Iowa eviction law

If rent is unpaid when due, you may end the rental agreement if the tenant does not pay within three days after your written notice of the nonpayment and of your intention to terminate the agreement if the rent is not paid within that time.

Iowa Code § 562A.27(2)

• Serve the notice by delivery acknowledged in a signed and dated writing by a resident of the unit who is at least 18, by personal service, or by posting it on the primary entrance door and mailing it by both regular and certified mail. First-class mail alone, certified mail alone and electronic delivery are not among the allowed methods. Iowa Code § 562A.29A
• When a notice is posted and mailed, service is complete four days after it is mailed and postmarked, so count the tenant's three days from then. Iowa Code § 562A.29A(2)

For any other material noncompliance with the rental agreement, or a noncompliance with the tenant's upkeep duties materially affecting health and safety, give written notice specifying the acts and omissions and stating that the agreement will end on a date at least seven days after the tenant receives it if the breach is not remedied within seven days. If substantially the same act or omission happens again within six months, you may end the agreement on at least seven days' written notice specifying the breach and the termination date, with no chance to cure.

Iowa Code § 562A.27(1)

• A breach that can be remedied by repairs, paying damages or otherwise does not end the agreement if it is adequately remedied before the termination date in the notice. Iowa Code § 562A.27(1)
• If the tenant, or a person on the premises with the tenant's consent, creates or maintains a threat constituting a clear and present danger to the health or safety of other tenants, you, your employees or agents, or other persons on or within 1,000 feet of the property, you may serve a single three-day written notice of termination and notice to quit. The notice must state the specific activity and set out the language of subsection 3 of that section. Iowa Code § 562A.27A(1) Iowa Code § 562A.27A(3) See Emergency calls and victims on the Iowa page
• Accepting performance that varies from the rental agreement or your rules waives your right to end the agreement for that breach. You may grant a temporary waiver for a set number of days by notice of the breach and of the waiver, given before the tenant acts or fails to act in reliance on it. Iowa Code § 562A.30(1) Iowa Code § 562A.30(2)
• Serve termination notices only in the ways section 562A.29A allows. Iowa Code § 562A.29A See Notice for unpaid rent on the Iowa page

An eviction is an action for forcible entry and detainer under Iowa Code chapter 648, brought in a county where all or part of the premises is located. The court steps are not described here: the review this page relies on recorded only the venue rule from chapter 648, and the small claims chapter was not read.

Iowa Code § 648.5

• Before filing, end the tenancy with the right notice: three days for unpaid rent, seven days to cure other breaches, or three days for a clear and present danger. Iowa Code § 562A.27(2) Iowa Code § 562A.27(1) Iowa Code § 562A.27A See Notice for unpaid rent on the Iowa page
• In a possession or rent case the tenant may raise your noncompliance as a defense, which this page does not summarize beyond the repair defense for unpaid rent. Iowa Code § 562A.24 Iowa Code § 562A.27(4)

You may not recover or take possession of the unit by action or otherwise, including by interrupting electric, gas, water or other essential service, except after abandonment or surrender or as chapter 562A permits. This page does not summarize the tenant's remedies for an unlawful ouster, exclusion or diminution of service; they are in Iowa Code 562A.26, which the review this page relies on did not record.

Iowa Code § 562A.33 Iowa Code § 562A.26

A landlord's lien on a tenant's household goods is not enforceable, and distraint (seizing property) for rent is abolished. This page does not state how to handle personal property a tenant leaves behind: the review it relies on recorded no rule for it.

Iowa Code § 562A.31

• When a tenant abandons the unit, you must make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental. Iowa Code § 562A.29 See Ending a lease early on the Iowa page

You may not retaliate by increasing rent, decreasing services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession after the tenant has complained to a government agency about a building or housing code violation materially affecting health and safety, complained to you about a violation of your repair duties, or organized or joined a tenants' union or similar group.

Iowa Code § 562A.36

• A tenant who is retaliated against may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees and has a defense in an action for possession. Iowa Code § 562A.36
• A good-faith complaint within one year before the alleged retaliation creates a presumption that your conduct was retaliatory, unless the tenant complained after notice of a proposed rent increase or reduction in services. Evidence that your legitimate costs of owning, maintaining or operating the unit have gone up is a defense to the presumption for a rent increase in line with those costs. Iowa Code § 562A.36
• You may still bring an action for possession when the code violation was caused mainly by lack of reasonable care by the tenant, a household member or a person on the premises with the tenant's consent, when the tenant is behind on rent, or when complying with the code requires alteration, remodeling or demolition that would effectively deprive the tenant of use of the unit. Iowa Code § 562A.36