A Mount Laurel apartment complex agreed to settle claims it charged service members thousands in illegal fees

Coast Guard Lt. Daniel Pereira had lived in his Mount Laurel apartment for five months when he got notice that his station was changing from Philadelphia to New London, Conn. He alerted the property manager, JAG Management Co. LLC, that he’d be moving out before the lease was set to expire and shared a copy of his transfer notice. Then, he packed up and left.

Two months later, a debt collection agency started contacting him about a fee he allegedly owed the property management company. Pereira had received a $2,100 rent concession upon moving into his Mount Laurel apartment, and now the company was demanding he pay it back.

A complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges that JAG Management violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which protects service members against early termination lease fees when they are called to serve. The complaint alleges at least nine service members who lived at the Jefferson Mount Laurel apartment complex, including Pereira, received illegal termination fees when they tried to cut their apartment leases short as they were called to serve.

“Service members should not have to pay any fees — much less exorbitant fees — to landlords when they are simply complying with their military orders and protecting our country,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release Monday.

The nine instances in which service members were asked to repay a rent concession back occurred between April 2019 and April 2022, according to court documents. Some fees were as high as $2,750 and affected members of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Air National Guard.

JAG Management denied the allegations in the consent order, agreed to by both parties. The company will pay a total of $41,581 in damages to the nine service members and an additional $20,000 civil penalty. The consent order was filed with the complaint on Sept. 29, 2023, and is subject to court approval.

A representative for JAG Management could not be reached by deadline Monday. The company manages buildings in several states including Maryland, Virginia, and Florida.