FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Credit Card Processing
The SCRACVS has no control over this function. Your credit card information is transmitted directly to the bank that issued it, precisely as you entered it (and we cannot see that information nor access it). Your bank approves or declines your credit card. If you contact your bank, it will have a record of the charge attempt and your bank will inform you why it declined the charge. Some banks are pickier than others. Some banks require the precise address for the holder to be entered.
Each time you access the search site, you may enter in as many subjects’ names as you wish. When you check out, you pay for all searches. The SCRACVS uses Paypal, which has a high encryption and security platform, is easy to use and is familiar to most users.
No-risk refund policy: If, with the information the user supplies, the SCRACVS is unable to provide verification, the user can either purchase an affidavit of due diligence, or obtain a full refund.
Nearly 99percent of the time, the DOD responds to our inquiries with: “We have no information about that person.” This is a POSITIVE response that the person is not in the military and can be used in a court of law.
You will always receive your results by email. In addition, when you check out, you will have the option of requesting a military status affidavit for you, and whether you would like it mailed or sent overnight.
To make future checkouts quicker, you can indicate your default preference for military affidavits in the My Account/Affidavit Preferences area of the site.
There are no membership or recurring fees; the cost is per-name search.
Regular Fee: A regular name search is $40, and you are notified by email of the result.
Optional: We can prepare a affidavit for $30. If you want it the day after processing, there is also a Fedex or other delivery fee which can vary.
No-risk refund policy: If, with the information the user supplies, the SCRACVS is unable to provide verification, the user can either purchase an affidavit of due diligence, or obtain a full refund.
Nearly 99% of the time, the DOD responds to our inquiries with the following response: “We have no information about that person.” That is a POSITIVE response. The person is not in the DOD records as in active military and the response can be used in a court of law.
Protections, Provisions, Definitions under the SCRA
Spelling and accuracy of names is crucial. The DMDC cautions that, “Servicemembers may have had their last names changed, and the change may not yet be updated in their record.”
Valid, dispositive, and reliable SCRA verifications can be done by the Department of Defense only when a social security number is provided (see below for references to searches where only the date of birth is known, which is not as a reliable method).
Usually, we at SCRACVS can find the social security number by accessing secure databases to which we have access; But, there are situations when even we cannot find a Social Security number.
This could be because the subject is very young or very old, pseudonyms are used, or the subject does not have a Social Security number because s/he is a foreign national (see separate FAQ on that subject). The US Defense Dept does provide a method of verifying with date of birth (d.o.b.) only, but with severe limitations often disfavored by courts.
If the name is fairly common, a verification might not be available at all without the full Social Security number, even with the date of birth. For example, if you submit “Thomas Green” born on 4/1/92, there may be 5 people with the surname Green in DoD’s database. The DoD computer will stop processing and say that, because there are multiple people with that surname with that d.o.b., DoD cannot give a verification.
A more frequent problem is that verifications conducted without a Social Security number come with this disclaimer: The information is not guaranteed because only the Social Security number is a unique identifier.
This equivocal response may cause a judge to reject the affidavit, and you will have to start all over. Obviously, it is better to obtain an unequivocal verification. Normally, we can find the individual’s Social Security number. In a situation in which neither you nor we can ascertain the Social Security number, we will give you a choice: 1) accept the equivocal verification, 2) supply us with the Social Security number, or 3) terminate the process.
The DoD now provides an “early alert” in situations where an individual or his/her unit has received notification of a call-up for duty. Even though a person may not be on active duty as of the active duty status date, s/he may be entitled to SCRA protections because s/he has received call-up orders. Two different databases are involved, thus, the individual who has received call-up orders may or may not also be listed as “active.” A call-up is issued on a particular start date, and it includes an end date for the call-up. (The end date could be advanced if a person was disqualified, etc.) If, on the active duty status date a person is called up, the Status Report will show that status, as well as the end date. (The start-date of the notification period will be added in a future release.)
Generally, no Social Security numbers have been issued with zeros as follows: 000-XX-XXXX, XXX-00-XXXX, or XXX-XX-0000. In the past, no Social Security numbers were issued with the first three digits higher than 740, but, that is no longer the case.
Not all 9-digit numbers are “social security numbers”. The IRS (as opposed to the Social Security Administration) issues numbers that begin with a “9”, but these are not Social Security numbers. They are ” Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers” also known as an “ITIN”. For example, foreign nationals can be assigned a TIN so that the person can file a tax return. An ITIN cannot be used for a military verification.
