3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Lease Terminated for Residential Property
Sec. 562A.27 -- Noncompliance with rental agreement--failure
to pay rent:
1. Except as provided in this chapter,
if there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement
or a noncompliance with section 562A.17 materially affecting health and
safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying
the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement
will terminate upon a date not less than seven days after receipt
of the notice if the breach is not remedied in seven days, and the rental
agreement hall terminate as provided in the notice subject to the provisions
of this section. If the breach is remediable by repairs or the payment
of damages or otherwise and the tenant adequately remedies the breach prior
to the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement shall not terminate.
If substantially the same act or omission which constituted a prior noncompliance
of which notice was given recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate
the rental agreement upon at least seven days' written notice specifying
the breach and the date of termination of the rental agreement.
2. If rent is unpaid when
due and the tenant fails to pay rent within three days after written
notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate
the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time,
the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.
3. Except as provided in this chapter,
the landlord may recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for noncompliance
by the tenant with the rental agreement or section 562A.17 unless the tenant
demonstrates affirmatively that the tenant has exercised due diligence
and effort to remedy any noncompliance, and that the tenant's failure to
remedy any noncompliance was due to circumstances beyond the tenant's control.
If the tenant's noncompliance is willful, the landlord may recover reasonable
attorney's fees.
4. In any action by a landlord for
possession based upon nonpayment of rent, proof by the tenant of the following
shall be a defense to any action or claim for possession by the landlord,
and the amounts expended by the claimant in correcting the deficiencies
shall be deducted from the amount claimed by the landlord as unpaid rent:
a. That the landlord
failed to comply either with the rental agreement or with section 562A.15;
and
b. That the tenant
notified the landlord at least seven days prior to the due date of the
tenant's rent payment of the tenant's intention to correct the condition
constituting the breach referred to in paragraph "a" at the landlord's
expense; and
c. That the reasonable
cost of correcting the condition constituting the breach is equal to or
less than one month's periodic rent; and
d. That the tenant
in good faith caused the condition constituting the breach to be corrected
prior to receipt of written notice of the landlord's intention to terminate
the rental agreement for nonpayment of rent.
Sec. 562A.27A -- Termination for creating a clear and present
danger to others:
1. Notwithstanding section 562A.27
or 648.3, if a tenant has created or maintained a threat constituting
a clear and present danger to the health or safety of other tenants,
the landlord, the landlord's employee or agent, or other persons on or
within one thousand feet of the landlord's property, the landlord, after
a single three days' written notice of termination and notice to
quit, may file suit against the tenant for recovery of possession of the
premises pursuant to chapter 648, except as otherwise provided in subsection
3. The petition shall state the incident or incidents giving rise to the
notice of termination and notice to quit. The tenant shall be given the
opportunity to contest the termination in the court proceedings by notice
thereof at least three days prior to the hearing.
2. A clear and present danger to
the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, the landlord's employees
or agents, or other persons on or within one thousand feet of the landlord's
property includes, but is not limited to, any of the following activities
of the tenant or of any person on the premises with the consent of the
tenant:
a. Physical assault
or the threat of physical assault.
b. Illegal use
of a firearm or other weapon, the threat to use a firearm or other weapon
illegally, or possession of an illegal firearm.
c. Possession of
a controlled substance unless the controlled substance was obtained directly
from or pursuant to a valid prescription or order by a licensed medical
practitioner while acting in the course of the practitioner's professional
practice. This paragraph applies to any other person on the premises with
the consent of the tenant, but only if the tenant knew of the possession
by the other person of a controlled substance.
3. This section shall not apply to
a tenant if the activities causing the clear and present danger, as defined
in subsection 2, are conducted by a person on the premises other than the
tenant and the tenant takes at least one of the following measures against
the person conducting the activities:
a. The tenant
seeks a protective order, restraining order, order to vacate the homestead,
or other similar relief pursuant to chapter 236, 598, or 915, or any other
applicable provision which would apply to the person conducting the activities
causing the clear and present danger.
b. The tenant
reports the activities causing the clear and present danger to a law enforcement
agency or the county attorney in an effort to initiate a criminal action
against the person conducting the activities.
c. The tenant
writes a letter to the person conducting the activities causing the clear
and present danger, telling the person not to return to the premises and
that a return to the premises may result in a trespass or other action
against the person, and the tenant sends a copy of the letter to a law
enforcement agency whose jurisdiction includes the premises. If the tenant
has previously written a letter to the person as provided in this paragraph,
without taking an action specified in paragraph "a" or "b" or filing a
trespass or other action, and the person to whom the letter was sent conducts
further activities causing a clear and present danger, the tenant must
take one of the actions specified in paragraph "a" or "b" to be exempt
from proceedings pursuant to subsection 1.
However, in order to fall within the exemptions
provided within this subsection, the tenant must provide written proof
to the landlord, prior to the commencement of a suit against the tenant,
that the tenant has taken one of the measures specified in paragraphs "a"
through "c".
