What happens if my military orders change after I'm under contract on a Colorado Springs home?

It depends mostly on your type of loan and its rules. Colorado's standard purchase contract has no military clause, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets you break a lease, not a purchase contract. What protects you is your loan's occupancy rules and the contract's own deadlines. On a VA loan, a spouse living in the home can often satisfy occupancy while you're away on active duty. Call your lender as soon as orders change, and check which contract deadlines haven't passed yet.

Start with your loan type

The first question is whether you can still close on the loan you applied for, and that comes down to its occupancy rules. Loans for a primary residence expect you to live in the home.

• VA loans. You certify that you intend to live in the home, at application and again at closing. VA's guidance generally looks for you to move in within a reasonable time, commonly about 60 days. Federal law also says that if you're on active duty and can't occupy the home because of your service, the requirement can be met if your spouse occupies it, or a dependent child does, with the right certification.
• FHA and conventional loans. These primary-residence loans also expect you to move in, generally within about 60 days, and to live there for a period afterward. There's no active-duty spouse provision like VA's, so new orders can matter more.
• If no one will live in the home, you may not be able to close on a primary-residence loan at all. Restructuring as an investment property loan usually means a larger down payment and different terms, and it's a conversation for your lender.

Your lender is the one to confirm how your loan treats the change. Signing an occupancy certification you no longer intend to keep isn't an option, so tell your lender as soon as you know.

What the Colorado contract does and doesn't do

Colorado's standard Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (CBS1) doesn't include a clause that releases a buyer because of military orders. Your protections are the termination deadlines already in the contract, such as the inspection, loan, appraisal, and insurance deadlines. If you terminate properly before the relevant deadline, your earnest money generally comes back to you. After those deadlines pass, ending the contract can put your earnest money at risk.

So when orders change, two questions matter right away:

1. Which termination deadlines are still open?
2. Can the loan still close under its rules?

What contingencies to consider and how earnest money works in Colorado Springs cover those deadlines in more detail.

What the SCRA covers, and what it doesn't

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets service members end a residential lease after receiving PCS orders or deployment orders of 90 days or more. That can help if you're renting in Colorado Springs while you buy. But the SCRA doesn't let you cancel a contract to buy a home. A changed set of orders doesn't, by itself, end a purchase contract.

How I handle it when writing an offer

I rely on the standard contract conditions, the loan conditions, and the deadlines. Part of the process is listening to what matters to the buyer, though. If orders changing is a real risk for you, we can talk about adding a provision to the contract that addresses it. The seller doesn't have to accept it, and any custom wording is worth having an attorney review.

How early to start buying before a PCS covers how to plan your timeline around orders in the first place.

Your options if orders change

• Your spouse or a dependent child will still live there (VA loan): ask your lender whether the active-duty occupancy provision fits, and what certification it needs.
• A termination deadline is still open: you may be able to end the contract and get your earnest money back. Talk with your agent quickly, because deadlines don't pause.
• The deadlines have passed: ask the seller about a mutual release or an extension. Some sellers will agree; they don't have to.
• You still want the home: if you'll keep it after you leave, your lender can tell you whether the loan can be restructured. Keeping a Colorado Springs home as a rental covers using your VA benefit again later.
• Orders change after closing: if you intended to live there when you closed, a later PCS is the kind of change VA expects. Selling or renting when you PCS covers that decision.

Local help in Colorado Springs

Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, and the Air Force Academy each have a legal assistance office that can help service members understand the SCRA and review documents. For a purchase contract dispute, a Colorado real estate attorney is usually the right call.

What could change the answer

• Your loan type and its occupancy rules.
• Whether a spouse or dependent child will live in the home.
• Which contract deadlines have already passed.
• Any custom provision you added to the contract.
• The seller's willingness to agree to a release or an extension.

When to talk with a professional

Call your lender first to confirm whether your loan can still close. Your real estate agent can identify which deadlines are open. A Colorado real estate attorney, or your installation's legal assistance office, can advise on the contract itself and your rights under the SCRA.

Sources

• 38 U.S.C. § 3704(c), VA loan occupancy certification, including the active-duty spouse and dependent child provisions: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/3704
• 50 U.S.C. § 3955, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, termination of residential leases: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3955
• Colorado Division of Real Estate, Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential), CBS1: https://dre.colorado.gov/real-estate-broker-contracts-and-forms
• VA Loan Network, "VA Loan Occupancy Requirements" (summary of VA Pamphlet 26-7, Chapter 3, "reasonable time" guidance): https://valoannetwork.com/va-loan-occupancy-requirements/