Lease and Furniture

[blur]

Hey guys...I class up for OCS March 1st...I've got two questions:

1.) I'd like to confirm that I can get out of my apartment lease via Servicemember's Civil Relief Act (SCRA). Has anyone gotten out of their lease lately? I have about 5 months left on mine.

2.) I've got a bed, couch, dresser, and desk that I'll need to put somewhere while I'm at OCS. Do people normally take their furniture with them to Pensacola and on to Corpus, etc.? Or do you just find furnished places while going through training?

I did find a little bit of info on this from earlier threads, but they were pretty outdated...

I'm going to ask my recruiter as well, but would like some first hand info...thanks in advance...

 

[Picaroon]

I'm bumping this because I'm curious about this as well. I want to make sure that SCRA is going to cover termination of my apartment lease as I head to Navy OCS, and my searches of this site have been entirely inconclusive. OCS orders are for at least 90 days, correct? So they should be covered?

 

[m26]

Yes. I was pretty sure on my own, but...

http://www.ocs.navy.mil/OCS_RequiredPaperwork.asp

Says you will need your PCS orders to go to OCS.

http://www.military.com/benefits/legal-matters/scra/lease-termination

Says any PCS is covered.


The 90 day thing isn't relevant, because you will be moving away from your current location permanently, and so the landlord can't bind you to the lease. The 90 day limit is for TDYs or temporary deployments, where the servicemember will or can return within that window, and thus can reasonably be expected to continue to uphold the lease.

 

[Picaroon]

Ah gotcha. That seems like a "duh" thing, I should have figured that one out. Thanks. I want to make sure my bases are covered because I'm not sure how my landlord will react.

 

[BACONATOR]

Bring your furniture with you, of course! My recommendation is the DITY move, now called a "personally procured move". It is $$.

 

[m26]

If I'm reading the second link correctly, sounds like you should make sure to get written notice ASAP if you have your orders, so you can break the lease the month you head to OCS. If you tell your landlord as you're packing up, you'll pay for the rest of that month and the next month.

 

[Boomhower]

Bring your furniture with you, of course! My recommendation is the DITY move, now called a "personally procured move". It is $$.

Perhaps my sarcasm meter is not working?

Otto, correct me if I'm wrong, but do people take a trailer or something with them to Newport and then on to Pensacola? Wouldn't it make more sense to do your DITY move after OCS as you are heading to Florida. I remember something about a one-time 'home of record' move after OCS, is that still on the books?

I was a fan of the partial DITY, myself. Haul as much stuff (weight sets, bags of concrete, 50 gallon drums of water...you know...the usual) as you can pack into your truck and get paid for it. Let the Navy move the rest of it for free.

 

[HeyJoe]

Or do you just find furnished places while going through training?

...

Yep, it called the "Q"...couldn't resist!

 

[desertoasis]

Haul as much stuff (weight sets, bags of concrete, 50 gallon drums of water...you know...the usual)...

Serious question from a obviously sarcastic comment;

Do people actually do that?

 

[m26]

Yeah

 

[slug]

If I'm reading the second link correctly, sounds like you should make sure to get written notice ASAP if you have your orders, so you can break the lease the month you head to OCS. If you tell your landlord as you're packing up, you'll pay for the rest of that month and the next month.

Most states require tenants to give landlords 30 days written notice of intent to vacate. For example, if you don't give a written notice until the 15th of the month, the landlord can require you to pay rent through the 15th of the next month, or half of one month's rent.

Yes, SCRA will cover you getting out of your lease early, legally, but you will want to notify your landlord of the date you plan to move out as early as possible, and the get a signed copy of the 30-day notice. Good courtesy may help make the check-out inspection a little easier and get you more of your security deposit back.

 

[Boomhower]

Do people actually do that?

Yeah

The kid in the link might have taken things a bit far. Most people don't have the balls, time or idiocy to try that. It's not worth it. Give up your commision for a few extra bucks on your move?

We've all heard the stories of the guy that bought the bags of concrete at Home Depot, weighed his truck then returned the bags; and the guy that filled 10 drums full of water to weigh, etc. , but I don't know that anyone has actually done it. Usually it's just something along the lines of the difference in weight in a tank of gas and having a buddy or two ride with you to the weigh station.

We're not talking big money here. It just makes people feel like they are sticking to "The Man" or something.

With that said, if you have a weight set and you need it to get to your new destination, you might as well line the bed of your truck with the weights and then throw everything else on top of it. Nothing illegal or immoral about that.

 

[PropAddict]

With that said, if you have a weight set and you need it to get to your new destination, you might as well line the bed of your truck with the weights and then throw everything else on top of it. Nothing illegal or immoral about that.

There is a bunch of stuff that isn't allowed for DITY, though. Concrete, wood, tools(!), cinderblocks, and some other stuff that the gov't would happily pay to ship if you had movers come take it away. However, they won't pay YOU to take it. Makes it kind of interesting when you have milkcrate and cinder block bookshelves and are in the process of building a set of mahogany ones when you get PCS orders. . .

 

[SynixMan]

Your orders to active duty to report to OCS should be sufficient to break any lease you are currently in. Couple that with a nice letter and 30 days notice and you *should* be fine.

As far as the furniture, my suggestion is a storage locker if your dead set on keeping it. Unless you're married, you'll only get TDY to Pensacola, so no full move until your follow on orders to Corpus/Whiting are cut. You'd have to move it on your own dime to Pensacola if you wanted. That's what I did and ate $600 for a uhaul. I wanted my stuff though, and didn't want to wait 8 f'in months for the govt to move it.

From what little I've seen, only a few people do the BOQ/Furnished apartment deal. A lot just purchase their first things here with that fat Ensign check and saved up OCS money. Priority seems to be find apartment, drop seabag off, buy 60" LCD TV, couch, bed, then whatever else they might need (frozen pizza, beer, etc).

 

[MikeNY]

any recommendations on what to do with your furniture if you have an overseas deployment? I report to OCS 28th March and have a lot of good furniture (couch, bedroom set, flat screen, stereo, book shelves, coffee table, etc...) and trying to figure out what my best option are. . . thanks in advance