Can a service member who is discharged from the military, not just transferred, break a residential lease early under Maryland law?

Plain-English summary

A member of the House of Delegates, who had sponsored Maryland's 1985 law letting military personnel on active duty break a residential lease early when they receive orders to a new post, asked the Attorney General whether that same law also covered a serviceman or servicewoman who instead was released from the military altogether and sent to their home of permanent record. The delegate's own testimony on the original bill had focused on the problem of enlisted personnel near Fort Meade being forced to break leases when transferred, so the question was whether the statute's language reached this different, related situation.

The Attorney General concluded that it did. The statute used the defined military terms "permanent change of station orders" and "temporary duty orders," and federal regulations gave "permanent change of station" a specific, well established meaning that already included a service member's move from their last duty station home upon discharge, resignation, honorable separation, release from extended active duty, transfer to certain reserve components, retirement, or temporary disability retirement, not just a transfer to a new base. Because the Maryland statute borrowed this federal terminology, the opinion read it as importing that broader federal meaning, so any of these separations from service triggered the same right to end a lease early on the terms set out in the statute.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1992. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here, including whether RP §8-212.1 remains in its 1992 form and whether other federal or state servicemember lease-termination protections now provide additional or different rights.

Common questions

Did Maryland's 1985 military lease-termination law only apply to service members transferred to a new base, or also to those discharged from the military?
It applied to both. The opinion concluded that RP §8-212.1's use of the term "permanent change of station orders" reached a service member's move home upon discharge, resignation, honorable separation, release from extended active duty, retirement, or temporary disability retirement, not only a transfer to a different duty station.

What could a landlord charge a military tenant who ended a lease early under this law?
Under the statute as quoted in the opinion, liability for rent could not exceed 30 days' rent after written notice and proof of the qualifying orders were given to the landlord, plus the cost of repairing any damage to the property caused by the tenant's act or omission.

Why did the opinion look to federal regulations to interpret a Maryland statute?
Because the Maryland law used the specific military terms "permanent change of station orders" and "temporary duty orders" without independently defining them, and those terms already had well settled meanings under Department of Defense travel and transportation regulations. The opinion applied the principle that when a statute borrows specialized language from another source, it is presumed to borrow that source's established meaning as well.

Background and statutory framework

RP §8-212.1, enacted as Chapter 449 of the Laws of Maryland 1985, provided that if a person on active duty with the United States military entered a residential lease and then received permanent change of station orders or temporary duty orders for more than three months, the person's liability for rent could not exceed 30 days' rent after written notice and proof of the assignment, plus the cost of repairing any tenant-caused damage. The bill's legislative history, including the sponsoring delegate's own testimony to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, showed it was drafted to address enlisted military personnel near Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County who were being forced to break leases when transferred to a new post, with the Maryland Association of Realtors supporting a standardized approach.

The opinion's analysis turned on the statute's use of the specific defined military term "permanent change of station," which the Department of Defense Per Diem, Travel, Transportation and Allowance Committee's Joint Federal Travel Regulations defined to include not only a transfer to a different permanent duty station but also a change from the last permanent duty station to home upon discharge, resignation, or honorable separation from service; release from active duty or active duty for training of 20 weeks or more; transfer to the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; retirement; or temporary disability retirement. The opinion was advised by the Pentagon's Compensation Office that this regulatory definition was substantively the same in 1985, when the Maryland statute was enacted. Applying the rule that a statute adopting specialized language from another source is presumed to adopt that source's established construction, the opinion concluded the Maryland legislature intended "permanent change of station orders" to carry its full federal meaning, reaching discharged and separated personnel just as it reached those transferred to a new post.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• RP §8-212.1 (Real Property Article), the military lease-termination provision, enacted as Chapter 449 of the Laws of Maryland 1985

Cases:

• Unsatisfied Claim & Judgment Fund v. Hamilton, 256 Md. 56, 259 A.2d 303 (1969), cited for the principle that a statute adopting language from another source adopts that source's established construction

