On June 24, 2025, one of America’s largest real estate groups, Greystar Management Services, LLC (Greystar), agreed to pay over $1.4 million to resolve claims that it illegally charged early lease termination fees to active-duty servicemembers protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The DOJ also recently settled a case against JWB for similar allegations, so evidently, DOJ is focusing its efforts to enforce violations of the SRCA.
The DOJ alleged that Greystar relied on third-party leasing software platforms (e.g., RealPage, Yardi, Entrata) that automatically imposed termination charges even for tenants with qualifying military orders. Though Greystar’s staff could reverse auto-charges manually, the process was inconsistent and led to servicemembers being wrongly billed hundreds to thousands of dollars, including retroactive “concession chargebacks.”
Under the settlement agreement, Greystar must pay $1.35 million is slated to compensate affected servicemembers (including triple damages for those tenants who actually paid fees wrongfully imposed), with $77,370 going to the U.S. Treasury as a civil penalty. Greystar must also rework its policies within 30 days and shift to SCRA-compliant software across its entire residential portfolio within six months. Annual, company-wide SCRA training must be implemented, and new lease addenda must explicitly notify servicemembers of their rights under SRCA.
As outlined in our articles here, here, here and here, Florida landlords must comply with both SCRA and F.S. 83.682. When one statute gives greater protection to the tenant, the landlord must comply with that statute. Key points under these statutes include:
- Servicemembers (and their dependents) may terminate a lease early by providing 30 days’ written notice of termination. The tenant must provide a copy of the qualifying military orders or written verification from the Commanding Officer along with the notice.
- Upon receipt of proper notice to terminate, landlord may not charge the tenant any fees or penalties for early termination.
Non-compliance with these statutes exposes landlords to financial remedies, including treble damages and statutory penalties. It is critical that landlord respond and handle a military tenant’s notice of termination properly, including:
- Use a properly worded lease addendum to reflect the tenant’s rights under SCRA and F.S. 83.682.
- Verify military status and orders proactively.
- Refund prorated rent when the tenant is so entitled under either SCRA or F.S. 83.682.
- Properly calculate the amount of rent the tenant is liable to pay after termination notice is delivered under SRCA or F.S. 83.682 (note: Florida gives greater protection for tenants than SRCA).
- Do not charge penalties or early-termination fees.
- Train staff and maintain compliance documentation.
- Do not “charge back” rent concessions (according to the DOJ).
- Ensure that your property management software does not inadvertently charge termination fees or penalties.
Greystar’s case is a real-world example of what happens when software automation, inconsistent manual oversight or human error may violate these legal protections and underscores the importance of respecting the protections granted by the SCRA and Florida law. Landlords must carefully manage early termination by military tenants, making sure they have proper notice, orders, documentation, and lease terms in place to avoid similar enforcement actions.
Even unintentional automation can result in serious liability, so landlords should adopt proactive policies to ensure they honor servicemembers’ rights while remaining fully compliant at both federal and state levels.