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SCRA And Your Mortgage

Does the SCRA apply to your mortgage?

Yes, if you took it out before active duty.The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a federal law. For a mortgage like that, it can cap your interest at 6 percent, and a lender cannot foreclose without a court order or a separate agreement you sign. Both last while you serve and for one year after.

This page shows which mortgages count, how each protection works, and how to ask for the rate cap.

Federal law sourcedChecked October 2026

Start Here

Does your mortgage count?

The SCRA's two mortgage protections cover a mortgage you took out before your military service began.

  • You took out the mortgage before active duty. It can be covered.
  • You are in the Guard or Reserve. The Department of Justice says a loan you took out between periods of active duty that count under the SCRA counts as one from before service. For the Guard and Reserve, protection starts when you get certain orders, before you report.
  • You took out the mortgage while already on active duty. These two protections do not cover it. If a lender takes you to court while you serve, other SCRA court rules still apply.

Who is in military service under the SCRA

  • Active duty members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard.
  • Reserve members on active duty.
  • National Guard members on certain orders for more than 30 days in a row.
  • Commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on active duty.

Not sure your orders count? Your military legal assistance office can tell you.

Sources: 50 U.S.C. 3937(a). 50 U.S.C. 3953(a). 50 U.S.C. 3911. 50 U.S.C. 3917(a). 6% interest rate cap fact sheet, Know Your Rights guide and Financial and Housing Rights, Department of Justice. As a servicemember, am I protected against foreclosure? and When am I covered by the SCRA?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 15 October 2026.

Two Protections

The rate cap and the foreclosure rule

They work differently. One you have to ask for. The other you do not.

The 6 percent rate cap

You have to ask
What it does

Interest above 6 percent a year is forgiven

Forgiven, not put off until later. Interest includes most fees. Your monthly payment drops by the interest forgiven, and the lender cannot make you pay the loan balance down faster.

How long

While you serve, and one year after

The extra year is for mortgages. For other debts, the cap ends when your service ends.

Do you have to ask?

Yes, in writing, with your orders or a commanding officer's letter

Your request has to reach the lender no later than 180 days after your service ends. How to ask is below.

Only if

Your rate is above 6 percent

A court can let the lender charge more if it finds your service did not really affect your ability to pay.

Foreclosure protection

You do not have to ask
What it does

No sale or foreclosure without a court order

The one other way is a separate written agreement you sign during or after your service.

How long

While you serve, and one year after

It covers a home you own, with a mortgage taken out before your service began.

Do you have to ask?

No

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it applies whether or not you told your lender about your service.

If the lender goes to court

The court can pause the case or change the loan terms

It has to if you ask and your service really affects your ability to pay.

The SCRA does not stop a foreclosure for good. The Department of Justice says a lender can still foreclose on a service member who is behind on the mortgage. The SCRA decides how.

Sources: 50 U.S.C. 3937. 50 U.S.C. 3953. 50 U.S.C. 3918. Financial and Housing Rights, Department of Justice. As a servicemember, am I protected against foreclosure?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 15 October 2026.

How To Ask

Asking for the 6 percent rate cap

Write to the company you send your mortgage payments to. A letter, an email or a message through its website all work.

  1. Say that you are asking for the 6 percent interest rate cap under the SCRA.
  2. Give your name, address, email and phone number, your active duty status, and where you are stationed.
  3. List the loan and its account number.
  4. Add a copy of your orders. A letter from your commanding officer also works.
  5. Send it no later than 180 days after your service ends.

After the lender has your request, the Department of Justice says it has to forgive the interest above 6 percent back to when you first qualified, not only from the day you asked. It also has to refund extra interest you already paid, and lower your monthly payment.

Your lender may check your status on the Defense Department's SCRA website. Send your request anyway. The Department of Justice also says to send it even if you sign up on your lender's own military benefits page, so the cap covers the whole time you qualify.

Sources: 6% interest rate cap fact sheet, Department of Justice. 50 U.S.C. 3937(b). SCRA website, Defense Manpower Data Center. Retrieved 15 October 2026.

Before You Refinance

A new loan can end the cap

Thinking about refinancing while you serve? Ask first. The Department of Justice says a refinance on active duty may make you lose the 6 percent cap, because the new loan starts during your service, not before it.

Compare the new rate with the 6 percent you may already have. Your legal assistance office can look at your loan before you sign.

Source: 6% interest rate cap fact sheet, Department of Justice ("What happens if I consolidate or refinance my loans?"). Retrieved 15 October 2026.

