---
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"
date: "2026-07-12"
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](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense may carry out a [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) under which the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of a [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) agrees to indemnify a landlord who leases a rental unit to a member of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) against a breach of the lease by the member or for damage to the rental unit caused by the member. In exchange for agreement for such indemnification by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3), the landlord shall be required to waive any requirement for payment by the member of a security deposit that the landlord would otherwise require.
- (b)
  - (1) For purposes of carrying out a [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) authorized by [subsection (a)](#a), the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of a [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6), to the extent funds are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, may enter into an agreement with any landlord who agrees to waive the requirement for a security deposit in connection with the lease of a rental unit to a member of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) under the jurisdiction of the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3). An agreement under this paragraph shall provide that—
    - (A) the term of the agreement shall remain in effect during the term of the member’s lease and during any lease renewal periods with the lessor;
    - (B) the member shall not [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) a security deposit;
    - (C) the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) (except as provided in subparagraphs [(D)](#b-1-D) and [(E)](#b-1-E)) shall compensate the landlord for breach of the lease by the member and for damage to the rental unit caused by the member or by a guest or [dependent](/usc/10/1072.md?p=2) of the member;
    - (D) the total liability of the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) 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](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) determines would have been required by the landlord as a security deposit in the absence of an agreement authorized in this paragraph;
    - (E) the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) may not compensate the landlord for any claim for breach of the lease or for damage described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-1-C) until the landlord exhausts any remedies available to the landlord (including submission to binding arbitration by a panel composed of [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) personnel and [persons](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) from the private sector) against the member for the breach or damage; and
    - (F) the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) shall be subrogated to the rights of the landlord in any case in which the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) compensates the landlord for breach of the lease or for damage described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-1-C).
  - (2) Any authority of the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of a [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) under this section shall be exercised under regulations prescribed by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense.
- (c)
  - (1) The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of a [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) who compensates a landlord 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 of an amount equal to the amount paid by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) to the landlord as compensation for the breach or damage.
  - (2) Before the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of a [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [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 for a breach or damage referred to in [paragraph (1)](#c-1), the [Secretary concerned](/usc/10/2801.md?p=c-5) shall provide the member with the same notice and opportunity for hearing and [record](/usc/10/801.md?p=14) inspection as provided an individual under [section 5514(a)(2) of title 5](/usc/5/5514.md?p=a-2). The [Secretary concerned](/usc/10/2801.md?p=c-5) 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](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) who leases a rental unit to a member 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.”