Prior to June 25, 2011, there was a system for assigning Social Security numbers by geography and other factors. Wikipedia has a good article on this. Also see Social Security Administration Pre-June-2011 Explanation, and the pamphlet issued by the Social Security administration entitled, “The Social Security Number,” (Pub. No. 05-10633). On June 25, 2011, the assignment of new Social Security numbers became randomized. Social Security Number Randomization Memorandum. Numbers with starting digits 734-749 and above 772 through the 800s, which, prior to randomization were not used, are now being assigned.
An SCRA military status verification is a snapshot in time. As of what date do you want to know the subject’s military status? That is the active duty status date. Some people call it the “active duty status AS OF date” which is more cumbersome, but more accurate. (For a short period of time, this was called “date of interest.”) If left blank (99 percent of the time), our system will conclude that the active duty status date will be the date we process your request. If, however, you want to know whether the subject was in the military as of any date subsquent to Sept. 30, 1985, you can enter that date. The “snapshot” will be as of that date. The active duty start date cannot be a date in the future.
The verification you receive is as of the Active Duty Status Date and also covers the 367 days prior to that date. This illustrates that, if you want to cover a span of time, you can order multiple searches to cover each year of your desired span of time.
The Defense Department defines active duty status date as follows: “The date used to check if whether or not the individual was actively serving, received a notice to serve, or was serving 367 days prior to the given date, or not. The date can be the loan origination, foreclosure, etc. It must be numeric in the following date format: YYYYMMDD. The date must be after 19850930 (September 30, 1985) and cannot be a future date.”
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act proscribes certain activity against certain people on active military duty (or recently retired). The logical corollary is that a person ineligible to serve would not be accorded such protections.
10 USCS § 504 defines persons not qualified and includes “Persons not qualified. (b) Citizenship or residency. (1) A person may be enlisted in any armed force only if the person is one of the following: (A) A national of the United States, as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)). (B) An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)).
The Department of Defense database cannot respond to SCRA verifications unless a Social Security number is submitted, or, if the name is unusual, a date of birth may sometimes suffice, although the response is equivocal since the only unique identifier is the Social Security number. Keep in mind that a number beginning with a 9 is not a Social Security number, it is a tax identification number issued by the IRS and cannot be processed for a SCRA verification (See separate FAQ on ITIN by using search box).
If a person is neither a citizen nor a resident alien, it is likely that the person has no Social Security number. In situations where we cannot conduct an SCRA search because we cannot provide the Social Security number (because no Social Security number exists), we recommend that local counsel consider an alternate affidavit (the clerk of the court may need to be sidestepped), setting forth the grounds for belief that the individual is neither a citizen nor a resident alien, that due diligence was exercised, but that no response was available from the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), an organization of the Department of Defense (DoD) that maintains the Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database, and that, as a matter of law, the individual is ineligible to enlist in the armed force pursuant to 10 USCS § 504 and, hence, ineligible for the protections accorded under the SCRA.
When an SCRA verification cannot be conducted, we can provide raised-seal affidavits of due diligence (all affidavits are $30), otherwise, we only provide yes/no responses to active duty status inquiries.
No. The SCRA provides some protections that extend after the termination date from active service. For example, foreclosure protections and the interest rate cap of 6% on pre-service mortgages extend to a full year after active duty.
Servicemembers who wish to confirm their entitlement to SCRA benefits should seek legal assistance. A good resource can be found here.
Army, Air Force, Space Force, Navy, Marines, some members of the National Guard, Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (seven agencies in total) have personnel who may be protected under the Act. Further, activated reservists and national guardsmen may have protections.
Active military members (including reservists, National Guardsmen, commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who are in active federal service). Dependents of these people are eligible for some of the benefits of the Act if the dependents obtain a court order by demonstrating that the dependent’s ability to comply with a lease, contract, bailment or other obligation is materially affected by reason of the servicemember’s military service. See SCRA Section 3959.
Active duty for armed services is defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(d)(1) as “full-time duty in the active military service of the United States … [including] full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned.” Active military service is not further defined in Section 101 of Title 10, U.S. Code, although active service is given the meaning, service on active duty or full-time National Guard duty in Section 101(d)(3).