What To Ask

Questions for your lender and your legal office

Ask your lender:

  1. Do you have my SCRA request and my orders on file?
  2. From what date did you apply the 6 percent cap?
  3. If I refinance with you, will I keep the cap?

Ask your legal assistance office:

  1. Do my orders count as military service under the SCRA?
  2. Does my state give more protection than the SCRA?

The Department of Justice says state laws may give more than the SCRA does. If you think a lender broke the SCRA, tell your legal assistance office. If you cannot use one, you can report it to the Department of Justice.

This page is not legal or financial advice. Your legal assistance office can look at your own loan and orders.

Sources: 6% interest rate cap fact sheet (state laws). How we can help (legal assistance first, then a complaint). Both Department of Justice. Legal services locator, Armed Forces Legal Assistance. Retrieved 15 October 2026.

A page can explain the law.An agent who knows military moves can help you decide what to do with the home when orders come.

Mission Ready Operators know the VA loan and how orders and moving dates work. Questions about the SCRA itself belong with your lender and your legal assistance office.

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Last reviewed October 2026 · Maintained by My Military HQ

Common Questions

Questions people ask about the SCRA and a mortgage

Does the SCRA apply to mortgages?

Yes, to a mortgage you took out before you went on active duty. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), federal law caps the interest at 6 percent a year if you ask in writing, and a lender cannot foreclose on the home without a court order or a separate written agreement you sign during or after your service. Both last while you serve and for one year after. The rate cap and the foreclosure rule do not cover a mortgage you took out while already on active duty.

How long does SCRA protection last on a mortgage?

Federal law says both mortgage protections last while you serve and for one year after your military service ends. To get the 6 percent rate cap, the Department of Justice says to send your written request and a copy of your orders no later than 180 days after your service ends.

Does the SCRA apply to veterans?

Only for a short time after you leave. For a mortgage you took out before active duty, federal law keeps the 6 percent rate cap, if you ask for it, and the foreclosure protection for one year after your military service ends. After that year, the SCRA's mortgage protections stop.

Does the SCRA apply to VA loans?

The Department of Justice says the 6 percent cap applies to all types of debts taken out before military service, mortgages included. A VA loan, a home loan backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is a mortgage, so the same test applies: if you took it out before you went on active duty, the rate cap and the foreclosure rule can cover it. If you got it while already on active duty, those two protections do not.

Does the SCRA cover my spouse?

For the 6 percent rate cap, the Department of Justice says the loan has to be in your name, or in your name and your spouse's together. A loan in your spouse's name alone does not qualify. Federal law also lets a spouse or other dependent ask a court for the SCRA's foreclosure protection when your military service really affects their ability to pay.

Sources

Where every fact came from

Every rule on this page comes from federal law, the Department of Justice or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Where they do not say something, we left it out.

  • The 6 percent cap, how long it lasts, the 180 days, and when a court can lift it. 50 U.S.C. 3937, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Foreclosure protection and what a court can do. 50 U.S.C. 3953, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Who is in military service, and who counts as a dependent. 50 U.S.C. 3911, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • When protection starts for the Reserve. 50 U.S.C. 3917, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • The separate written agreement. 50 U.S.C. 3918, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • A spouse or other dependent asking a court. 50 U.S.C. 3959, United States Code. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • How to ask for the cap, what the lender has to do, spouses, refinancing, Guard and Reserve loans, and state laws. Your Rights as a Servicemember: 6% Interest Rate Cap, Department of Justice. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • When protection starts for the Guard and Reserve. Know Your Rights: A Guide to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Department of Justice. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Who the SCRA covers, court cases, and foreclosure for a service member behind on payments. Financial and Housing Rights, Department of Justice. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Foreclosure protection without telling your lender, and court cases. As a servicemember, am I protected against foreclosure?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Who the SCRA covers, including the National Guard. When am I covered by the SCRA?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  • Finding your legal assistance office. Legal services locator, Armed Forces Legal Assistance.
  • Checking military status. SCRA website, Defense Manpower Data Center.
  • Reporting a lender if you cannot use a legal assistance office. How we can help, Department of Justice.

What we left out on purpose. We cover the mortgage only, not car loans, leases or other debts. We do not say whether refinancing during service affects foreclosure protection: our sources speak only of the rate cap, so ask your legal assistance office. We do not say what happens to the loan when a service member or veteran dies: the sources we used do not cover it, so ask the loan servicer. We give no interest rates and no savings figures, because they change and depend on your loan.

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