Source

• Landing page: https://oag.maryland.gov/resources-info/Pages/attorney-general%E2%80%99s-opinions.aspx
• Original PDF: https://oag.maryland.gov/resources-info/Documents/pdfs/Opinions/1992/Volume77_1992.pdf (this opinion appears at printed page 170 of the bound annual volume; Maryland's site does not publish a standalone PDF of this opinion)

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

PROPERTY

Military Service - Termination of Residential Leases

                       September 15, 1992

The Honorable John C. Astle
House of Delegates

  You have requested our opinion concerning §8-212.1 of the Real

Property ("RP") Article, the law that gives military personnel the right to
terminate a residential lease upon the receipt of permanent change of
station orders. Specifically, you ask if this law is applicable to military
personnel who are released from service and sent to their home of
permanent record.

   For the reasons stated below, we conclude that RP §8-212.1 gives

military personnel who are released from service and sent to their home of
permanent record the right to terminate their residential leases.

                                 I

                    Lease Termination Law

  Enacted as Chapter 449 of the Laws of Maryland 1985, RP §8-212.1

provides as follows:

          Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, if
      a person who is on active duty with the United States
      military enters into a residential lease of property and
      subsequently receives permanent change of station
      orders or temporary duty orders for a period in excess
      of 3 months, any liability of the person for rent under
      the lease may not exceed: (1) 30 days' rent after
      written notice and proof of the assignment is given to
      the landlord; and (2) the cost of repairing damage to
      the premises caused by an act or omission of the
      tenant.

  The legislative history of this provision, which has not been amended

subsequently, suggests that its main objective was to ameliorate the
problem that arises when military personnel enter leases for a term of one
or more years but then receive orders to report to another post. Thus,
your own testimony before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on
the 1985 bill, House Bill 1478, was summarized as follows:

            Delegate Astle testified that the bill was drafted in
        response to a problem in areas adjacent to Ft. Meade
        in Anne Arundel County. The enlisted military
        personnel are frequently forced to break a lease as a
        result of being transferred. Since there are no standard
        policies regarding leases that are broken due to a
        change of duty station orders this bill standardizes
        leases between landlords and military personnel. The
        Maryland Association of Realtors supports H.B. 1478.

Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Report on House Bill 1478. Your
question now is whether this enactment also applies to military personnel
who are released from service and sent to their home of permanent record.

   Although the focus may have been on personnel who receive orders

to report to another post, the law employs the military terms "permanent
change of station orders" and "temporary duty orders," which have well-
settled meanings. The term "permanent change of station" is defined by
federal regulations to include not only transfer to a different permanent
duty station but also:

        [C]hange from the last [permanent duty station] to
        home upon:

        1. discharge, resignation, or separation from the
           Service under honorable conditions;

        2. release from active duty to which called for 20
           weeks or more or from active duty for training to
           which called for 20 weeks or more;

        3. transfer to the Fleet Reserve or to the Fleet Marine
           Corps Reserve;

        4. retirement;

        5. temporary disability retirement.

Department of Defense Per Diem, Travel, Transportation and Allowance
Committee, Joint Federal Travel Regulations, Uniformed Service
Members Appendix A. We are advised by the Compensation Office of the
Pentagon that the regulation was substantively the same in 1985.

    The use in RP §8-212.1 of terms defined in these federal regulations

suggests an intent that the terms have the same meaning in RP §8-212.1.
See, e.g., Unsatisfied Claim & Judgment Fund v. Hamilton, 256 Md. 56,
59, 259 A.2d 303 (1969). See generally 2A Sutherland Statutory
Construction §47.30, at 262 (1992) ("When the language of the statute is
adopted from another state or country, the construction utilized on such
legal language is adopted"). Thus, the statutory term "permanent change
of station orders" should be construed to extend to orders effecting a
discharge, resignation, or separation from military service under honorable
conditions.

                                 II

                           Conclusion

  In summary, it is our opinion that when military personnel receive

change of station orders upon release from service, they have the same
right to terminate a residential lease as personnel who are ordered to
another post.

                                         J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
                                         Attorney General

                                         Richard E. Israel
                                         Assistant Attorney General

Jack Schwartz
Chief Counsel
Opinions & Advice