The Military Clause...Apt VS House...Places to rent

[Cavt]

Or you could search on here, I hear there is this guy with a room for rent near Whiting for wicked cheap...:icon_tong

 

[Ektar]

If you are really worried about being able to break a lease when moving to Whiting add an extra clause to the Military clause portion of the lease. It jsut needs to say that with 30 days notice the lessor will allow the lesse to break the lease with PCS orders to Whiting Field. You have to initial by it and the person administering the lease has to initial by it. If you both initial by it, it becomes part of the lease once it is signed and they will have to abide by it. Just a some food for thought...

 

[FlybyWired06]

Or you could search on here, I hear there is this guy with a room for rent near Whiting for wicked cheap...:icon_tong

thanks for the offer, but I don't think my wife would be down with it...haha

So, places to live, suggestions???

 

[Elegant Emily]

I was planning on this then I found out that my orders out of Grad School allow me to pick up per diem while waiting for and completing API, but only if I then move to a location near Whiting...thats why I want to ensure I can break lease at a home if/when we movej...I think it's hit or miss and you just need to make sure you're up front with whatever rental agency from the get-go and ensure you GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING and signed off by the agency prior to trying anything...

So, that's how I'll play it.

Now, any suggestions as far as where to live in the NAS area? Any good rental agencies for home renters or apartments? I've heard there are some shaddy/dishonest ones, but I'd like to know of some good ones too!

Lucky you that you KNEW about the per diem thing ahead of time. We didn't know, so we lived close to UWF to try to be halfway between Pensacola and Whiting... then found out about the per diem. So we ended up moving closer to Whiting after only 2 months in NE Pensacola. If we had known ahead of time, we still would've moved (it's worth it!) but we definitely would've been closer to NAS Pensacola that first two months.

Besides SunQuest... there is another company called PCS Realty (http://www.pcsres.com/) that is military-friendly. One of the PCS real estate agents took us around rental houses here in Milton (he was really really helpful and even took us around on a Saturday), and the one we ended up renting was Coldwell Banker JME (http://www.jmerealty.com)

I don't know if one of you can make a trip down before the move or not, but I did before we moved and it was VERY helpful to see the places in person. Some of the houses look GREAT online, and it turns out they're in a not-so-nice part of town... and the opposite can be true too.

Also, get in touch with a real estate agent. It won't cost you anything to ask for their help, and they have the most updated lists... sometimes something listed as available online is actually no longer vacant. And there are also things that aren't listed yet that the agents know about and can show you.

For your browsing pleasure, go to www.pensacolamls.com

 

[squorch2]

Military clauses are just a way for them to try and steamroll you - they mean nothing with the 2003 SCRA. Any PCS or TAD in excess of 90 days, regardless of how far, is cause for breaking your lease. You just need to give your landlord 30 days notice. Don't let them tell you you can't break your lease.

 

[Navyfan06]

I was in the same boat as most of you when I was in API, lived close to NASP and not so close to Whiting. But here is the deal....florida law does have the 35 (or 30, not totally sure) but the federal law -federal law superceeds state law which is the Service Members Civil Relief Act (formally known as the Soliders and Sailors Civil Relief Act) states as follows:

Termination of Leases

Another significant change provided in the SCRA, is found in Section 305. The prior law only allowed the termination of pre-service "dwelling, professional, business, agricultural, or similar" leases. The new provision in the SCRA allows termination of leases by active duty servicemembers who subsequently receive orders for a permanent change of station (PCS) or a deployment for a period of 90 days or more. The SCRA also includes automobiles leased for personal or business use by servicemembers and their dependents. The pre-service automobile lease may be cancelled if the servicemember receives active duty orders for a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days or more. The automobile lease entered into while the servicemember is on active duty may be terminated if the servicemember receives PCS orders to a (1) location outside the continental United States or (2) deployment orders for a period of one hundred and eighty days or more. (See Section 305, SCRA)


so if you were in same boat as me and came down from college to API under temporary duty orders then your orders to Whiting are PCS orders. At the time last year I tripple checked this with the local NASP Jag office and they said I was right on. So I made a copy of this, highlighted the affected line and stapled a copy of my new orders and gave my 30 day notice. So if your worried about the 35 mile rule you can get out of it.

Here is the link to the law on the JAG website:

https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/JAGCNE...0806a532899687ce852568a800531506?OpenDocument

Also for the P-cola area Cordova Regency Apartments are great. Very Clean and nice, the management is nice as well. They are a little older apartments, but are kept up. Not as posh as NAS Governers gate but still really nice.

PM if you have any q's

 

[squorch2]

words

Echo, echo...

