Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central human resource officials sent a letter on Oct. 6, 2025, for distribution to civilian employees as a way of explaining possible payment interruptions to landlords and other creditors amid the government shutdown. (Tyler Barstow/U.S. Marine Corps)
NAPLES, Italy — Some civilian workers assigned to Navy bases overseas are getting the service’s help explaining to their landlords why their rent may not be paid on time during the partial government shutdown.
On Monday, human resource officials from Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central sent a letter to Navy commands to distribute to their civilian employees for use with landlords and other creditors, the civilian human resources office at Naval Support Activity Naples said Thursday.
It was unclear whether Navy civilian employees in Japan, Guam and other overseas locations would receive similar letters.
There are more than 5,100 appropriated fund civilians working at Navy bases overseas, according to a Defense Department workforce report in June.
The letter explains the circumstances of the shutdown, including that civilian workers won’t receive a paycheck until a federal appropriations bill is passed.
“Pending a prompt resolution of this unforeseeable circumstance, landlords, and all those who may indirectly be affected, should anticipate potential delays in the payment of the monthly rents as stipulated in the lease agreements signed with U.S. civilian personnel,” the letter states.
As soon as funding is approved and paychecks are disbursed, employees will be responsible for promptly paying any rent owed as required by their leases, the letter continues.
“We trust that the community affected will understand the unforeseen nature of these circumstances and the lack of accountability for each tenant for the temporary delay in the fulfillment of their contract obligations,” the letter states.
It was sent to civilian workers at bases in Italy, Spain, Greece, Bahrain and other locations in the EURAFCENT area of responsibility and included a translation into the local language. The letter was not sent to landlords, the Naples civilian human resources office said.
The federal government entered a partial shutdown on Oct. 1 as Congress reached an impasse on an appropriations bill. On Wednesday, the Senate again failed to advance funding bills, continuing the stalemate, CBS News reported Thursday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not call back the House to vote on a separate measure to pay service members, according to the CBS News report.
