Iowa Eviction Notice Forms – PDF Templates

3 Day Notice (Non-Payment of Rent)	3 Day (Clear and Present Danger)	7 Day Notice to Cure	30 Day Notice
3 Day Notice

Under Iowa State Law, property owners can terminate rental agreements before they expire if the tenant fails to pay the rent, violates the lease, creates a nuisance, or presents a danger to other tenants or the owner.

Iowa Eviction Process

• 1. Notice

Before the landlord can evict a tenant, he or she has to give notice. To do so, landlords must personally deliver a written document to the tenant stating the reasons why the tenant will be evicted and how much time the tenant has to correct the issue before an eviction will proceed. If the tenant is not available, owners can send notice by certified mail. The notice period will not begin until four days after the postmark.

• 3-day notice of nonpayment of rent
• 3-day notice of “clear and present danger”
• 7-day notice to cure
• 7-day notice of lease termination with no right to cure
• 30-day termination notice
• 3-day notice to quit

For evictions based on other reasons, landlords must give seven-day notices. If the rental is month-to-month, the landlord may evict without giving a specific reason, but the notice must be 30 days in advance.

• 2. Forcible Entry and Detainer Action

The next step is to file a Forcible Entry and Detainer Action (FED) with the court clerk, if the tenant failed to comply with the notice or leave the property. The FED will state a time for the tenant and owner to appear in court to determine who should have possession of the property. Owners must present copies of all previous notices and certifications of service of the notices when filing the FED. The sheriff or a process server will then serve the FED, and the hearing date may be as soon as three days after the FED’s service to the tenant.

• 3. Hearing

The tenant must appear at the hearing or else the judge will issue an Order of Possession, which will enable the landlord to obtain a Writ of Removal if the tenant has not left three days after the issuance of the Order. The Writ authorizes the sheriff to physically remove the tenant after a certain period. Filing the Writ with the sheriff requires a fee.

The tenant may appear to court and offer a number of defenses, for example, that the owner had not made the premises habitable according to law, which requires certain standards for heating in the winter and proper plumbing. Otherwise, the tenant could bring the rent to court to persuade the landlord to stop the eviction, or attempt to show that the lease was never violated.

Sources

• https://www.scottcountyiowa.com/sheriff/evictions.php