Under the SCRA, persons on active duty and attending a service school are covered, while persons attending training prior to entering active duty, such as officer candidates, may not be covered. It is unclear, for example, whether “active military service” under 10 U.S.C. § 101(d) covers training as a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps or attendance at a military academy.
Dependents’ eligibility for protection under the SCRA is only achieved if the dependents obtain a court order by demonstrating that the dependent’s ability to comply with a lease, contract, bailment, or other obligation is materially affected by reason of the servicemember’s military service. See SCRA Section 3959.
“Dependent” is defined as a servicemember’s spouse or child (as defined for purposes of veterans benefits, in 38 U.S.C. Section 101, or another individual for whom the servicemember provided more than one half of the support in the 180 days prior to an application for relief under the act. This language appears to codify courts’ treatment of the term “dependent” as relating to financial dependency rather than strict familial relationships. 38 U.S.C. Section 101(4) defines a child as a person who is unmarried and under the age of 18; who before attaining the age of 18 became permanently incapable of self-support; or who after attaining the age of 18 and until completion of education or training (but not after attaining the age of 23) is pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution; and who is a legitimate child, a legally adopted child, a stepchild who is a member of a veteran’s household or was a member at the time of the veteran’s death, or an illegitimate child but, as to the alleged father, only if acknowledged in writing signed by him, or if he has been judicially ordered to contribute to the child’s support or has been, before his death, judicially decreed the father of such child, or if he is otherwise shown by evidence to be the father of the said child.
“Military Service” is defined in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act at 50 U.S.C. App. 511 (2) as follows:
(2) Military service
The term “military service” means:
(A) in the case of a servicemember who is a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard
(i) active duty, as defined in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code [see above], and
(ii) in the case of a member of the National Guard, includes service under a call to active service authorized by the president or the secretary of defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the president and supported by federal funds (note that the DMDC does not report periods of service fewer than 30 days);
(B) in the case of a servicemember who is a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, active service; and
(C) any period during which a servicemember is absent from duty on account of sickness, wounds, leave, or other lawful cause.
“Military service” is mentioned in 10 U.S.C. § 101(d)(1), but not actually defined in that title.
Note that some protections extend for a period of time AFTER active military duty (i.e. the 6 percent interest rate cap lasts for one year after termination and proscriptions against foreclosure also extend after the active duty end date).
Also, see FAQ on Call-up to Active Duty for other relevant information.
Servicemembers who wish to confirm their entitlement to SCRA benefits should seek legal assistance. A good resource can be found here.
Passed in December of 2003, and found at 50 U.S.C. Section 3911, the SCRA restates and renames the old act: the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act of 1940. For a copy of the act, see “ Text of Act .”
When you take certain legal actions against individuals, such as going to court, evictions, foreclosures, modifications of contracts, etc., there is a federal law called the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) that you must follow. The SCRA provides people in active military duty (and some recent retirees) with some special protections. Some states have their own laws with additional protections.
There are two other reasons people conduct military verifications:
1) Courts want to make sure that a defendant is not in active military service before entering default judgments. The courts will usually require a military affidavit to assure the court that someone has checked to make sure that the defendant is or is not on active duty.
2) Banks, cell phone companies, lenders and other companies that deal with consumers need to comply with regulations, rules and agreements that say that military status is checked regularly. This duty of “regulatory compliance” is usually handled through batch processing.
To conduct a military verification, you must register or login as a new user.
What should you do if the DMDC is reporting wrong information?
The DMDC will not permit anyone to transmit confidential information to them (such as a Social Security number). It does not have the resources or even the authority to make changes in its database. They advise that the servicemember needs to establish contact with the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS. DEERS will only deal with the servicemember. Contact information for DEERS:
Phone: Worldwide: 800-538-9552
Fax: 831-655-8317
By Mail: DMDC/DEERS Support Office, 400 Gigling Rd., Seaside, CA 93955-6771
If contacting DEERS does not resolve the problem, servicemembers who wish to confirm their entitlement to SCRA benefits could also seek legal assistance. A good resource can be found here.
Title 32 outlines the role of the United States National Guard; normally Title 32 members are not covered under SCRA. Those Title 32 members and others who meet the criteria referenced in Title 50 USC App. §§ 501 below are accurately represented on the SCRA website.
