The Justice Department announced today that Morningstar Storage, which manages and operates a network of self-storage facilities in the southeastern United States, has agreed to pay $130,000 to resolve allegations of violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The company allegedly failed to obtain court orders before auctioning the contents of at least three storage units owned by active-duty servicemembers.
According to the complaint, an Air Force Staff Sergeant stationed at MacDill Air Force Base rented a unit at a Tampa, Florida facility. On the storage agreement, she indicated her active military service status, provided contact information for her military unit, and authorized automatic rent payments. Shortly thereafter, before being deployed overseas to Jordan, she stored nearly all her household goods at the Tampa facility. This included her military awards and coins and her children’s toys and keepsakes. While she was still deployed, Morningstar acquired the Tampa facility, stopped her automatic payments, and auctioned all the contents of her unit for $390.
“We all know that servicemembers endure many hardships and make great sacrifices as a result of their service to the nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our servicemembers should never have to worry that their property... will be sold out from under them while they are on duty.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is deeply committed to protecting the civil rights of our Nation’s servicemembers,” said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “The brave individuals who selflessly sacrifice to serve our country deserve... knowing that what they leave behind during their service will be treated with utmost care.”
The SCRA provides financial and housing protections and benefits to military members while they are in service. One such protection requires anyone holding a lien on a servicemember's property to obtain a court order prior to auctioning or disposing of it. Under the consent order awaiting approval by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Morningstar will pay $80,000 in damages to the Air Force Staff Sergeant and $5,000 each to two additional servicemembers. Additionally, Morningstar will pay a $40,000 civil penalty to the United States and implement new policies preventing future SCRA violations.
This lawsuit stemmed from a referral by the U.S. Air Force. The Justice Department's enforcement of SCRA is conducted by its Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in partnership with U.S Attorneys’ Offices nationwide. Since 2011, over $481 million in monetary relief has been obtained for more than 147,000 servicemembers through SCRA enforcement efforts.
Servicemembers believing their SCRA rights may have been violated should contact their nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.