Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-280.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Oct 28, 2013
SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to:
extend the period during which a contract for the purchase of real or personal property or the lease or bailment of such property entered into by a member of the uniformed services (servicemember) may not be rescinded or terminated for a breach to one year after such member's period of military service;
change the period during which an action to enforce a mortgage, trust deed, or other security against a servicemember is covered by a stay of proceedings or adjustment of obligation to the period in which such action is pending (instead of the period in which such action is filed);
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prohibit the accrual of a mortgage prepayment penalty incurred by a servicemember during military service;
delay the expiration of a license issued by a state or local licensing authority to a servicemember, or a continuing education requirement to maintain such a license, to 180 days after such servicemember is no longer eligible for hostile fire or imminent danger special pay;
expand protections against collection of taxes owned by a servicemember with respect to personal property or real property occupied for dwelling, professional, trade, business, or agricultural purposes;
prohibit the denial of credit to a servicemember solely by reason of entitlement to protections under SCRA;
expand due diligence requirements for determining whether an individual is a servicemember prior to taking a default judgment against such individual;
extend the protections of SCRA to servicemembers who are personally liable as a guarantor or co-maker of a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage;
permit the use of arbitration to settle a dispute under SCRA;
authorize the Attorney General to issue a civil investigate demand for documents relating to an investigation under SCRA prior to initiating a civil action for violations of such Act; and
double the amount of civil penalties for a first violation of SCRA and for subsequent violations.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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