Renting to Military Tenants in San Antonio: The Military Clause, PCS Notice, and What You Can't Charge

If your rental sits within commuting distance of JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, Fort Sam Houston, or Camp Bullis — which covers most of Bexar County — assume every tenant application from an active-duty servicemember comes with an early-termination right you cannot negotiate away. Two statutes control this: the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act at 50 U.S.C. § 3955, and Texas Property Code § 92.017. Both apply. The tenant gets whichever is more favorable to them.

The practical result: a properly noticed PCS or deployment terminates the lease 30 days after the next rent date. You keep rent through that date, you keep the deposit only against real damages, and you cannot charge a re-letting fee, an early-termination fee, or liquidated damages tied to the remaining term. Landlords who try get sued and lose.

The two statutes and how they stack

SCRA § 3955 is federal. It lets an active-duty tenant terminate a residential lease if they:

• receive PCS orders to a new duty station, or
• receive orders to deploy with a military unit for 90 days or more, or
• entered the lease before entering active duty and are now called up.

Texas Property Code § 92.017 is broader in a couple of useful ways. It also covers a servicemember who is released or separated from active duty, and it lets a co-tenant dependent terminate in certain cases (including the death of the servicemember during active duty). The Texas statute also expressly bars the landlord from charging a liquidated-damages penalty for a valid military termination.

When the facts fit both, the tenant picks. Your lease language cannot shrink either right. A lease clause that says 'tenant waives military termination rights' is void.

What a valid notice actually looks like

Under SCRA, the tenant must deliver written notice plus a copy of the orders (or a letter from their commanding officer). Delivery can be hand, mail, private courier, or electronic. Texas § 92.017 tracks the same idea.

When you receive it, check three things:

• Is it in writing? A text saying 'I got orders' is not enough. Ask for the written notice and orders.
• Do the orders qualify? PCS to a new station, deployment 90+ days, or separation. A TDY of 45 days does not qualify. A permanent change of station from Lackland to Ramstein does.
• What is the date on the orders? That controls the earliest possible termination date.

Do not demand to see the full order packet — a lot of it is not your business, and portions may be marked FOUO. A redacted copy showing the servicemember's name, the type of order, the reporting date, and the issuing command is standard and sufficient.

When the lease actually ends

This is where landlords miscount and either overcharge or under-collect.

The termination is effective 30 days after the next rent payment is due following the date the notice is delivered. Example: tenant pays rent on the 1st. They deliver a valid PCS notice on October 10. The next rent date after notice is November 1. Thirty days after November 1 is December 1. The lease ends December 1. You are owed:

• full October rent (already paid),
• full November rent,
• nothing for December.

If they deliver notice on September 28, the next rent date is October 1, and termination is November 1. Rent is owed through October 31.

Rent for the final partial month is prorated only if the termination date falls mid-month, which under this formula it usually will not.

What you can charge, and what you cannot

You can charge:

• rent through the termination date,
• actual damages beyond ordinary wear and tear, deducted from the deposit under Texas Property Code § 92.104,
• unpaid utilities you are contractually entitled to recover,
• specific concessions the lease says are recaptured on early termination — but only if not tied to the military termination itself. A lease clause that recaptures a 'one month free' concession on any early termination is generally enforceable; a clause that recaptures it only when the tenant PCSs is not.

You cannot charge:

• an early-termination fee,
• a re-letting fee,
• liquidated damages for the remaining term,
• the difference between the tenant's rent and a lower rent you get from the next tenant,
• 'lost rent' for the months after termination.

Section 92.017 is explicit that liquidated-damages penalties for a valid military termination are prohibited. Attempting to withhold the security deposit against those amounts is the fastest way to end up in JP court facing the § 92.109 penalty — $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney's fees.

The security deposit still works normally

A military termination does not change your deposit obligations under § 92.103–104. You still have 30 days from the date the tenant surrenders possession and provides a forwarding address to return the deposit or send an itemized list of deductions. Deductions must be actual damages beyond normal wear. Nail holes, minor carpet wear, and faded paint after two years are not damages. A cracked cooktop, pet stains through the pad, or a hole in the drywall are.

Document condition with dated photos on move-in and move-out, and keep the signed inventory. In a deposit dispute with a servicemember, JP judges in Bexar County — across all four precincts — are not sympathetic to landlords who cannot produce a move-in condition report.

Evicting a servicemember tenant is different

If a servicemember stops paying rent, you still follow the normal Texas process: 3-day notice to vacate under § 24.005, petition in the JP precinct where the property sits, hearing in 10–21 days. But SCRA § 3951 adds a layer. The court cannot enter a default judgment against an active-duty servicemember without an affidavit stating military status (checked through the DoD's SCRA database — free lookup), and the court may stay the eviction for at least 90 days if military service materially affects the tenant's ability to defend or pay.

Practically: a servicemember who is deployed and behind on rent can pause the eviction. Plan for it. If you file, run the SCRA database check first and attach the result to your petition — most Bexar JP courts expect it.

Pricing and lease structure near JBSA

A few things worth building into how you rent to this audience from day one:

• Match lease length to a realistic tour. A 24-month lease near Randolph for a T-38 IP who is on a 2-year assignment looks nice on paper and gets broken constantly. A 12-month with a renewal option is more honest.
• Do not price above BAH for the rank you are marketing to. BAH by ZIP, rank, and dependent status is published annually by DoD; use the current calculator, not last year's numbers. For 78218, 78148, 78233, 78247, 78239 (Randolph feeders), and 78227, 78245, 78251 (Lackland feeders), a rent that clears BAH with dependents for an E-6 or O-3 will lease quickly.
• Accept the military clause in writing. Some landlords quietly hope the tenant does not know their rights. The ones who put a clean SCRA/§ 92.017 clause in the lease get better tenants and fewer disputes.
• Screen the same way. SCRA rights do not change your screening criteria. Income, rental history, and background checks apply. A Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) is the military equivalent of pay stubs and is easy to verify.

What most landlords get wrong

• Treating any military-related move as a valid termination. A TDY, a school assignment under 90 days, or a voluntary move off base is not covered. Ask for the orders.
• Counting 30 days from the notice date instead of the next rent date. This causes you to release the tenant a full month early and lose rent you were owed.
• Charging a re-letting fee anyway. The lease says you can. The statute says you cannot. The statute wins.
• Withholding the deposit against 'lost rent' for months after termination. That is exactly the fact pattern § 92.109 was written for. Treble damages and attorney's fees follow.
• Skipping the SCRA database check before filing eviction. A default judgment against an active-duty tenant without the affidavit can be reopened, and the servicemember can recover fees.
• Refusing to rent to servicemembers because 'they PCS.' Source of income is not a protected class under federal fair housing, but a blanket 'no military' policy is a bad business decision in a city where a fifth of your applicant pool wears a uniform, and it is a quick way to end up on the wrong side of a state-level complaint.

Where to go next

If you own a home near JBSA and are deciding whether to rent it out, list it free at /list-your-home and get it in front of the PCS-cycle demand that hits San Antonio every spring and summer. For deeper reading on lease terms, deposits, and screening, browse the landlord guides at /resources, or find a leasing agent who specializes in military tenants at /agents. For anything with real legal exposure — deposit disputes, an eviction against a deployed tenant, a lease clause you are not sure enforces — talk to a Texas real estate attorney before you send the letter.