Defer the Utility Bill on Call-Up — Up to 180 Days
A reservist called to active duty may demand deferral of an obligation owed to a utility company, alongside the mortgage, the credit cards, up to two vehicle loans, property tax on the primary residence and student loans. The deferral runs the lesser of 180 days or active duty plus 60.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
A reservist called to active duty may demand deferral of an obligation owed to a utility company, alongside the mortgage, the credit cards, up to two vehicle loans, property tax on the primary residence and student loans. The deferral runs the lesser of 180 days or active duty plus 60.
What it's worth: Deferral of the utility bill for the lesser of 180 days or active duty plus 60 days
- The section permits a reservist called to active duty to request deferment of a defined list of obligations.
- The list includes an obligation owed to a utility company, and alongside it: mortgages and deeds of trust, credit cards, retail installment contracts, retail installment accounts, installment accounts and revolving accounts, up to two vehicle loans, property taxes on a primary residence, and student loans.
- The reservist must give the obligor a written request, which may be an electronic communication, together with a copy of the military orders.
- A financial institution may additionally require proof that the employer's compensation during active duty does not provide continuing income of more than 90 percent of the reservist's monthly salary.
- The deferral period is the lesser of 180 days, or the period of active duty plus 60 calendar days.
- A request may be submitted within 90 days after active duty ends.
- Total deferment may not exceed 180 days within any 365-day period.
- For closed-end and open-end obligations with a maturity date, the lender must extend the term by the number of months deferred.
- Mortgage payments still fall due on a sale of the property or on another triggering event in the loan documents, excluding the deferral itself.
- The section as read contains no express provision about interest accrual or late fees during the deferment.
Who is entitled to it
- The deferral runs to the reservist called to active duty.
- Your home is in California.
Not sure whether that describes you?
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How to claim it
Deadline: Within 90 days after active duty ends- 1Write to the utility, not to a state agency. This is a right exercised directly against the obligor, and no office grants it for you.
- 2Attach the orders. The statute names a copy of the military orders as part of the request, and an unaccompanied letter does not start the clock.
- 3Send a separate request to every obligor you want deferred. One letter to the utility does not touch the mortgage or the car loan, though the same section covers all of them.
- 4You can still ask after you get home — the section allows a request within 90 days after active duty ends, which matters for a household that discovers the arrears afterwards.
- 5Remember the annual ceiling: no more than 180 days of deferment in any 365-day period, however many separate call-ups there were.
- 6Ask the utility in writing what it will do about interest and late fees. The section as read is silent on both, so get the answer on paper before relying on it.
- Form
- Written request to the obligor, with a copy of the military orders
- File with
- Your utility company — and each other obligor separately
- No renewal needed
Sources
- authority · statuteCal. Mil. & Vet. Code §800
- operating · statuteCal. Mil. & Vet. Code, Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 7.5 — service member protections
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