If you’re a landlord looking for new tenants, you might consider renting to military tenants and families. According to the Department of Defense, 63% of service members live in off-base private housing, giving you the chance to expand your renter search to over 11 million active-duty renters alone.

While there are significant benefits to renting to military tenants and families, there are still some drawbacks you’ll need to be aware of before you sign a lease. Here’s everything you need to know when renting to military families and tenants. 

What Are the Pros of Renting to Military Tenants? 

There are a lot of benefits to renting to military tenants and families. Here are the top four reasons why landlords rent to service members. 

1. They Have a Reliable Income

Military members will most likely be paying or supplementing rent payments with their Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), a stipend given to them if they are planning on living off-base. 

This allowance is automatically added to the service member’s paycheck, so it is a constant and reliable stream of income intended to cover housing costs. The amount they receive will depend on the location they’re based in, the member’s rank, and if they have dependents they are supporting. 

If you’re a landlord renting to military tenants, you can easily verify their BAH amount by requesting a Leave and Earning Statement (LES), which is updated for each service member monthly and provides a breakdown of their income (including their housing allowance) and leave status.

2. A Great Option for Rentals in Rural Areas

If your rental is located in a rural area, it can be hard to find reliable and eligible renters to fill your units. Renting to military tenants or renting to military families is a great option in this case because military bases are often located in rural areas across the country.

3. They Are Good Tenants With Connections

Military tenants are often very structured, hardworking, and diligent people because of their training and work ethic – something that can translate into their attitudes as renters. 

Renting to military tenants and their families can also lead to your property being recommended to others stationed in your area once they decide to move to another location.

4. Renting Through the Military Housing Rental Program

When renting to military tenants or military families, you’ll come across the Rental Partnership Program (RPP), which is run in part by the Housing Services Center and connects community landlords and housing options with current service members looking for off-base, affordable housing. Participating in this program doesn’t force you to only rent to service members, but it does give you access to a larger tenant pool in your area.

This program has multiple benefits for eligible landlords, such as: 

• Being able to market your rental on the RPP properties site, viewed by service members looking for housing.
• Knowing that any active duty renter must have permanent orders to remain in the area throughout the decided lease period of the RPP property.
• Having rent paid using allotted military funds for service members seeking off-base housing. 

To become an RPP partner, landlords are required to meet the following eligibility requirements:  

• You have to have a clean record with the HSC.
• Your property meets all inspection requirements as laid out by the HSC.
• You must be willing to offer a 5-15% discount on the advertised rate, or provide a discount in other ways such as waiving move-in fees, application fees, the security deposit, or agreeing to not conduct a credit check. 
• Willing to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that shows you agree to RPP terms and guidelines as a rental partner.
• Know that the RPP doesn’t and can’t guarantee occupancy in the rental, nor will it cover any damages made to the property nor any late or missed rent payments.

What Are the Cons of Renting to Military Tenants?

There are also valid reasons for not renting to military tenants, most importantly being that they might be forced to leave at a moment’s notice for their job. Here are a couple of reasons why renting to military tenants can be challenging.

1. Could Move With Little Notice

At the end of the day, military tenants are bound by the requirements of their jobs, which include having to move with very little notice. Whether they are deployed to another location or have a change in station orders, military renters are legally able to move out early and break their lease without consequence, as stated by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

This can be a big drawback for some landlords, especially since you could be left without a tenant in your property. That being said, the RPP tries to remedy this as much as possible by requiring that a service member be permanently stationed at the location of the rental for at least the duration of the lease, and most service members are stationed in a given location for about two to three years.   

2. Could Fall Behind on Rent 

It’s also not impossible for a military tenant to fall behind on rent, despite having the support of their BAH. When this issue arises, the SCRA provides protections to service members that will keep them from being evicted due to missed payments and allow them to delay rent payments, leaving you without much room for response.