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

Summary

Military department heads can agree to protect landlords who rent to service members by paying for unpaid rent or damage caused by the member, but only if the landlord drops any security deposit rule. The program can only be used if Congress provides the money ahead of time in appropriation Acts. Any agreement must cover the lease and renewals, stop the member from paying a deposit, limit the government’s payment to no more than the deposit the landlord would have asked for, and require the landlord to first try to collect from the member (including binding arbitration by a panel of military and private people). If the government pays, it gets the landlord’s rights to pursue the member afterward. The Secretary of Defense must make rules for how the program is run. If a department pays a landlord, it can order a matching amount withheld from the member’s pay under section 1007 of title 37, but only after giving the member the notice and chance for a hearing and to see the record like in section 5514(a)(2) of title 5. "Landlord" here means a person who rents a unit to a service member.