50 U.S.C. §3931 — Protection of servicemembers against default judgments
SCRA §3931 governs civil actions and proceedings (including child custody proceedings) in which the defendant does not make an appearance. It imposes plaintiff-facing duties — directly applicable to [LENDER] when [LENDER] is the plaintiff in a judicial foreclosure, a deficiency action, or any other civil collection proceeding: (i) before judgment, [LENDER] must file an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service (subsection (b)); (ii) a knowing false affidavit is a federal criminal offense (subsection (c)); (iii) on appointment of counsel for a servicemember defendant or on motion, the court must grant a 90-day minimum stay of proceedings (subsection (d)); and (iv) any default judgment entered against a servicemember during military service (or within 60 days after release) is subject to reopening on application within 90 days after the servicemember's release (subsection (g)).
Verbatim regulatory text
Verbatim provisions from 50 U.S.C. §3931 — Protection of servicemembers against default judgments — each quote is a verified substring of the regulator-published source snapshot, not retyped. Quoted for reference; this is not legal advice. The operational layer (P&P updates, prompts) lives in the regulation update kits.
50 U.S.C. §3931(b)(1) — Plaintiff affidavit of defendant's military status
In any action or proceeding covered by this section, the court , before entering judgment for the plaintiff, shall require the plaintiff to file with the court an affidavit—
50 U.S.C. §3931(b)(2) — Court appointment of attorney for servicemember defendant
If in an action covered by this section it appears that the defendant is in military service , the court may not enter a judgment until after the court appoints an attorney to represent the defendant.
50 U.S.C. §3931(d) — Minimum 90-day stay of proceedings for servicemember defendant
(d) Stay of proceedings In an action covered by this section in which the defendant is in military service , the court shall grant a stay of proceedings for a minimum period of 90 days under this subsection upon application of counsel, or on the court’ s own motion, if the court determines that—
50 U.S.C. §3931(g)(1) — Reopening default judgments against servicemembers
If a default judgment is entered in an action covered by this section against a servicemember during the servicemember ’s period of military service (or within 60 days after termination of or release from such military service) , the court entering the judgment shall, upon application by or on behalf of the servicemember, reopen the judgment for the purpose of allowing the servicemember to defend the action if it appears that—
50 U.S.C. §3931(d) — Minimum 90-day stay of proceedings for servicemember defendant — enumerated items (chapeau recall fix)
(1) there may be a defense to the action and a defense cannot be presented without the presence of the defendant; or (2) after due diligence, counsel has been unable to contact the defendant or otherwise determine if a meritorious defense exists.