Although fighting in Iraq is winding down, many Augusta soldiers have yet to return home. But at least some apartment complexes in the home of Ft. Gordon are doing what they can to make life a little easier for military renters.
Deployments leave soldiers with little time to tie up loose ends, like making arrangements with the landlords.
“I’ve worked in the field for about 18 years, and I’m used to it,” said K. Moon, manager of the High Point Crossing apartment complex in west Augusta. “It’s been such short notice sometimes and we’ve been doing everything we can.”
Moon said 65 to 70 percent of her 168-unit complex is either military service members or are related to the military.
She said about 12 percent of the complex is vacant because of deployments.
Since soldiers must leave quickly sometimes, Moon said it’s not always possible to have notices worked out or all of a soldier’s belongings removed from an apartment.
“We’ll get in touch with their families, and charge prorated rent, and in some cases, we’ve let soldiers keep belongings in their apartments at no charge,” Moon said.
Ann Rosier, manager of the Forest Ridge apartments off of Mike Padgett Highway in south Augusta, said her management company is being flexible.
“We’ve had some going lately, and they’ve been able to get out of their lease, and charged only a prorated amount of rent,” Rosier said.
About 45 to 50 percent of the 75 units in the complex are connected in some way to the military, she said.
Service members and their families have certain legal protections under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940.
The law prevents eviction of troops entering active duty for usually about three months, if the active duty status impacts the ability to pay rent and the rent does not exceed $1,200 a month.
Many apartment complexes in the area, including those managed by Collier Management, have lease clauses or addenda that allow service members to break their lease without penalty if ordered to deploy, said Charles Merritt, an assistant at the company.
“We just try to be as hospitable as we can to the military,” Merritt said.
