Iowa Code § 562A.27A — IA Code / Title XIV / Chapter 562A / Section 562A.27A
Termination for creating a clear and present danger to others.
Status: in_force

(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 the service of a single three days’ written notice of termination and notice to quit stating the specific activity causing the clear and present danger, and setting forth the language of subsection 3 which includes certain exemption provisions available to the tenant, 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:

(2) (a) Physical assault or the threat of physical assault.

(2) (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. The mere possession or storage of a firearm by a tenant in the dwelling unit that the tenant rents does not constitute a clear and present danger.

(2) (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) (a) 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:

(3) (a) The tenant seeks a protective order, restraining order, order to vacate the homestead, or other similar relief pursuant to chapter 235F, 236, 598, 664A, or 915, or any other applicable provision which would apply to the person conducting the activities causing the clear and present danger.

(3) (a) 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.

(3) (a) 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 subparagraph, without taking an action specified in subparagraph (1) or (2) 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 subparagraph (1) or (2) to be exempt from proceedings pursuant to subsection 1.

(3) (b) 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 paragraph “a”, subparagraphs (1) through (3).

92 Acts, ch 1211, §1; 95 Acts, ch 125, §8, 9; 98 Acts, ch 1090, §71, 84; 2004 Acts, ch 1016, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1101, §2; 2013 Acts, ch 30, §178; 2014 Acts, ch 1107, §15; 2021 Acts, ch 35, §24