S. 4910: Servicemember Residence Protection Act of 2026

This bill would change the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to give military members added protection for real estate they own while they are away on service.

What the bill does

• It says that the time a servicemember spends on military service cannot be counted toward a state-law adverse possession claim against that servicemember’s property.
• In plain terms, this means someone generally could not use a servicemember’s absence during military duty to try to gain legal ownership of that servicemember’s real property through “squatter’s rights” or a similar adverse possession rule.
• This would apply to real property owned by members of the uniformed services.

Information resources

• Within 45 days after enactment, the Department of Veterans Affairs would have to work with the Attorney General to update VA and related websites.
• Those websites would need to include information about:
  • how servicemembers can protect real property while away on military service,
  • leasing real property,
  • landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities, and
  • other information the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Attorney General consider relevant.

Relevant Companies

None found