So we had a trust that owned a company that rented out storage units. When the owner died, the bank became kind of the operator for the company including sending out billing and delinquent notices. 1 storage unit was rented out to a service member that was deployed overseas but the bank had no record of the individuals occupation, or DOB, or SSN. They just had a storage unit. The individual was 6 months past due, the bank sent several billing notices via certified mail to the address on file, all of which were returned to the bank. The repo'd the unit and sold all contents off at auction. Later the individual came back from deployment and informed the bank that he was deployed and that was why he didn't receive billing notices.

I am reading through the regulation now but would like some opinion, did we violate SCRA?

Remember with storage units we didn't have a DOB or SSN to a DMDC check.

I would advise you to review § 3958. Enforcement of storage liens and then consult your attorney.

Yes, you absolutely did violate the SCRA and should have known better since you are aware of the free databases available.

Look up United States v. Horoy, Inc. d/b/a Across Town Movers (S.D. Cal.). The complaint, which was filed on March 16, 2015, alleged that the operators of a storage facility in San Diego County, California auctioned off the goods of a Master Chief Petty Officer and several other servicemembers without obtaining court orders, as required by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The consent order requires the defendants to pay $169,900 in damages: $150,000 to the Master Chief Petty Officer and a total of at least $19,900 to nine other servicemembers. The order also requires defendants to check the Defense Department's military database and their own files to see if the customer is protected by the SCRA before auctioning off anyone's goods. In cases where the customer is an SCRA-protected servicemember, the defendants are not permitted to conduct an auction without first obtaining a court order. If that order is a default judgment, it must be issued only after defendants file a proper affidavit informing the court of the servicemember's active duty status.

I should add that while I'm not positive the bank is the one with liability here directly as the bank "operated" the facility, the bank will certainly be the entity with the deep pockets to go after.

(I can hear it now, "gold coins I inherited from my beloved grandpa, the baby's car seat we needed when we arrived and all our household furniture which had to be replaced so we had a place to sit and sleep...") The Master Chief Petty Officer in teh case above had old/antique car parts stored.

The bank should immediately assess the risks of operating this business and if it maintains this, create procedures for the SCRA liability as well as any others.