In order to be considered for SCRA coverage a Title 32 member must be called “…to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds. “
Title 50 USC App. §§ 501 et seq, as amended, states the following:
“TITLE 50, APPENDIX – WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT
ACT OCT. 17, 1940, CH. 888, 54 STAT. 1178
TITLE I – GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 511. Definitions
For the purposes of this Act [sections 501 to 515 and 516 to 597b of this Appendix]:
(1) Servicemember
The term “servicemember” means a member of the uniformed services, as that term is defined in section 101(a)(5) of title 10, United States Code.
(2) Military service
The term “military service” means –
(A) in the case of a servicemember who is a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard –
(i) active duty, as defined in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code, and
(ii) in the case of a member of the National Guard, includes service under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds;
(B) in the case of a servicemember who is a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, active service; and
(C) any period during which a servicemember is absent from duty on account of sickness, wounds, leave, or other lawful cause.”
The United States Code, under Title 10, outlines the role of the Armed Forces and the legal basis for their responsibilities, missions and organization. Title 10 service is covered by SCRA. The role of the United States National Guard is outlined under Title 32. Title 32 members are normally not covered under SCRA, unless they meet the specified criteria covered in question 8.
• Under authority of Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the National Guard is federally funded but under the command and control of the state’s governor even though the Guard is employed “in the service of the United States.” The purpose of the service may be either shared state/federal or for a primary federal purpose.
• Title 10 duty – Under authority of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the National Guard is deployed by the President for a federal purpose; command and control rests solely with the President and the federal government.
Resources for Servicemembers and Families
Please go to our Resources and Links tab for resources for servicemembers and their families.
The SCRACVS is not the best choice for you because we confirm whether a person is on active duty as of a specific date.
If you are a veteran or next of kin of a deceased veteran, you may use vetrecs.archives.gov to order a copy of military records.
Others will need to complete a Standard Form 180. It includes instructions for preparing and submitting requests by mail.
Army:
Army Human Resource Service Center
1-888-ARMYHRC (1-888-276-9472)
Email: askhrc.army@us.army.mil
Navy:
Navy World Wide Locator
Navy Personnel Command
PERS 1
5720 Integrity Drive
Millington, TN 38055
1-866-U-ASK-NPC (1-866-827-5672)
Marine Corps:
HEADQUARTERS U S MARINE CORPS
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SUPPORT BRANCH (MMSB-17)
2008 ELLIOT ROAD
QUANTICO, VA 22134-5030
Phone number: 703-784-3941 / 3942 / 3943
Air Force:
HQ AFPC/DS1W
550 C St West Ste 50
Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4752
Total Force Service Center (800-525-0102)
Space Force:
HQ AFPC/DS1W
550 C St West Ste 50
Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4752
Total Force Service Center (800-525-0102)
Site Operation – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Centralized Verification Service
We offer a No-risk refund policy. If, with the information the user supplies, SCRACVS is unable to provide the verification, the user can either purchase an affidavit of due diligence, or obtain a full refund.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) only issues certificates if a social security number (SSN) is supplied. If you do not supply the SSN, we can usually find it in secure data bases. But, once in a while, we cannot find it. It might be because the name supplied is a nickname, maybe the person is very young, or very old and doesn’t appear in the data bases, or perhaps the person is a foreign national or even using a completely fake identity.
In those situations, the DoD will not run an SCRA verification. DoD will permit a verification with date of birth, only, but that verification has a bid disclaimer that say that the results are not guaranteed, and that may infuriate the court, so we try to always find SSNs.
When the DoD will not accept the order for processing, you are presented with several options:
1) to simply terminate your order, in which event we will happily refund to you all your charges, or
2) to find and supply to us more information to help us find the SSN, or
3) you can order an affidavit of due diligence,or
The affidavit of due diligence, which is notarized, says, in effect “I did everything I could, but wasn’t enough. I could not run the military verification.” Some courts accept these affidavits, but there may be judges or Clerks who may not accept it. We have not heard of a court rejecting an affidavit of due diligence, so it is likely worth a try. Most law firms obtain an affidavit of due diligence when all else fails. The surcharge for an affidavit is $30 and overnight delivery is available (cut off is 3:00 p.m. EST – workdays only).
If your subject is very old or very young, and you do not have his or her Social Security number, it may be difficult or even impossible to conduct an active duty military verification. If you do not have a Social Security number for your subject, the task of the SCRACVS (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Centralized Verification Service) is to try to find it and supply it to the Department of Defense DMDC. This is because the DMDC will not give a clear, unequivocal response unless a Social Security number is provided.