Still good, relevant info in the post, though.

 

[FlybyWired06]

Thanks guys, this has been helpful. I'm glad there is a real LAW that releaves us of any stress when it comes to lease breaking...just make sure you know where you're going by 30 days out (which may or may not always happen) and let the property manager know. To all, thanks for the thread contributions

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Just stay away from landlords like this one:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

:icon_tong

 

[Pilot123]

So just to make sure I'm reading everything straight and understand it all (excuse my ignorange if I am displaying it):
If I lived in Governors Gate (with a 35 mile military clause), receive orders to Whiting for Primary and wish to move closer to Milton I can be let out of my lease under the SCRA section 305, b (1) (B)? ie. no lease termination fee of 2x monthly rent?
Thank you.

 

[FlybyWired06]

So just to make sure I'm reading everything straight and understand it all (excuse my ignorange if I am displaying it):
If I lived in Governors Gate (with a 35 mile military clause), receive orders to Whiting for Primary and wish to move closer to Milton I can be let out of my lease under the SCRA section 305, b (1) (B)? ie. no lease termination fee of 2x monthly rent?
Thank you.

Yes, as long as Governors Gate is aware of the law and you give 30 days notice (ofcourse, they may not have to be aware of it for it to be LAW, but it will save you a hassle if they know about it already). If you don't give 30 days notice, don't count on a free ticket, especially if the Management has a history of giving problems to military guys...to be safe (if you haven't already signed the lease) be up front from the get-go and add your own clause to the contract stating as much and have them sign off on it, acknowledging that they know what the "deal" is (per Ektar's previous post). This way you not only have the law, you also have a CONTRACTUAL agreement...oh, and make sure you keep a copy of that darn lease!

 

[phrogpilot73]

So just to make sure I'm reading everything straight and understand it all (excuse my ignorange if I am displaying it):
If I lived in Governors Gate (with a 35 mile military clause), receive orders to Whiting for Primary and wish to move closer to Milton I can be let out of my lease under the SCRA section 305, b (1) (B)? ie. no lease termination fee of 2x monthly rent?
Thank you.

If you are TEMDU to NASP for API, than yes (you fall under SCRA) because your orders to Whiting are PCS orders. If you are not TEMDU, your orders to Whiting will be PCA (not PCS) so no (you don't fall under SCRA). However, since Governer's Gate has a 35 mile military clause then yes. Whiting and P-Cola are 43 miles apart.

 

[etsgraham]

Has anyone tried living in Pace? By the map it looks to be an almost even-distance between the two, but how is driving down there?

 

[llnick2001]

Be up front with where ever you're going to live about how long you expect to be there and don't go anywhere that's given military shit before you. It's like when some jack hole runs a stop sign. I could t-bone him and the law would be on my side, but it's still a huge pain in the sack I don't need so I'm going to try and dodge him.

 

[Rg9]

Quoting SCRA...

so if you were in same boat as me and came down from college to API under temporary duty orders then your orders to Whiting are PCS orders. At the time last year I tripple checked this with the local NASP Jag office and they said I was right on. So I made a copy of this, highlighted the affected line and stapled a copy of my new orders and gave my 30 day notice. So if your worried about the 35 mile rule you can get out of it.

No. They are NOT PCS orders, and you do NOT fall under the SCRA for a move to Whiting. I know from lots of personal experience on this (even went into law office at NAS P'Cola about this). The provision for lease breaking is that you receive PCS orders AFTER signing a lease. You have received PCS orders prior to moving to Pensacola, and they do an order mod (unless you already have follow-on orders) for Whiting. NAS Pensacola is Temporary Duty. Also, the mileage distance is base-to-base, which is like 27 miles or so.

Your quote of the law, however, is correct. Many landlords don't know about the Federal Law about the military clause, which really annoys me. A "military clause" is pointless unless it is more lenient than the SCRA (i.e., you don't need 30 days, etc.), and anything short of following it carries severe penalties for the landlord. But that has worked to the advantage of some studs. Since many are unaware of this law, when you show it to them, they may let you out (although they technically don't have to because it's not technically new PCS orders).

All that being said, you might be able to talk your landlord into letting you move, but since most apt complexes around there deal with this issue a LOT, they already have policies on it (i.e., most say you can't break a lease). I'd say either find a place you KNOW will let you break a lease (they say it explicitly in the lease), like a month-to-month one, or somewhere close to Whiting if you know you're going there (short drive for Primary is MUCH more important than a short drive for API/A-Pool).

If I'm wrong anywhere on this legally, someone please let me know. I looked into it pretty extensively, and only got out of my lease when I went to Whiting by divine intervention.