Iowa eviction notices
Iowa’s notices come from two chapters: the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law in chapter 562A, and forcible entry and detainer, or FED, in chapter 648. Pick the one that fits the ground, and keep proof of how you delivered it.
- Unpaid rent: a 3-day written notice of nonpayment and of your intent to terminate if the rent isn’t paid (Iowa Code 562A.27(2)). According to the Iowa Judicial Branch, if the tenant doesn’t pay within three days, you may file.
- Lease or health and safety violations: a notice naming the breach and a termination date at least 7 days after receipt; a tenant who remedies the breach before that date keeps the lease (562A.27(1)).
- Repeat breach: if substantially the same violation recurs within six months, you can terminate on 7 days’ written notice with no cure (562A.27(1)).
- Clear and present danger: a single 3-day notice of termination and notice to quit stating the specific activity, such as an assault or threat, illegal use of a weapon or possession of illegal drugs, and quoting the tenant exemptions (562A.27A).
- Holdover and other grounds: a 3-day notice to quit under Iowa Code 648.3 before filing.
Counting days and delivering notices
The Iowa Judicial Branch says a notice to quit includes weekends and holidays. For notices to quit, Iowa Code 648.3(2) allows three delivery methods: an acknowledgment of delivery signed and dated by a resident age 18 or older, personal service under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.305, or posting on the primary entrance door plus both regular and certified mail. A posted notice must show the posting date.
Mail adds time. A notice to quit sent by mail is complete four days after it is deposited and postmarked, whether or not anyone signs for it (648.3(3)). If you rely on posting and mail, build those four days into your calendar before the three-day period even starts to matter.
Don’t sit on a default. Under Iowa Code 648.18, 30 days of peaceable possession with your knowledge after the cause of action accrues bars an FED action.
Statewide limits in Iowa
Iowa has no just-cause eviction law. A month-to-month tenancy ends on 30 days’ written notice before a periodic rental date, as our Iowa landlord-tenant law page explains along with deposits and late fees. Cities can’t limit rents or require landlords to accept housing choice vouchers.
Clear and present danger cases carry an exemption you must respect. If the dangerous activity was done by someone other than the tenant, and the tenant gave you written proof before you filed that they sought a protective order, reported it to police or the county attorney, or sent a no-return letter copied to police, the tenant can’t be evicted on that ground (562A.27A(3)).
The Iowa FED case, step by step
Two service rules protect the tenant and can cost you a hearing date. No default judgment can be entered if the original notice wasn’t served as the statute requires, and if the hearing comes less than three days after service, the court must offer the tenant a continuance (648.5(5), (6)).
Only a claim for rent or certain related recovery can be joined with the FED, and the tenant can’t counterclaim inside it (648.19).
- File the petition in a county where all or part of the premises is located. The case is tried as an equitable action (648.5(1)).
- The court sets the hearing no later than eight days after filing, or up to 15 days if you request or agree to the later date.
- Serve the original notice at least three days before the hearing: by a signed and dated acknowledgment from a resident 18 or older, or by personal service. After two failed attempts, post it on the primary entrance and mail it by regular and certified mail; mail service is complete four days after postmark (648.5(2), (3)).
- If you served by posting and mail, file affidavits at or before the hearing describing when and how, with copies of what you posted and mailed (648.5(4)).
- At the hearing, outside small claims, the court decides whether a genuine issue of material fact exists. If so, it continues the case for an evidentiary hearing and sets discovery (648.5(7)).
- If you win, the judgment orders the tenant removed and you put in possession, and an execution for removal issues within three days (648.22).
Removal, belongings and the tenant’s defenses
The sheriff carries out the removal, and Iowa Code 648.20 allows it only in the daytime. Coordinate early with the sheriff’s civil office about pets, vehicles and anything hazardous in the unit. A tenant who left property behind can apply to the court, which sets a hearing on what can be removed, when and under what conditions.
