What do SCRA and MLA results include, and how do I get the DMDC certificate?

SCRA and MLA checks query Department of Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) records in real time and return whether the individual is covered, along with the details needed to document the check.

SCRA (POST /scra/searches) determines whether a person is protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The result includes:

• Whether the person was on active duty on the date of interest, with the active duty start and end dates and the service component.

• Whether the person had received orders to report (early indication), with the order dates.

• Whether the person left active duty within the 367 days before the date of interest, which extends certain protections.

• A date_of_interest you can set to check status as of a past date, for example the date a loan was originated. It defaults to today.

MLA (POST /mla/searches) determines whether a person is a covered borrower under the Military Lending Act. The result is covered or not covered as of the query. MLA accepts an ITIN in place of an SSN. It does not return coverage dates: service members can extend, separate, or move to reserve status without a predetermined end date, and the DMDC does not expose dates that could reveal deployment information. The MLA database is designed as a safe harbor, so a creditor relies on the status returned at the time of the query (or within the prior 30 days) rather than predicting future coverage.

The DMDC certificate. Both checks can return the official DMDC certificate as proof of the query. Set certificate to true on the request. The certificate is returned in the response as a base64-encoded PDF in the content field of the eligibility result, alongside the DMDC transaction ID. Decode it to a PDF and store it with your records. In the console, use the Download DMDC certificate button on the military search results. The results panel itself is not exportable; the certificate is the document of record.

Both checks require the person’s first name, last name, SSN (or ITIN for MLA), and date of birth. Each is billed as its own search. They can also be ordered together as options on a person search.