I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4658
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make certain improvements 
and technical corrections to that Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2004
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make 
certain improvements and technical corrections to that Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemembers Legal 
Protection Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF MEANING OF ‘‘JUDGMENT’’ AS 
USED IN THE ACT. 
Section 101 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 511) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph:
‘‘(9) JUDGMENT.—The term ‘judgment’ means 
any judgment, decree, order, or ruling, final or tem-
porary.’’. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO WAIVER OF RIGHTS 
UNDER THE ACT. 
Section 107 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 517) is amended—
(1) In subsection (a), by inserting after the first 
sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Any such 
waiver that applies to an action listed in subsection 
(b) of this section is effective only if it is in writing 
and is executed as an instrument separate from the 
obligation or liability to which it applies.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing new subsection (c): 
‘‘(c) PROMINENT DISPLAY OF CERTAIN CONTRACT 
RIGHTS WAIVERS.—Any waiver in writing of a right or 
protection provided by this Act that applies to a contract, 
lease, or similar legal instrument must be in at least 12 
point type.’’.
SEC. 4. RIGHT OF SERVICEMEMBER PLAINTIFFS TO RE-
QUEST STAY OF CIVIL PROCEEDINGS. 
Section 202(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 522(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘plain-
tiff or’’ before ‘‘defendant’’. 
SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF LEASES. 
(a) JOINT LEASES.—Subsection (a) of section 305 of 
the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 535) 
is amended—
(1) by designating the text of that subsection as 
paragraph (1), inserting before ‘‘The lessee on a’’ 
the following: ‘‘IN GENERAL’’, redesignating para-
graphs (1) and (2) thereof as subparagraphs (A) 
and (B), respectively, and realigning that text so as 
to be indented two ems to the right; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) JOINT LEASES.—A lessee’s termination of 
a lease pursuant to this subsection shall terminate 
any obligation a dependent of the lessee may have 
under the lease.’’. 
(b) MOTOR VEHICLES LEASES.—
(1) APPLICABILITY
TO
PCS
ORDERS
FROM 
STATES
OUTSIDE
CONUS.—Subparagraph (B) of 
subsection (b)(2) of such section is amended by 
striking ‘‘military orders for’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘or to deploy’’ and inserting ‘‘military or-
ders—
‘‘(i) for a change of permanent sta-
tion—
‘‘(I) from a location in the conti-
nental United States to a location out-
side the continental United States; or 
‘‘(II) from a location in a State 
outside the continental United States 
to any location outside that State; or 
‘‘(ii) to deploy’’. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—Such section is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—
‘‘(1) MILITARY
ORDERS.—The term ‘military 
orders’, with respect to a servicemember, means offi-
cial military orders, or any notification, certification, 
or verification from the servicemember’s com-
manding officer, with respect to the servicemember’s 
current or future military duty status. 
‘‘(2) CONUS.—The term ‘continental United 
States’ means the 48 contiguous States and the Dis-
trict of Columbia.’’.
(c) COVERAGE
OF INDIVIDUAL DEPLOYMENTS.—
Subsection (b) of such section is further amended in para-
graph (1)(B) and paragraph (2)(B)(ii) (as designated by 
subsection (b) of this section) by inserting ‘‘, or as an indi-
vidual in support of a military operation,’’ after ‘‘deploy 
with a military unit’’. 
SEC. 6. PREVENTION OF DOUBLE TAXATION OF CERTAIN 
SERVICEMEMBERS. 
Section 511(c) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 571(c)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) USE, EXCISE, OR SIMILAR TAXES.—A tax 
jurisdiction may not impose a use, excise, or similar 
tax on the personal property of a nonresident 
servicemember when the laws of the tax jurisdiction 
fail to provide a credit against such taxes for sales, 
use, exercise, or similar taxes previously paid on the 
same property to another tax jurisdiction.’’.
Æ