To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to preempt any squatter’s rights established by State law regarding real property owned by a member of the uniformed services.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Servicemember Residence Protection Act adds a new adverse-possession tolling rule to section 206 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A servicemember's period of military service may not be included when computing an adverse-possession period against the servicemember's real property. Within 45 days after enactment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must consult with the Attorney General and update the VA website and other relevant websites with information and resources on how uniformed service members can secure real property while absent for military service, leasing real property, landlord-tenant rights and obligations, and other information the Secretary and Attorney General find necessary.
Who Benefits and How
Active-duty servicemembers who own homes, deployed National Guard members, deployed Reserve members, military families managing real property, military legal-assistance attorneys, VA benefits counselors, military family support organizations, and property owners in uniformed service benefit because military-service time cannot be used to run out a state adverse-possession clock and because federal websites must provide practical property-security and landlord-tenant resources.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Adverse possessors, squatters, state courts applying adverse-possession law, real estate litigators, the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA website teams, the Attorney General, Justice Department consultation staff, and agencies maintaining related websites must apply the federal tolling rule, update public guidance within 45 days, consult on resource content, and account for servicemember protections in property disputes.
Key Provisions
- Adds a Servicemembers Civil Relief Act rule excluding military-service time from adverse-possession calculations.
- Protects real property owned by servicemembers while they are absent for military service.
- Requires VA to consult with the Attorney General within 45 days.
- Requires VA and relevant websites to publish resources on securing property, leasing, landlord-tenant rights, and related matters.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act so military service time does not count toward adverse-possession claims against a servicemember's real property and requires VA, after consulting DOJ, to publish real-property security and landlord-tenant resources within 45 days.
Key Policy Areas
Veterans, Housing, Property Law
Primary Purpose
Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act so military service time does not count toward adverse-possession claims against a servicemember's real property and requires VA, after consulting DOJ, to publish real-property security and landlord-tenant resources within 45 days.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Active-duty servicemembers who own homes
- Deployed National Guard members
- Deployed Reserve members
- Military families managing real property
- Military legal-assistance attorneys
- VA benefits counselors
- Military family support organizations
Identified Costs
- Adverse possessors
- Squatters
- State courts applying adverse-possession law
- Real estate litigators
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- VA website teams
- Attorney General
- Justice Department consultation staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsor: Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Mast introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Adverse possessors, Military families managing real property, Servicemembers with real property
Positive-direction: Military families managing real property, Servicemembers with real property
Negative-direction: Adverse possessors, Squatters
Department of Veterans Affairs, Justice Department consultation staff
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- "attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology