How Active Duty Servicemembers Can Get Debt Relief

For members of our nation’s armed services, seeking debt relief can be a daunting task. Many individuals who are currently active in the service don’t have the time or necessary resources to develop an effective financial plan to relieve the stress of these hardships. Unfortunately, particularly for members who are on active duty, the consequences can be severe for family members back home. However, there are a number of debt relief options for service members, active or not, to consider when assessing their financial troubles. In addition, the improvement of the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) over the past few years has provided those in the military with significantly better options when it comes to debt relief.

Now known as the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA), this act is an expansion of the SSCRA that provides benefits for military members in an attempt to improve debt relief options for these individuals. Specifically, the SCRA improved options for military members for financial issues including taxes, mortgages, credit card debt, lease terminations, and pending trials. An important factor to keep in mind is the fact that this law only provides these additional options for debt incurred prior to military service. The following lays out the debt relief benefits for members of the military on active duty:

1) For individuals on active duty, the SCRA states that military families paying 1200 dollars or less on rent are protected from eviction.
2) For individuals on active duty and being reassigned to a new location for 90 days or more, the SCRA states that these service members have every right to terminate a pending lease.
3) There is a 6% interest limit on all credit cards incurred prior to military service, as well as the same interest rate limit for credit card debt incurred by individuals on active duty. Additionally, any obligation that exceeds 6% interest is considered exempt at the completion of military service.
4) Members of the Reserves or the Guard now benefit from improved life insurance. The federal government has increased the maximum policy coverage for life insurance to 250,000 dollars, up from the previous mark of 10,000 dollars that they can protect from default from non payment during active duty stints.
5) Finally, the SCRA prevents the “doubling of taxation” on an active duty service member’s spouse who does not work in the same state as their permanent residence. In essence, this improvement prevents members of the military and their significant others from suffering an increase in tax rates while serving on active duty.

The extension of rights for members of the military has clearly improved over recent years and given active duty members an opportunity to benefit from these additional debt relief options. Active and non active members can also consult with any of the traditional debt relief programs. Credit counseling, debt consolidation, and debt settlement have proven to be effective debt relief strategies for both members of the military and civilians who are facing financial hardships.