Jacksonville property management company to pay for illegally charging military tenants: DOJ

FILE - The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) (Jose Luis Magana, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville-based property management company will pay $64,000 in compensation and penalties after the U.S. Department of Justice found it violated federal law by charging early termination fees to military servicemembers.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, JWB Property Management imposed unlawful fees on at least six servicemembers who attempted to terminate their leases after receiving military relocation orders—a right protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Recommended Videos



As part of the settlement, JWB will pay over $39,000 to the affected servicemembers and a $25,000 civil penalty.

The company has also agreed to revise its policies and training to ensure future compliance with the SCRA.

“Our military families already shoulder the burden of military-ordered moves and deployments,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “We will not allow them to be penalized by landlords for answering the call of duty.”

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe added, “Our servicemembers make tremendous sacrifices to protect the rights and freedoms of our citizens, and we will combat all forms of discrimination against them.”

The DOJ has recovered more than $483 million for over 148,000 servicemembers through SCRA enforcement efforts since 2011.

Servicemembers who believe their rights have been violated can find assistance through the Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program at legalassistance.law.af.mil.

Alex Sifakis, President of JWB Real Estate Companies, issued a statement to News4JAX:

“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. JWB remains fully committed to compliance across all aspects of our residential leasing and operations including in our military- and veterans-focused programs that include no fee applications and our philanthropic commitment to veterans through K9s for Warriors."