In a rent case, a tenant has a defense if you failed to keep the unit fit under 562A.15, the tenant gave you at least seven days’ notice before rent was due of a plan to fix the problem, the reasonable cost was one month’s rent or less, and the tenant made the repair in good faith before receiving your termination notice (562A.27(4)). The repair cost comes off the rent you claim.
Lockouts and retaliation
If you unlawfully remove or exclude a tenant, or willfully cut electricity, gas, water or another essential service, the tenant can recover possession or end the lease and collect actual damages, punitive damages up to twice the monthly rent and attorney fees, under Iowa Code 562A.26.
Retaliation is presumed when you file within one year after a good-faith code complaint, a complaint to you about habitability, or the tenant’s joining a tenants’ union. You can still file if the tenant is in default in rent, if the tenant caused the code violation, or if compliance requires work that would displace the tenant (562A.36).
Federal rules that apply in Iowa
If the building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or takes part in a covered federal housing program, Section 4024(c) of the CARES Act, at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium expired in 2020, but the 30-day text remains in the statute and courts have split on whether it still applies. Serving 30 days at a covered building is the safer course.
Before a default, file the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act affidavit on military service (50 U.S.C. 3931).
Iowa eviction timeline
Contested cases that go to an evidentiary hearing, and service problems, take longer than the statutory schedule.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Rent notice | 3 days, weekends and holidays included | Iowa Code 562A.27(2) |
| Lease violation notice | At least 7 days to remedy | Iowa Code 562A.27(1) |
| Clear and present danger notice | Single 3-day notice | Iowa Code 562A.27A |
| Notice to quit, other grounds | 3 days | Iowa Code 648.3 |
| Mailed notice complete | 4 days after postmark | Iowa Code 648.3(3), 648.5(3) |
| Hearing | Within 8 days of filing, or 15 with your consent | Iowa Code 648.5(1) |
| Service of original notice | At least 3 days before hearing | Iowa Code 648.5(2) |
| Execution for removal | Within 3 days of judgment | Iowa Code 648.22 |
| Removal | Daytime only | Iowa Code 648.20 |
| Bar for delay | 30 days of peaceable possession | Iowa Code 648.18 |
Worked example: the Iowa timeline on a $1,100 unit
Assume an 8-unit building in Des Moines with a unit renting for $1,100 a month, about $36.16 a day. Rent is due Sunday, March 1, 2026. You personally serve the 3-day notice on Monday, March 2; it runs through Thursday, March 5, and you file on Friday, March 6. We assume a $900 attorney fee.
The eighth day after filing is a Saturday, so assume the court sets the hearing for Friday, March 13, with service due by Tuesday, March 10. With judgment that day, the removal order issues within three days, and we assume the sheriff removes the tenant on Monday, March 16. That is 16 days without rent, or $579, and $1,479 with the attorney.
If you agree to a later hearing, up to 15 days after filing, say Friday, March 20, removal moves to about March 23: 23 days, $832 in lost rent and $1,732 in total.
| Scenario | Days without rent | Lost rent | With attorney |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearing within 8 days | 16 | $579 | $1,479 |
| Hearing at 15 days with consent | 23 | $832 | $1,732 |
Alternatives, and selling with a case pending
A short written payment plan before the three days run is often the cheapest fix for a tenant who is worth keeping. When you need the unit back and the tenant is cooperative, cash for keys with a firm daytime move-out date skips the sheriff entirely.
You can sell an occupied Iowa building during an FED. The buyer takes the leases and steps into your position, so give the buyer the notices with proof of delivery, the petition, any judgment and the sheriff’s paperwork, plus tenant estoppel certificates for the other units. Mind the 30-day bar in 648.18 if the case pauses during closing.
Selling your Iowa apartment building to Skyline
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units nationwide, including occupied buildings with problem tenants or evictions in progress. We buy directly and price the building as it is, with the rent roll and any open cases in view.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
