Iowa Eviction Process
Nobody ever said it’s easy being a landlord. Sometimes, it might feel like you’re up to your knees in sewage. Hopefully, the reality is that you aren’t up to your knees in an Iowa eviction process.
While you’d likely hold your property and practices to a high standard, there still may come a time when you will have to evict a tenant from your property. In such a case, there will likely be some gray area to work through. Read on to learn more about the process, limits, and legal requirements of evictions.
Iowa Eviction Process
Regardless of the situation, before starting the eviction process, you need to know the proper rules and procedures. How to evict a tenant can be summarized in 7 steps.
- Understand the Eviction Laws. It all starts with a good lease. Iowa landlords must follow specific state (as well as federal, and often local) rules when it comes to renting to tenants. Landlord-tenant law in Iowa covers everything from questions you include on a rental application to how and when you can increase rent or terminate a tenancy. Failure to comply with your legal responsibilities can lead to costly disputes with tenants and hefty financial penalties. In order for the courts to be on your side, you’ll need to follow the rules closely, and make sure that you do not give a judge any reason to doubt that you are an outstanding law-abiding citizen.
- Have a Valid Reason for Eviction. The eviction notice must state why the tenant is being evicted and give them a specified amount of time to correct the problem. Common reasons to serve an eviction notice on a tenant are non-payment of rent, breaching obligations in the lease, and holdover (the lease is up, and the tenant will not move). Iowa law requires that an Eviction Notice be served before an eviction lawsuit can be filed. The time period for an eviction notice demanding rent is not specified, but the time period in the eviction notice to end a lease is one month from the next date rent is due.
- Try to Reason with Your Tenants. “If it doesn’t look like the law is entirely on your side, or if you just don’t want to spend the time and energy on an eviction case, try reasoning with them.” Landlordology has a very nice script to guide you through this process.
- Give a Formal Notice of Eviction. Give the tenant a written notice or warning. Depending on the offense, there are several appropriate notices to serve the tenant, including as they relate to reasons to evict stated earlier:
3-day notice for non-payment of rent and “clear and present danger.”
7-day notice for lease violation or termination
30-day termination notice
- File Your Eviction with the Courts. To proceed with an eviction, notify the tenant no fewer than three days before the hearing date that the case will be taken to small claims court. The case will be postponed otherwise. The notice can be served by hand, certified mail, or by posting the notice to their door.
Both the landlord and tenant will have the opportunity to present their case in front of a judge.
- Prepare for and Attend the Court Hearing. One of the important steps in how to evict a tenant includes gathering all related documentation and proof of your claim. You’ll want to have the following items at a minimum:
- lease agreements
- bounced checks
- records of payment of any kind
- records of the communication between you and your tenant (phone and email records).
- a copy of the written notice that you provided your tenant
- dated proof that the tenant received the notice (a signature from the tenant, or receipt from the Post Office).
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