	Introduction

Congress has long recognized the need for protective legislation for servicemembers whose service to the nation may compromise their ability to meet obligations and protect their legal interests. The purpose of the act is to provide for, strengthen, and expedite the national defense by protecting servicemembers, enabling them to "devote their entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation" by providing for the temporary suspension of judicial and administrative proceedings and transactions that may adversely affect their legal rights during military service. The act does not specifically state who may bring an application for relief, nor does it specifically exclude private individuals from filing a cause of action. Most courts considering the issue have found that a private cause of action exists under the SCRA. An opinion from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Hurley v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company , disagreed with decisions from U.S. district courts in Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, and Texas, and found that a private cause of action did not exist under the act. However, upon reconsideration the court vacated its earlier opinion and held that a private cause of action does exist under various sections of the SCRA. Relying on Cort , the court utilized the four-part test for determining whether the statute created an implied private cause of action. Legal Standard: Finding of a Private Cause of Action

In the absence of action by federal courts of appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether a private cause of action exists under the SCRA. However, the Court has dealt with the issue of an implied cause of action under other statutes, and that precedent has guided the district courts in their determination of whether a private cause of action exists under the SCRA. However, in Alexander v. Sandoval, a more recent decision, the Court appears to have abandoned the four-part test in favor of a single factor analysis. In many jurisdictions across the country, it may be unclear whether a servicemember has the right to bring a private cause of action for violations of the SCRA. This ambiguity is likely to persist if the courts continue to reach different conclusions on the right to bring a private cause of action. Congress may provide guidance to the courts by clarifying the purpose and intent of the act, or by amending individual sections of the act, or the act in its entirety, with language that explicitly states whether a private cause of action exists. In the absence of legislative clarification with respect to the right of a private cause of action, the courts will continue to interpret the SCRA, as they have in the past, with the possibility that the issue will be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congress has long recognized the need for protective legislation for servicemembers whose service to the nation may compromise their ability to meet obligations and protect their legal interests. The purpose of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is to provide for, strengthen, and expedite the national defense by protecting servicemembers, enabling them to "devote their entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation." The SCRA protects servicemembers by temporarily suspending certain judicial and administrative proceedings and transactions that may adversely affect their legal rights during military service.
Various sections of the SCRA include provisions providing for penalties for violations of the afforded protections. However, the act does not specifically state who may bring an application for relief, nor does it specifically exclude private individuals from filing a cause of action. A private cause of action allows an individual, in a personal capacity, to sue in order to enforce a right or to correct a wrong. In the absence of a private cause of action, the right to enforce afforded rights likely rests with the government. Most courts considering the issue have found that a private cause of action exists under the SCRA. An opinion from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Hurley v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company, disagreed with decisions from U.S. district courts in Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, and Texas, and found that a private cause of action did not exist under the act. However, upon reconsideration the court vacated its earlier opinion and held that a private cause of action does exist under various sections of the SCRA.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether a private cause of action exists under the SCRA, the Court has dealt with the issue of an implied cause of action under other statutes. In Cort v. Ash, the Court established a four-part test for determining if a private cause of action exists under a particular statute. However, in Alexander v. Sandoval, it appears that the Court has adopted a single-factor test rather than the four-part test.
In many jurisdictions across the country, it may be unclear whether a servicemember has the right to bring a private cause of action for violations of the SCRA. This ambiguity is likely to persist if the courts continue to reach different conclusions on the right to bring a private cause of action. Congress may provide guidance to the courts by clarifying the purpose and intent of the act, or by amending individual sections of the act, or the act in its entirety, with language that explicitly states whether a private cause of action exists. H.R. 2696, introduced in the 111th Congress, would, if enacted, explicitly establish a private cause of action. In the absence of legislative clarification with respect to the right of a private cause of action, the courts will continue to interpret the SCRA, as they have in the past, with the possibility that the issue will be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.