precincts cover the county geographically; you file in the precinct where the property sits. Filing is done through eFileTexas.
4. SCRA violations can also carry attorney's fees and, for willful violations, additional damages — but that is a conversation for a licensed Texas attorney, not a self-help move.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming verbal notice to the leasing office counts. It does not. Written notice with a copy of orders is the statutory trigger. Keep a dated copy and proof of delivery.
• Thinking termination is immediate. It is not. You owe the current month and usually one more. Plan the PCS finances around paying through the termination date, then getting the deposit back 30 days after surrender.
• Signing a "mutual termination" agreement the landlord hands them. These often swap the SCRA right for a fee or a shorter deposit window. You do not need one. SCRA is self-executing on proper notice.
• Paying an "early termination fee" because it is in the lease. Texas § 92.017 voids waivers of military termination rights. A fee charged for exercising the SCRA right is not collectible, regardless of what the lease says.
• Forgetting the forwarding address. Under § 92.103, the deposit-return clock only starts when the tenant provides a forwarding address in writing. Drop this in the same envelope as your termination notice so there is no ambiguity.
• Letting the landlord keep the deposit against "unpaid future rent." There is no future rent after the termination date. Deposits can only be deducted for actual damage and unpaid rent through the termination date.

One more piece — roommates who are not military

If the lease has a non-military roommate, SCRA terminates the lease as to the servicemember. The landlord and the remaining tenant usually need to sign a new lease or an amendment (TREC does not govern residential leases — use the Texas Apartment Association form or the landlord's own paperwork). Do not leave San Antonio assuming your civilian roommate is automatically fine on the old lease; get the reassignment in writing before you turn in keys.

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If you are PCSing into JBSA and looking for a rental with a landlord who handles military clauses cleanly, browse current listings at /rentals and filter by the neighborhoods near your base. If you own a property near Lackland, Randolph, or Fort Sam and want to list it in front of inbound military tenants, you can post it free at /list-your-home. For more on BAH, base-by-base commutes, and school zones around JBSA, the rest of the Military & PCS guide is at /resources.