Topic: Military Housing Staff - Supercede confidentiality???

This week, I have issues with a military couple causing disturbance, damaging property and violating their lease conditions.

They want out of their lease for just not being happy.

They went to the Military Housing Staff to complain and when they called me, I felt like I needed something in writing to release information.

What document is required if any to disclose to Military Housing staff regarding your military residents?

Photos of damages

Perhaps Nate Thomas (a fellow insider and frequent contributor) can assist. I seem to recall he has experience with military housing.


If the base housing officer cannot assist, perhaps your resident's commanding officer can.

Thank you, Johnny for such a quick response. We are a conventional property about 11 miles from the Base. I usually only have a couple of military residents at a time. There are probably 100 properties closer to the base than mine.

I have never had an issue with a military resident until this time. To make a long story short, there weren't any problems until the soldier came home from deployment and then the fighting, noise and property damage began. Now they are saying I'm at fault and want out of their lease.

To top it off...they told the Military Housing staff I was at fault and now they are bullying me by saying either let them out or we will discourage others from leasing there.

So, first off...I was wondering if I was allowed to tell the Housing staff the whole story, or am I bound by confidentiality? Military rules are different from ours. They pretty much have their own government! I'm thinking I may be able to disclose because the residents actually involved them first.

I don't think they have any idea what has transpired here in terms of civility and behavior. And how supremely unfair is it to 1. Ask me to terminate the lease without penalty, 2. Leave me with almost $2000 in damages and 3. Endanger future rental revenue.

This all seems so unfair. I value our military and especially our soldiers who serve over seas, but does that mean, We have to take a hit to the tune of several thousand dollars? :ohmy: P.S. and...the pet is unauthorized! LOL

Rachel, when you have a resident causing property damage, you should follow your protocol for addressing the issue. I would certainly give them a Quit or Cure based on the property damage alone, domestic disputes causing problems for neighbors and having the unauthorized pet. I would also issue work orders to repair the damage (at least to the door) and charge them for the replacement/repair costs.

It is quite possible the returning Service Member has some issues with reintegration but you are not a physician equipped to make any such diagnosis, so until he asks for special accommodations for a disability you have no reason to treat this family any differently from any other resident family.

Once someone from Military Housing contacted you, then your resident waived any right to privacy regarding the issues the Military Housing Officer brought up, in my opinion. I was always under the impression from working with my military families, that I could contact my Service Member's commanding officer if there were any problems. I never had to do so because I never had any problems. I think I would keep whatever conversation I might have with the Military Housing Officer who has intervened on the resident's behalf to strictly the facts and make sure my personal opinion was never stated.

Whenever a third party gets involved, it is often at the expense of the property. Oftentimes that third party only has heard ONE SIDE. If you want to cut your losses now, you could let them out of their lease and turn over all damage charges to a Collection Agency at the proper time. That will follow them for a long, long time, especially owing another apartment community.

Thank you, Mindy. That was very informative.

I am not currently on active duty (I have been out for more than 20 years), nor have I used off base housing as I was single at the time with no dependents so I lived on base in the barracks; but........

I do not remember what the ruling was, but if the servicemember is receiving housing assistance by way of a BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing); and is using that to pay at least a portion of the rent (whether or not that portion is paid directly to you), then it makes the military/government a party to the lease and the confidentiality extends to all parties involved. This would mean that you can have a frank discussion with either the lease signers, their commanding officer, or the base housing office if you have any issues.


Nate, can you shed some light on this?

Johnny,

Thank you for that bit of information. I honestly don't think this is common knowledge for conventional properties housing military residents.

His check stub does not indicate whether he is receiving housing assistance. However, he has already involved the Housing Staff at the base in this matter. But for future reference, this is valuable information.

Thank you. It will be interesting to see what light Nate can shed on this. I'm hoping he will contribute. :)

The military also calls housing payments BAQ (Basic Allowance for Quarters); it just depends on which branch of service what it may be called I believe.

I am of the opinion that since your resident has involved the base housing office in this matter, I would take it as a waiver of confidentiality and therefore, permission to discuss this matter freely with the housing officer and / or his chain of command. I would send the pictures you have posted (as well as pictures taken at the time of move in if possible) to both the base housing office and the commanding officer of his unit.

We are still waiting for Nate's input.

Today, I called the base and spoke with the first Sergeant. They acted quickly and came out to the property. They visited with the resident and examined the apartment. We came together on a settlement, that was agreeable to both of us. It came to light that they were aware of some of the emotional issues going on between this couple but, were not aware of recent events.

The Sergeant explained to me that while the Housing staff can negotiate on behalf of the soldier and family, he was not entitled to sensitive information such as incidents or emotional disturbances.

He also assured me that while he wasn't able to control the spouse (wife), he was able to greatly influence the soldier.

Before I contacted the First Sergeant, the housing staff was over stepping by trying to black ball us, but now, with the involvement of the command, we are in good standing, we will recoup some of the damages and hopefully will be able to rent this unit within 30 days after move out.

Thank you all for your guidance on this issue. It's been an education, I will say that!

First the lease on the economy by a service member and their family is a private contract. Issues that come up that are on the legal realm, they are treated for the most part the same as a non military member except in cases of orders that causes them to move before their rental contract periods, or they have a deployments as a few examples.
For misconduct they are handled the same as the civilian counterpart. Because if they are taken to court it is not done through the military system it is done through the civilian system.
Now the Housing office staff should negotiate if the service member ask them to and they think it would help. But they need to keep in mind they do not have the authority to come in and bully. The elements are:
1. Did the service member violate the contract in some way? If the answer is yes it is a private contract and a civilian legal matter.
2. Are the quarters suitable for renting? Yes, then Housing office has no grounds
3. Is there fair housing laws violations? No, then the housing office have no grounds
4. Is there a military clause in the contract and is it being honored? If the answer is yes then Housing office has no grounds
What you want to make sure of is to ensure you stay on their list of places to look at. If they take you off of the list then there has to be a legal reason for doing so.
So, the bottom-line is treating it the same way as you would your civilian cases as this is a private contract. If you are on the housing referral list, then they will want the military clause to be in the contract.

Hi Nate, Thank you. There is no military cause in our standard contract. However, if deployed or transferred over 50 miles, we have always honored by only requiring a 30 day notice. I do have one military resident who requested that we add the military clause, which we did.

Thank you for your input! It's good to know for future reference.

I'm hoping for a peaceful resolutions where both parties benefit.

No problem Rachel. I might also add that since you are close to the military installation to talk to the local JAG office on post which is the legal and they can assist you with questions as well. Here is a link which may assist you as well: www.rentlaw.com/military/clause.htm

Here is another little tidbit of information to give you that little edge and some of the other properties may be doing this. RENTAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

The Rental Partnership Program helps military members get adequate rental housing at a reduced rate, but it does not mean rental housing is set aside exclusively for them. Representatives from an installation's housing office and local landlords enter into agreements to offer service members special rental benefits above what other tenants receive. This is voluntary for both landlords and tenants.

Typical benefits may include a waiver of security and utility deposits, no credit checks or application fees, a discount on market rental rates and immediate access to housing.

The agreements stipulate that neither the installation housing office nor the military is obligated to pay delinquent rent, cover damage costs or other obligations incurred by military tenants

Great information, Nate. Thank you!