The SCRACVS has a very structured, thorough method of looking through databases in order to find Social Security numbers. Apart from some governmental and court records, those databases get information from credit card companies, magazines, web-based services, insurance companies and other commercial records. If a person is young, the likelihood of these commercial “fingerprints” is reduced. Similarly, if an individual is very old or pays with cash, there might be fewer of these records.
If the records are not in the databases, or if the information is insufficient to find the individual, the SCRACVS will not be able to determine the Social Security number. Without a Social Security number, the SCRACVS cannot process a dispositive verification under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. (It is true that a verification can be conducted only with a date of birth, but the Department of Defense would then issue a disclaimer saying that the results are not guaranteed and that the only method of obtaining guaranteed results is to supply the Social Security number). Courts may reject a verification with such a disclaimer.
If a verification under the SCRA is impossible because the Social Security number cannot be found, the SCRACVS usually prepares an affidavit of due diligence outlining the steps taken to verify military service.
The SCRACVS (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Centralized Verification Service) is a division of SCRA, Inc., a private contractor organized and located in the District of Columbia.
Our sole function is to verify if a person is or is not on active military duty as of a specific date. While we make information and resources available, we cannot give legal advice.
While we provide information similar to the Department of Defense DMDC, our services are much broader. For example, we provide military status affidavits and can provide firm responses even if the social security number of the individual is not known. The DoD site is not set up to do that. Additionally, we have support staff standing by, either by chat, or phone. View a detailed comparison of the SCRACVS vs. the DMDC here.
SCRACVS is much more robust and flexible than the Defense Department data base!
• Affidavits are available.
• Live assistance available.
• No social security numbers required.
• Automatic queuing when the Defense Department data base is down.
There is a reason why we have processed millions of verifications. Many of our clients are experienced lawyers, lenders, servicers, landlords, and litigants who recognize that it is better to get it done the first time, correctly for a small cost, than have to deal with delays and re-doing work.
If you go to My Account you can perform some time-saving tasks:
1) Always want an affidavit? You can set your default as to whether you always want an affidavit or not.
2) Always want the affidavit sent overnight? You can set a default whether your affidavit should be sent by FedEx.
3) You can custom-name 2 fields for sorting. For example, you can name one field “Client No.” and one field “Court Case No.”.
The SCRACVS can usually find the SSN, but, there are situations when even we cannot find an SSN — maybe because the Subject is very young or very old, sometimes because pseudonyms are used, sometimes because the Subject does not have a SSN because s/he is a foreign national (see separate FAQ on Foreign Nationals).
Effective May 25, 2012, the DoD permitted a limited verification with last name and date of birth (“d.o.b.”) only. There are limitations and a severe drawback to this limited verification. If the name is fairly common, even with the d.o.b. a verification will not be performed. Further, all verifications conducted without an SSN come with a disclaimer which is paraphrased as follows: “The information is not guaranteed because only only the SSN is a unique identifier”. This equivocal response may not give parties or judges confidence that the verification is reliable.
Obviously it is better to obtain an unequivocal, dispositive verification. In a situation where neither you nor we can ascertain the SSN, we will give you a choice:
i) accept the equivocal verification based on d.o.b. only,
ii) you find and supply to us the SSN, or
iii) terminate the process.
Generally, no SSN’s have been issued with zeros in these positions: OOO-XX-XXXX, XXX-OO-XXXX, or XXX-XX-OOOO. IRS issues “tax identification numbers” (“TINS”) that begin with a “9”, but these are not social security numbers. They are used only by IRS for tracking income and not the Social Security Administration and cannot be used for SCRA verifications. Foreign nationals can be assigned a TIN so that the national can file a tax return. The number looks like a SSN, but is not an SSN and cannot be used for an SCRA verification.
Prior to June 25, 2011, there was a system for assigning SSNs which assigned by geography and other factors. Wikipedia has a good article on this. Also see Social Security Administration Pre-June-2011 Explanation and the pamphlet issued by Social Security Administration entitled “The Social Security Number” (Pub. No. 05-10633).
On June 25, 2011, the assignment of new SSNs became randomized. Social Security Number Randomization Memorandum. Numbers with starting digits between 734 and 749 and above 772 through the 800s, which, prior to randomization were not utilized, are now being assigned. Numbers in the “900′s”, however, are still not SSN’s, but are tax identification numbers which are not useable for servicemember searches.
