Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Representative Derek Kilmer (D-Washington) have introduced a Bill to protect federal workers from evictions and creditors during the shutdown. Given our President’s previous history, it is doubtful that he would support it.
Called The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, this new bill to protect our federal workers is based on The Servicemembers Relief Act of 1940, which protected military members from being sued while in active service for their country and for up to a year after active duty. During the draft, legislation also protected servicemen who were called up or transferred by allowing them to break their lease without penalty, to and to recover their deposits.
Current law also provides similar protections:
A law that provides many of these protections is called the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This law was made to help protect members of the military and their family who may have trouble with financial and legal issues because of military service.
This law allows a service member that has to move due to military orders to terminate a lease early without penalty. This includes activated reservist, new service members, current active duty deploying or PCS orders.
Can the landlord demand money or another penalty?
- The landlord cannot demand any type of penalty for ending your lease early;
- The landlord must refund the security deposit (minus any damages) within 30 days of the date the lease was terminated; and
- The landlord must refund any unused portion of any rent that was prepaid to the service member.
According to The Huffington Post, the new bill would
prohibit landlords and creditors from taking action against federal workers or contractors who are hurt by the shutdown and cannot pay rent or repay loans. It would also allow federal workers to sue creditors or landlords that violate those protections, which would remain in effect during and for 30 days after a shutdown.
The new proposal “prevents eviction, foreclosure, repossession, and loss of insurance. It basically allows any federal worker or contractor who is behind on monthly expenses to have relief until the government is reopened,” Schatz told HuffPost on Wednesday.
Our President, however, has a long history of abusing these laws and the people that they are designed to protect.
In the early 1950s Trump’s father, Fred, made his money through a corrupt FHA funded housing project for veterans, Beach Haven. By 1973, The New York Times described him as,
Then 27 years old, Mr. Trump was the president of the Trump Management Corporation, at 600 Avenue Z in Brooklyn, which owned more than 14,000 apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“Major Landlord Accused of Antiblack Bias in City,” the headline stated. The Department of Justice had brought suit in federal court in Brooklyn against Mr. Trump and his father, Fred C. Trump, charging them with violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968 in the operation of 39 buildings.
In 1973, my family had a personal encounter with the young landlord. My uncle, an endocrinologist, had been drafted and had delayed his enlistment while finishing his medical training. When he was called up, he attempted to use the law to settle his affairs before deploying. Surprise, surprise, the Trump Organization , refused to honor the law, filing suit and placing liens on my Aunt and Uncle. In the midst of preparing to leave New York for his post, my Uncle had to go to court to get back his deposit and security and have liens for future rent vacated. In a pattern that he has repeated over and over, Trump relied on his extensive legal team to sue and harass servicemen into giving up and foregoing the protections afforded them under the law.
In the 1970s Trump had no respect for laws protecting our servicemen, let alone other Federal workers. So do we honestly think he would support protecting our Federal employees now?
