Is it okay to have my parents make a legal contract for me to live at their house and then collect BAH?

Yes, you can. But your parents need to understand that if they give you a lease then they have to report the rental income on their state and federal income taxes. If the military did an audit of your lease, and saw it was your parents, they could refer it to the IRS to make sure the lease was for real. If your parents didn't list the rental income there'd be big trouble.

You really do need to be careful... just at our base, in the past 6 months, there have been 3 hugs courtmartials over misuse of BAH.

There is an INTEGRITY issue here. Are you going to pay your parents the entire amount of BAH, as would be written in the lease? If not, then that would be fraud. Let's say you're allowed up to $500 a month BAH. Mom & Dad write the lease for $500, but you only pay them $50 or you pay them nothing, becuase they are not asking for rent. Where exactly does that fall in the Army or Air Force value of integrity? Integrity-Do what is right, legally and morally. NOw, if you are going to pay them the entire amount, then fine. But if you plan on pocketing the money....I'm not sure you really belong in the military. And, I seriously question your parents integrity as well.

Living with parents and collecting BAH is different than a spouse. The conditions are indeed different.

Just an FYI for others: the military is CRACKING DOWN on BAH requirements because of FRAUD from other members.

So here's what you do: you get online and get a lease agreement. It will be a generic one, blanks and everything.

Have mom and dad fill it out for whatever the going rate is for rent in that area for a 1 bedroom apartment, and sign it.

When Finance asks for your rental agreement, you then have something to show them. Doesn't matter if you're paying them the amount shown or if you're paying them a dollar a month, you have the rental agreement.

Doing a legal lease is a wise move. The way I look at is, the military provides you housing (such as dormitory space) -- when they cannot or do not provide that housing to you for whatever circumstances, they substitute the basic allowance for housing to mitigate your additional expenses. There is no minimum amount you are required to spend on rent (or wasn't when I was in). So you are providing your own housing, and they are subsidizing it. If you had rented an apartment for less than your BAH, you would still be entitled to the full BAH.

There are two ways to answer this: a moral answer that goes into philosophical right and wrong and, secondly, the legal answer. I believe that legally if you get a rental agreement for any amount, even a penny, it would satisfy the requirements under the law. This is why you may see DVD/CD clubs, Book Clubs offer their membership and products for an initial payment of one penny. The law states that any "consideration" (translates as payment) constitutes the buyer's agreement to the contract. Sending in the penny puts the buyer in legal agreement to complete the contract. Failing to do so puts him/her at risk of court sanctions. The military might not like it but you would have made a legal contract, even if you were just renting the garage to store your stuff while on tdy/tad. They might try to harass you into giving it up but I think anyone in contract law could set them straight. As long as the BAH program just requires you to have a valid address and be paying some sort of payment, you are golden.

Morally, that is up to you. You have to deal with what you think is right and wrong.

Good luck!

You do not need to provide proof of living space to the military from what I know. We get BAH because we're married, but if you are unmarried I believe you get a bachelor's BAH as long as you have "household goods." Even if you live at your parents, you still have household goods so they have to give it to you. If you need to provide proof of living, it is legal for your parents to write up a lease. Your BAH is dependent on the cost of living in your area, not what it actually costs to live at the place you do. My husband and I get about $1000 for bah but our rent is only $675. I don't believe you can get in any trouble.

Just right up a lease! Room for RENT! Then help your parents out and give them a lil of the BAH!

As a finance clerk for 11 months in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Your parents can draw up a lease to prove you are "paying rent" and you may draw BAH. If you are no married it will be at a single, rate and if you are married it will be at the married rate. The policies are different depending on what branch and what post you are on. I know that Fort Wainwright, you must be E5 with commanders letter or E6 without, if you are going to draw single BAH. If you have any further questions, please contact me.

The question isn't who you are living with or who the landlord is but whether or not you're authorized to live off post. If they provide you barracks space or if you are not on active duty, the answer is no.

If there are insufficient quarters, and you're single, then you may be able to get authorization to live off post and give up your barracks room.

If you are authorized to live off post, then you certainly can get a lease from your parents and pay them rent. And you should be getting BAH anyway.

Do like Jennifer S said. If you get deployed you will need to show you were living off post to get BAH while deployed. Paperwork is all you need, you don't need to show actual payment.

Chad, you are an idiot. She just said she is living with them because of possible deployment, there is nothing wrong with that. Why move into an apartment just to move out again in a month? She could get stuck with a lot of costs for nothing.