Each name-search is assigned a unique SCRACVS Tracking Number. If an order is placed with 4 different name-searches, there will be 4 Tracking Numbers. The format for tracking numbers is YYYYMMDDXXXXX. The SCRACVS Tracking Number should not be confused with a FedEx number.
No. The SCRACVS would not be a good resource in this situation – likely a waste of your money.
The SCRACVS only provides verification whether or not a person is entitled to benefits under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. It is not a verification of employment (people can enjoy the benefits of the SCRA even after leaving active duty). Our site is not to be used to determine whether credit should be extended, nor for “checking out” if a person is who they say they are. Our site will not verify veteran status or history of military service. You would not use our site to search your own name. Our Terms of Service are quite specific and you are not permitted to use our site in violation of those Terms of Service. The validity of our response depends entirely upon the information you supply. If someone gives you wrong information and you then relay that misinformation to us, you may be wasting your valuable money. Instead, contact the branch of the military in which the person claims to be serving or hire a competent private investigator.
An SCRA verification is as of a snapshot in time. As of what date do you want to know the Subject’s military status? That is the ”Active Duty Status Date” (for about 2 weeks, this was called “Date of Interest”). If left blank the Active Duty Status Date will be the date we process your request. If, however, you want to know whether the Subject was in the military as of any date subsequent to September 30, 1985, you can enter that date. The “snapshot” will be as of that date.
The Active Duty Start Date cannot be a date in the future. The Defense Department defines “Active Duty Status Date” as follows: “The date used to check if whether or not the individual was actively serving, received a notice to serve, or was serving 367 days prior to the given date, or not. The date can be the loan origination, foreclosure, etc. It must be numeric in the following date format: YYYYMMDD. The date must be after 19850930 (September 30, 1985) and cannot be a future date.”
Yes, batch processing (also called bulk, scrubbing, or scrub processing) is available. Submission of large data files is available through a portal in highly secure asymmetric encryption format either via HTTPS Secure File Transfer (SFTP) or FTP File Exchange (MS Excel or Delimited Text). The control panel allows full tracking and searches by individual name.
The results are downloadable by the Client in the same format supplied, but with SCRA information added by the SCRACVS and SSNs deleted. Appended to each name-verification is a link to the certificate issued by the Department of Defense DMDC which may come in handy if, in the future, one questions your due diligence. We also have the capacity to deliver the results programmatically to the client’s system, ensuring seamless, automated, hands-free integration. There is a minimum monthly billing and SSNs are required for batch processing. For further information, visit our batch processing page.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act proscribes certain activity against certain persons on active military duty (or recently retired). The logical corollary is that a person ineligible to serve would not be accorded such protections.
See: 10 USCS § 504 Persons not qualified. (b) Citizenship or residency. (1) A person may be enlisted in any armed force only if the person is one of the following: (A) A national of the United States, as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)). (B) An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)).
The Department of Defense database cannot respond to SCRA verifications unless a social security number is submitted, or, if the name is unusual, a date of birth may sometimes suffice, although the response is equivocal since the only uniquely identifier is the SSN. If a person is neither a citizen or resident alien, it is likely that the person has no social security number.
In situations where we cannot conduct an SCRA search because we cannot provide the SSN (because no SSN exists) we recommend that local counsel obtain an affidavit of due diligence from the SCRACVS and consider an alternate affidavit (the Clerk of the Court may need to be side-stepped by going directly before a judge), setting forth the grounds for belief that the individual is neither a citizen nor a resident alien, that due diligence was exercised, but that no response was available from the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), an organization of the Department of Defense (DoD) that maintains the Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database, and that, as a matter of law, the individual is ineligible to enlist in the armed force pursuant to 10 USCS § 504 and, hence, ineligible for the protections accorded under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
Reservists, for example, could be called to active duty multiple times, each time resulting in a new Start Date. Officers, start military service, but often then go into a 6-month training session. After that training session, for some reason, a new Start Date is given (although, the servicemember’s protection starts from the earlier date). Information is not available to us as to the history of a person’s service. The only information available to us is whether the person is on active duty on the Active Duty Start Date.
Do not send a SSN to the SCRACVS by email. You may reply to one of our secure emails to you. If you did not include the SSN in your original order, and you find it later, we prefer that you telephone us. Please have your tracking number handy and call (202) 462-0600.
