A Jacksonville-based property management company is being ordered to pay compensation and penalties for violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). According to the Justice Department, JWB Property Management imposed early termination fees on at least six members of the military after they attempted to terminate their leases after receiving relocation orders.
The Justice Department says the property management company will be required to pay over $39,000 to the affected servicemembers and a fine of $25,000. The DOJ states that JWB will make changes to its policies and training to ensure compliance with the SCRA.
“Our military families already shoulder the burden of military-ordered moves and deployments,” says Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will not allow them to be penalized by landlords for answering the call of duty for service.”
JWB Real Estate Companies President Alex Sifakis issued the following statement to Action News Jax Monday, following the announcement.
“JWB Property Management takes special care to serve our military and veteran residents with the respect they deserve. JWB identified administrative errors within our system that could have led to incorrect fees for a small group of military residents – this impacted fewer than 1% of our military move-outs. JWB quickly reversed and remedied these issues before any deposit refunds were incorrectly charged. We have since updated our internal processes to ensure these errors do not happen again."
The Justice Department said that since 2011, the department has received over $483 million in monetary relief for over 148,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. Any members of the military, as well as their dependents, who believe their rights may have been violated under the SCRA should contact the Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.
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