Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
Hey BP,
I know literally everyone is having rental collection issues or at least has heard of someone having issues. I'm curious if anyone has came across this issue: a US Military tenant, on orders serving a local military base, who receives a government stipend, Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), but still does not pay rent. This stipend is +$200 after paying rent. Covid or No Covid (this issue began way before covid), what happens when someone receives such stipend from the US government but does not use it for that purpose? Does the military track rental status, on-time V delinquency, of its members there on orders? Does it have any requirements of living status of its members?
Real Estate Investor · Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
I'm a 23-years veteran (National Guard, not full time). My understanding is BAH is paid under the assumption that it covers market rate housing expenses that would normally be provided if the service person lived on base in military owned housing, but it is not required to be spent for that. The assumption is there is a housing expense to begin with. If a service person owns his/her own house free and clear, they still receive the full stipend even if they have no mortgage or rent. Thus, the money can be used for "whatever." If the law says you can't evict right now, you can't. Period. Maybe there is an exception for military, but I haven't heard of any exceptions at all for any kind of income.
I am not aware of any tracking of housing standards. Some military personnel do very well renting cheap housing and/or living with roommates when they are younger and banking the excess BAH funds. Even as a part-timer, I would receive BAH when called up for active duty, and I wasn't on a post at the time. One story I heard was a guy who said he and some buddies rented a 4 bed room house and each put in 25% of their BAH income toward the rent & shared utilities then banked the other 75%.
Rental Property Investor · Springfield, MO · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 890 votes
6y
@Angelo Aguirre I'm currently a Marine so my choice of language is generally pretty blunt. Please feel free to let them know I said "F#$K You for making the rest of us look bad you".
Alternatively, the best advice has already been stated, call their command and they will handle it. The service member won't have a choice, and doesn't have a choice to miss rent. That can ruin their career by having their security clearance voided, and a command will always step in to fix the issue for you.
Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
6y
@David Pere, I completely appreciate the bluntness! I am a former Marine .. reservist (I know, lol) so I kind of know how BAH works but never really collected it myself. I definitely don't like or want at all to call out our fellow brothers, which is why it sucks even more! They are a great family but maybe just not that great with fiances. Either way I'm super thankful for the response and I am glad there is something I can do when they are unresponsive. Much appreciated!
Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
6y
@Erik W., that makes sense the stipend is granted no matter if they own out-right, or if rent is cheaper they can pocked the difference. In fact, I am happy that military members are able to pocked the difference. I think it's smart in your example of rooming with buddies and splitting the rent and keeping the majority of the BAH. It makes sense, if you can swing that. In my scenario, it's a bummer because it's a member with his wife and kids. Again, I am happy he can +$200/mo over my rent, win-win for both. Thanks for the response!
Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
6y
@John Underwood, thanks a ton! I really hope I can work with him, but knowing this is a huge weight off of the shoulders. I appreciate the help, and thank you for your service!
Rental Property Investor · Springfield, MO · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 890 votes
6y
@Erik W. you can absolutely spend the BAH on whatever you want, but you cannot spend it on whatever you want if it means you aren't paying rent. The command will step in and make sure you pay rent, even if it requires docking pay (in bad situatons). For example:
My currenty BAH in Oceanside, CA is around $3100/month.
My rent is $3000, and after utilities and all expenses I'm around $3500/month.
BUT I rent two rooms out for $2000-$2500/month, and I get to keep all of the extra BAH I save every month!
@Angelo Aguirre Then give them a friendly "Look brother, I don't want to bring this up to your command, so I'll give you a week to catch up, after that I need to do what is necessary to protect myself in these difficult times".
Then if he blows up on you, or doesn't pay...#f*ckem hahaha
Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
6y
@David Pere Semper Fi brother! Exactly, and after your advice this morning, I did get a hold of him though FB and he promised to keep up from now on. I did mention his Command and how they would look at this, in a non-threatening way, which is when the entire tone changed, thanks again!
I'll come at this from a different point of view and say that act of contacting the command won't solve your short term problem of them not paying. Treat them as you would treat any other tenant who didn't pay and start the evictions proceedings as outlined by your state's law.
You can let the command know, but they can't make the Marine pay only DFAS can check pay. If you get a judgement against them and if the command really dislikes him they can NJP him for Article 134, but that is a lot of work. I mean a lot. They'd have to really want him out.
So as a first step, mentioning calling the command is a good idea to get him off center, but if he doesn't care he has called your bluff and I'd go the normal route.
Madison, WI · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 12 votes
6y
@Bill F., thank you for that perspective. That's a good point about sticking to the state laws, even though long, it does seem like the ultimate route that would need to be taken. I agree, it's hard to change behavior, and a command call would only be a verbal/short term fix but doesn't mean it would solve the problem. The eviction process would still have to happen. Thanks for the response!
I am having the same issue. How do you contact command? I'm sure if I just ask her she will not tell me. Also, what days are the allowance paid? She says she has been furloughed, found out on the 14th (rent is due the 15th) and can't pay. Something sounds not quite right. She is chronically late and I think that she has been pocketing the money
This thread is a year old now, but I just read in a different forum that now it's against the law to contact military personnel's COs in regards to unpaid debts, with the logic being that we can't contact regular civilian's employment about that so why not extend that privilege to our military too.
I haven't looked for proof of this new rule being true yet.
My current issue is that a Marine tenant of ours was deployed to Kuwait and didn't have a forwarding address to give us. He also didn't pay his last month's prorated rent. His deposit was only $600 and won't cover the unpaid rent. We're also charging him $170 in cleaning fees plus his dogs damaged the floors so much that we had to get new floors.
We're right next to the Marine base. My dad was a Marine; I have no qualms contacting them...unless it's illegal now.
I contacted the unit for my tenant this year, and they were extremely helpful. The CO said they cannot withhold his BAH payments but they can "strongly encourage" to the service member to get caught up on their rent. The CO recommended that I, 1) Document all damages (missing rent in you case) and 2) Sue the service member in small claims court. This CO was an investor too, and had to do this to his tenant.
Overall, there was nothing 'legally' the military could do but there is still the civilian side of law where they can be held accountable.