If you have ordered and paid for an affidavit (at a surcharge of $30) then you may elect to have that affidavit shipped by regular mail or by FedEx (FedEx costs vary).
Digits only, no dashes, parentheses, or other characters.
The printout of the certification can serve as the basis for an affidavit of compliance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Alternatively, you can request that that we prepare an Affidavit and send it to you. There is an additional charge of $30 for this service.
We encourage you to use the two fields called “User-Defined Field Names” to assist you in tracking each search and for sorting purposes. In “My Account” you can assign names to these two fields. For example, you could name the first customer reference field with the name “Account No.” or “Case No.”, etc. This can be particularly handy for sorting in the future, for billing your customers for searches on their matters, or other reference uses. You can also indicate if you generally want affidavits and if you want them sent to you by FedEx or regular mail.
The site provides full tracking. Additionally, emails are sent out marking certain progress points: initial order, status, and final search results. Each time you access the search site, you may enter in as many subjects names as you wish.
We recommend that an office manager or similar person have each employee register as a separate user (rather than a “firm” account). You can either set them up with a unique Paypal or debit card number.
You will always receive your results by email. In addition, when you check out at the end of placing your order, you will be asked whether you want to pay for us to prepare an affidavit for you, and whether you would like it mailed or sent overnight.
In your ”My Account”, “Affidavit Preferences” area of the site, you can indicate your default preferences regarding affidavits to speed up your check-out.
This comprehensive military status verification service is not free. The cost is $40 for a verification. A detailed explanation of how this SCRACVS site is different than the Defense Department data base is found in this article.
SCRACVS is much more robust and flexible than the Defense Department data base!
• Affidavits are available.
• Live assistance available.
• No social security numbers required.
• Automatic queuing when the Defense Department database is down.
There is a reason why we have processed millions of verifications. Many of our clients are experienced lawyers, lenders, servicers, landlords, and litigants who recognize that it is better to get it done the first time, correctly for a small cost, than have to deal with delays and re-doing work.
The email response should be sent to you before midnight (of business days).
To avoid delays if you have not submitted a full social security number, you must remember to supply sufficient alternate information that you or your client may have on the individual, such as date of birth, addresses, names of relatives or associates, etc.) otherwise we may have to come back to you to ask for more information.
Affidavits are mailed or send by Fedex the business day following the email.
Exceptions may apply if the Department of Defense data base is unavailable due to repair, update, or problems. If that happens, your order is queued and will be processed as soon as the DoD database is operational.
No. The information provided does not include any service before September 30, 1985 and we only relay information relating to Title 10 active duty periods. Also, if the length of service is less than 30 days, it is not included.
When someone is searching to verify military duty status and doesn’t know the Social Security Number of an individual, the SCRACVS can sometimes find the SSN by using the Subject’s address. Sometimes, towing companies, repossession services, insurance companies, and law firms only have a VIN or tag number. SCRACVS has found that VIN and tag numbers are not always helpful in finding addresses.
That is because the national databases of VIN and Tag numbers that show names and addresses depend upon information supplied by the individual States. Roughly half of the States share information, but the others do not. If the VIN was registered in a State that does not share its information, a search on the national databases will come up empty. Law enforcement has access to a more comprehensive database that may contain VIN and tag numbers and other information not available to others.
States That DO Report to National Data Base – VIN and Tag Numbers:
AK
AL
AR
AZ*
CO
CT*
DC
DE
FL
GA
IA (No Tag numbers)
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA (No Tag numbers)
MA
MD
ME
MI
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
ND
NE
NM
NV (No tag numbers)
NY
OH
PR
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
WI
WV
WY
Suffixes are NOT supported by the Department of Defense. The DMDC offers no field to enter a suffix. As a result, we cannot include suffixes in our affidavits. However, if the name of the person you are looking to verify does have a suffix (Jr., Sr., III, etc.), please include that information in your order with us. It is extremely helpful to our research team.
For security purposes, we do not give out sensitive information in our affidavits. The partial date of birth and Social Security Number listed on the DMDC Status Report is redacted per Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2 and analogous State rules and privacy issues raised in Shadi Hayden v. The Retail Equation, Inc., USDC No. 8:20-cv-01203 (C.D. Cal.).
Text of the Act (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act)
The text of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, found at 50 U.S.C. 3911 can be found here.