
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC1055]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
                           PART II--PERSONNEL
 
              CHAPTER 53--MISCELLANEOUS RIGHTS AND BENEFITS
 
Sec. 1055. Waiver of security deposits for members renting 
        private housing; authority to indemnify landlord
        
    (a) The Secretary of Defense may carry out a program under which the 
Secretary of a military department agrees to indemnify a landlord who 
leases a rental unit to a member of the armed forces against a breach of 
the lease by the member or for damage to the rental unit caused by the 
member. In exchange for agreement for such indemnification by the 
Secretary, the landlord shall be required to waive any requirement for 
payment by the member of a security deposit that the landlord would 
otherwise require.
    (b)(1) For purposes of carrying out a program authorized by 
subsection (a), the Secretary of a military department, to the extent 
funds are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, may enter into an 
agreement with any landlord who agrees to waive the requirement for a 
security deposit in connection with the lease of a rental unit to a 
member of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. An 
agreement under this paragraph shall provide that--
        (A) the term of the agreement shall remain in effect during the 
    term of the member's lease and during any lease renewal periods with 
    the lessor;
        (B) the member shall not pay a security deposit;
        (C) the Secretary (except as provided in subparagraphs (D) and 
    (E)) shall compensate the landlord for breach of the lease by the 
    member and for damage to the rental unit caused by the member or by 
    a guest or dependent of the member;
        (D) the total liability of the Secretary for a breach of the 
    lease or for damage described in subparagraph (C) may not exceed an 
    amount equal to the amount that the Secretary determines would have 
    been required by the landlord as a security deposit in the absence 
    of an agreement authorized in this paragraph;
        (E) the Secretary may not compensate the landlord for any claim 
    for breach of the lease or for damage described in subparagraph (C) 
    until the landlord exhausts any remedies available to the landlord 
    (including submission to binding arbitration by a panel composed of 
    military personnel and persons from the private sector) against the 
    member for the breach or damage; and
        (F) the Secretary shall be subrogated to the rights of the 
    landlord in any case in which the Secretary compensates the landlord 
    for breach of the lease or for damage described in subparagraph (C).

    (2) Any authority of the Secretary of a military department under 
this section shall be exercised under regulations prescribed by the 
Secretary of Defense.
    (c)(1) The Secretary of a military department who compensates a 
landlord under subsection (b) for a breach of a lease or for damage 
described in subsection (b)(1)(C) may issue a special order under 
section 1007 of title 37 to authorize the withholding from the pay of 
the member of an amount equal to the amount paid by the Secretary to the 
landlord as compensation for the breach or damage.
    (2) Before the Secretary of a military department issues a special 
order under section 1007 of title 37 to authorize the withholding of any 
amount from the pay of a member for a breach or damage referred to in 
paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall provide the member with the 
same notice and opportunity for hearing and record inspection as 
provided an individual under section 5514(a)(2) of title 5. The 
Secretary concerned shall prescribe regulations, subject to the approval 
of the President, to carry out this paragraph. Such regulations shall be 
as uniform for the military departments as practicable.
    (d) In this section, the term ``landlord'' means a person who leases 
a rental unit to a member of the armed forces.

(Added Pub. L. 100-456, div. A, title VI, Sec. 621(a)(1), Sept. 29, 
1988, 102 Stat. 1982.)


                             Effective Date

    Section 621(b) of Pub. L. 100-456 provided that: ``Section 1055 of 
title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 
effect on October 1, 1988.''
