Co-Signer now dealing with the Soldiers and Sailors Act

[InTheEmbers]

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I have found myself in a situation with a now ex-girlfriend. She had her eyes on this apartment in the town where we lived, in Goffstown, New Hampshire, and after working out our budget, I determined that we could afford it together. We signed the papers together, and exactly five days afterward she said that she had decided to join the Army.

She went through all of the processing with them, and then on the evening of Christmas Day, she mentions that she had talked to our landlord and told him that she was leaving for the Army. What she didn't say until after she went back to our hometown (700 miles away from here in Flint, Michigan) was that she was using the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940 to break her half of the lease. Financially speaking, she has left me to drown, saying that she doesn't live there anymore, so she's not paying.

Now I'm certainly no lawyer, but upon reading and re-reading it, it would seem that Section 300 of the Act was designed to aid in family men and women in the service, who obviously couldn't have their family living in the barracks and couldn't afford to pay for two homes. This is a single girl who now believes that she has gotten off scot free, and with it potentially being a battle with the military lawyers, I'm terribly afraid she may be right.

The circumstances with which she signed the papers seem fraudulent at best, but I have absolutely no idea how to approach this. Who signs a lease and then plans to leave five days later? There are sordid details that I'm not airing here, but tend to make me think that I was used, giving her a temporary flophouse that she knew she could get out of any time she wanted by joining the Army.

Any ideas?

 

[Cvillecpm]

You don't say if you are in the apt or not...if you are, find a roommate ASAP - preferably MALE. If you are NOT in the apt, then make sure the landlord is doing everything possible to re-rent it ASAP and "mitigate your damages" under the terms of the lease.

Consider suing your exGF in Small Claims court for her half of the rent that you are out until you find a roommate OR the landlord re-rents is. Let her explain what happened to the judge.

 

[InTheEmbers]

You don't say if you are in the apt or not...if you are, find a roommate ASAP - preferably MALE. If you are NOT in the apt, then make sure the landlord is doing everything possible to re-rent it ASAP and "mitigate your damages" under the terms of the lease.

Consider suing your exGF in Small Claims court for her half of the rent that you are out until you find a roommate OR the landlord re-rents is. Let her explain what happened to the judge.

I am still in the apartment, and as it's a one-bedroom place, getting a roommate becomes a much more difficult proposition. The main question I was trying to ask was, with them using the Soldiers and Sailors Act to break their half of the lease, if taking them to Small Claims was even feasible.

 

[Cvillecpm]

Breaking the lease is allowed in the SSCRA; however, if you can get service on her, you should be able to get a judgement. Check with local court if they can serve an active service person.

SSCRA does not negate most contracts - just some.