Navigating lease agreements can become complex when military families face relocation due to military orders. A common question arises when a dependent spouse signs a lease individually, without the service member listed as a tenant or occupant: does the dependent spouse still have legal protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and Florida Statute 83.682?

Key Laws: How SCRA and Florida Statute 83.682 Protect Military Tenants

Regarding a military tenant’s right to terminate a lease early upon being transferred from the premises by order, the federal SRCA states in part,

§ 535. Termination of residential [] leases
(a) Termination by lessee.
(1) In general. The lessee on a lease described in subsection (b) may, at the lessee’s option, terminate the lease at any time after –

(a) the lessee’s entry into military service; or
(b) the date of the lessee’s military orders described in paragraph (1)(B) of (2)(B) of subsection (b), as the case may be.

(2) Joint leases. A lessee’s termination of a lease pursuant to this subsection shall terminate any obligation a dependent of the lessee may have under the lease.

F.S. 83.682(1) states,

“Any servicemember may terminate his or her rental agreement by providing the landlord with a written notice of termination to be effective on the date stated in the notice which is at least 30 days after the landlord’s receipt of the notice if any of the following criteria are met:…”

Who’s Covered? SCRA Protections for Service members vs. Dependents

The SCRA protects active service members and their dependents, including spouses. This allows the service member to terminate the servicemember’s residential lease and his joint lessee’s lease without penalty upon receipt of official military orders requiring relocation, deployment, or permanent change of station (PCS).

In contrast, F.S. 83.682 does not specifically mention a joint lease situation or dependents. A strict reading of this statute may lead to the conclusion that none of the service member’s dependents are included in the statutory protection, but does such an interpretation of the statute match the purpose of the statute? Would it not include a service member’s spouse who is a joint tenant on the lease?

One may argue that a plain reading of F.S. 83.682 does not allow a service member tenant who is legally able to terminate a lease early to terminate his joint lessee spouse’s lease, but this author believes that a court may still allow the service member to terminate his joint lessee spouse’s lease as well. Why? Think about it: if a service member tenant can legally terminate the lease, but his wife, a joint lessee on the lease, is not, it would result in the dependent wife being responsible to pay early termination fees or damages, which would have the same impact on the husband service member tenant.

There are no Florida or federal cases on point to shed light on the issue. Moreover, Florida publications shed no light on the issue (see e.g. military guide and veterans guide).

Critical Requirement: Must the Service member Be on the Lease?

One significant area of confusion is whether the service member must personally sign the lease to gain the protections of these statutes. The SRCA appears to require that a military tenant sign a lease to receive these protections.

First, the SRCA entitles the relevant sections of the statute as “Lessee” and “Joint leases”. A lessee is a tenant under a rental agreement, and the word “joint” lessee implies that the service member is also a tenant under a rental agreement along with his dependent spouse.

Second, the SRCA states further that the service member lessee may “terminate the lease”. If a service member enter into a lease agreement, the statute doesn’t apply to him. Additionally, the SRCA states that the service member may terminate the joint lessee’s lease obligations under the lease, which necessarily means the service member must also be a tenant under the same lease agreement as the dependent spouse.

The United States Attorney’s Office (Middle District of Florida) adds more light on the matter and provides this summary of the SRCA (emphasis added):

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) allows the termination of residential leases for servicemembers who (1) sign a lease but thereafter enters into active duty service; (2) receive change of station orders (3) will deploy for a period of more than ninety days or (4) sign a lease upon receipt of military orders, but receives a stop movement order in response to a local, national or global emergency effective for an indefinite period or a period of not less than thirty days.

For these reasons, it seems plain that the statutory protections require the service member to be a tenant of the lease.

F.S. 83.682(1) also appears to cover only a service member who is a leaseholder. It states, “Any service member may terminate his or her rental agreement”. The statute seems to further support this with the several provisions that describe the situations in which a service member may terminate his lease early. F.S. 83.682(c), (d), and (f) state (emphasis added),

“(c) The service member is released from active duty or state active duty after having leased the rental premises while on active duty or state active duty status and the rental premises is 35 miles or more from the service member’s home of record before entering active duty or state active duty;
(d) After entering into a rental agreement, the service member receives military orders requiring him or her to move into government quarters or the service member becomes eligible to live in and opts to move into government quarters…
…
(f) The service member has leased the property, but before taking possession of the rental premises, receives a change of orders to an area that is 35 miles or more from the location of the rental premises.

Thus, under both federal and Florida statutes, the legislatures’ intent seems clear: the servicemember must be a tenant under the lease agreement to have these protections.

Real-World Example: Why Lease Signatures Matter for Military Families

Consider this example: a woman signs a residential lease in Florida solely in her name and without the rental application of her military husband. The military husband never occupies the premises because he lives in military barracks. She later informs the landlord that her military spouse has received PCS orders transferring him outside the local area. She requests to terminate her lease early under the protections of the SCRA and Florida Statute 83.682.

In this scenario, under a “plain reading” of the statute, the dependent spouse is not protected under either federal and Florida law. The absence of the service member’s name on the lease or his occupancy of the property undermines the dependent spouse’s rights under these statutes.

While a court’s sense of fairness may lead him to interpret these laws outside of their plain meaning and broadly in favor of military families to prevent the dependent spouse from having to potentially pay early termination fees, the court would have to ignore the plain reading of the statutory requirements that the military tenant be a tenant, or at a minimum, be an occupant of the premises with his dependent spouse.

Since there are no federal or Florida cases on point, the application of statutes to specific facts remains unclear.

How to Terminate a Lease Legally: Proof, Notice & Compliance

Based on the plain reading of the statute, for service member tenants or their dependent spouses to exercise these protections effectively, the service member must:

• Be a tenant of the lease (or at a minimum be an occupant of the rental premises along with his dependent spouse who is on the lease).
• Provide written notice of termination to the landlord as required by the SRCA and F.S. 83.682.
• Provide the landlord with a copy of the service member’s official military orders.
• Offer proof of dependency or marriage, if requested by the landlord.
• The landlord may also verify the military status of the tenant and confirm that the transfer orders are official and legitimate. See article here.

The required notice period is generally at least 30 days in advance of the termination date.

Final Takeaway: How Landlords & Military Tenants Can Avoid Disputes

Service members who sign a lease agreement are what these statutes anticipate and are thus protected by law. Dependent spouses of service members are protected under the SCRA and F.S. 83.682, but the service member must either be a tenant of the lease or at a minimum, an occupant of the property along with his dependent spouse who is the named tenant on the lease. Proper compliance with statutory requirements ensures a smoother transition for military families and reduces potential legal disputes for landlords.

Of course, it should go without saying that working with military families in their transfer situations is the preferred method of doing business, if nothing else, to help those serving our country and to maintain a positive reputation in the community.