---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 1055"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "1055"
heading: "Waiver of security deposits for members renting private housing; authority to indemnify landlord"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/1055"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 53 — Miscellaneous Rights and Benefits"
---

# §1055. Waiver of security deposits for members renting private housing; authority to indemnify landlord

- (a) The Secretary of Defense may carry out a program under which the Secretary of a military [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) agrees to indemnify a [landlord](#d) who leases a rental unit to a [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) against a breach of the lease by the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) or for damage to the rental unit caused by the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5). In exchange for agreement for such indemnification by the Secretary, the [landlord](#d) shall be required to waive any requirement for payment by the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) of a security deposit that the [landlord](#d) would otherwise require.
- (b)
  - (1) For purposes of carrying out a program authorized by [subsection (a)](#a), the Secretary of a military [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6), to the extent [funds](/usc/10/2871.md?p=6) are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, may enter into an agreement with any [landlord](#d) who agrees to waive the requirement for a security deposit in connection with the lease of a rental unit to a [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. An agreement under this paragraph shall provide that—
    - (A) the term of the agreement shall remain in effect during the term of the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5)’s lease and during any lease renewal periods with the lessor;
    - (B) the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) shall not [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) a security deposit;
    - (C) the Secretary (except as provided in subparagraphs [(D)](#b-1-D) and [(E)](#b-1-E)) shall compensate the [landlord](#d) for breach of the lease by the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) and for damage to the rental unit caused by the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) or by a guest or [dependent](/usc/10/987.md?p=i-2) of the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5);
    - (D) the total liability of the Secretary for a breach of the lease or for damage described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-1-C) may not exceed an amount equal to the amount that the Secretary determines would have been required by the [landlord](#d) as a security deposit in the absence of an agreement authorized in this paragraph;
    - (E) the Secretary may not compensate the [landlord](#d) for any claim for breach of the lease or for damage described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-1-C) until the [landlord](#d) exhausts any remedies available to the [landlord](#d) (including submission to binding arbitration by a panel composed of military personnel and persons from the private sector) against the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) for the breach or damage; and
    - (F) the Secretary shall be subrogated to the rights of the [landlord](#d) in any case in which the Secretary compensates the [landlord](#d) for breach of the lease or for damage described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-1-C).
  - (2) Any authority of the Secretary of a military [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) under this section shall be exercised under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
- (c)
  - (1) The Secretary of a military [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) who compensates a [landlord](#d) under [subsection (b)](#b) for a breach of a lease or for damage described in [subsection (b)(1)(C)](#b-1-C) may issue a special order under [section 1007 of title 37](/usc/37/1007.md) to authorize the withholding from the [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) of the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) of an amount equal to the amount paid by the Secretary to the [landlord](#d) as compensation for the breach or damage.
  - (2) Before the Secretary of a military [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) issues a special order under [section 1007 of title 37](/usc/37/1007.md) to authorize the withholding of any amount from the [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) of a [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) for a breach or damage referred to in [paragraph (1)](#c-1), the [Secretary concerned](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-9) shall provide the [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) with the same notice and opportunity for hearing and record inspection as provided an individual under [section 5514(a)(2) of title 5](/usc/5/5514.md?p=a-2). The [Secretary concerned](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-9) shall prescribe regulations, subject to the approval of the President, to carry out this paragraph. Such regulations shall be as uniform for the [military departments](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-8) as practicable.
- (d) In this section, the term “landlord” means a person who leases a rental unit to a [member](/usc/10/1408.md?p=a-5) of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4).

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VI, § 621(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1982.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VI, § 621(b), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1983, provided that: “Section 1055 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on October 1, 1988.”