Bill Text: IA HF638 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to landlord remedies and procedures relating to failure to timely pay rent, abandonment, and forcible entry and detainer. (Formerly HSB 116.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-06-12 - Amendment H-8297 filed. H.J. 744. [HF638 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-HF638-Introduced.html

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House File 638 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 638
BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 116)
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to landlord remedies and procedures relating to
failure to timely pay rent, abandonment, and forcible entry
and detainer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 555B.3, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
555B.3 Action for abandonment —— jurisdiction.
A real property owner not requesting notification by the
sheriff as provided in section 555B.2 may bring an action
alleging abandonment in the court within the county where the
real property is located provided that there is no lien on
the mobile home or personal property other than a tax lien
pursuant to chapter 435 . The action shall be tried as an
equitable action. Unless commenced as a small claim, the
petition shall be presented to a district judge. Upon receipt
of the petition, either the court or the clerk of the district
court shall set a date for a hearing not later than fourteen
days from the date of the receipt of the petition , except when
there is a lien on the mobile home or personal property, other
than a tax lien, the court or the clerk of the district court
shall set a date for a hearing no sooner than twenty-five days
from the date of the receipt of the petition so as to allow for
service on the lienholder .
Sec. 2. Section 555B.4, Code 2019, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 4. If a lien, other than a tax lien, exists
on the mobile home or personal property at the time an action
for abandonment is initiated, personal service pursuant to rule
of civil procedure 1.305 shall be made upon the lienholder
no less than twenty days before the hearing. The notice to
the lienholder shall describe the mobile home and shall state
the docket, case number, date, time at which the hearing is
scheduled, and the lienholder’s right to assert a claim to
the mobile home at the hearing. The notice shall also state
that failure to assert a claim to the mobile home within the
judicial proceedings is deemed a waiver of all right, title,
claim, and interest in the mobile home and is deemed consent to
the sale or disposal of the mobile home. If personal service
upon the lienholder cannot be completed in time to give the
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H.F. 638
lienholder the minimum notice required by this section, the
court may set a new hearing date.
Sec. 3. Section 555B.8, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2019, are
amended to read as follows:
2. If Except as otherwise ordered by the court, if the
mobile home owner or other claimant asserts a claim to the
property, the judgment shall be satisfied before the mobile
home owner or other claimant may take possession of the mobile
home or personal property.
3. If no claim is asserted to the mobile home or personal
property or if the judgment is not satisfied at the time of
entry, an order shall be entered allowing the real property
owner to sell or otherwise dispose of the mobile home and
personal property pursuant to section 555B.9 . If Except as
otherwise ordered by the court, if a claimant satisfies the
judgment at the time of entry, the court shall enter an order
permitting and directing the claimant to remove the mobile home
or personal property from its location within a reasonable time
to be fixed by the court. The court shall also determine the
amount of further rent or storage charges to be paid by the
claimant to the real property owner at the time of removal.
Sec. 4. Section 555B.9, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 4, Code
2019, are amended to read as follows:
1. Pursuant to an order for disposal under section 555B.8,
subsection 3 , the real property owner shall dispose of the
mobile home and personal property by public or private sale in
a commercially reasonable manner. If the personal property ,
lienholder, owner or other claimant has asserted a claim to
the mobile home or personal property within the judicial
proceedings , that person shall be notified of the sale by
restricted certified mail not less than five days before the
sale. The notice is deemed given upon the mailing. The real
property owner may buy at any public sale, and if the mobile
home or personal property is of a type customarily sold in
a recognized market or is the subject of widely distributed
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standard price quotations, the real property owner may buy at a
private sale.
2. A sale pursuant to subsection 1 transfers to the
purchaser for value, all of the mobile home owner’s rights
in the mobile home and personal property, and discharges the
real property owner’s interest in the mobile home and personal
property , and any tax lien , and any other lien . The purchaser
takes free of all rights and interests even though the real
property owner fails to comply with the requirements of this
chapter or of any judicial proceedings, if the purchaser acts
in good faith.
3. The proceeds of the sale of mobile home and personal
property shall be distributed as follows:
a. First, to satisfy the real property owner’s judgment
obtained under section 555B.8 .
b. Second, to satisfy any tax lien for which a claim was
asserted pursuant to section 555B.4, subsection 3 .
c. Third, to satisfy any other lien for which a claim was
asserted pursuant to section 555B.4, subsection 4.
c. d. Any surplus remaining after the proceeds are
distributed shall be held by the real property owner for six
months. If the mobile home owner fails to claim the surplus
in that time, the surplus may be retained by the real property
owner. If a deficiency remains after distribution of the
proceeds, the mobile home owner is liable for the amount of the
deficiency.
4. Notwithstanding subsections 1 through 3 , the real
property owner may propose to retain the mobile home and
personal property in satisfaction of the judgment obtained
pursuant to section 555B.8 . Written notice of the proposal
shall be sent to the mobile home owner , lienholder, or other
claimant, if that person has asserted a claim to the mobile
home or personal property in the judicial proceedings. If
the real property owner receives objection in writing from
the mobile home owner , lienholder, or other claimant within
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twenty-one days after the notice was sent, the real property
owner shall dispose of the mobile home and personal property
pursuant to subsection 1 . If no written objection is received
by the real property owner within twenty-one days after the
notice was sent, the mobile home and personal property may be
retained. Retention of the mobile home and personal property
discharges the judgment of the real property owner , and any tax
lien , and any other lien .
Sec. 5. Section 562A.9, subsection 4, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
4. For rental agreements in which the rent does not exceed
seven hundred dollars per month, a rental agreement shall not
provide for a late fee that exceeds twelve dollars per day or a
total amount of sixty dollars per month. For rental agreements
in which the rent is greater than seven hundred dollars per
month but less than one thousand four hundred dollars per
month , a rental agreement shall not provide for a late fee that
exceeds twenty dollars per day or a total amount of one hundred
dollars per month. For rental agreements in which the rent is
at least one thousand four hundred dollars per month, a rental
agreement shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds two
percent of the rent per day or a total amount of ten percent of
the rent per month.
Sec. 6. Section 562B.10, subsections 4 and 7, Code 2019, are
amended to read as follows:
4. For rental agreements in which the rent does not exceed
seven hundred dollars per month, a rental agreement shall not
provide for a late fee that exceeds twelve dollars per day or a
total amount of sixty dollars per month. For rental agreements
in which the rent is greater than seven hundred dollars per
month but less than one thousand four hundred dollars per
month , a rental agreement shall not provide for a late fee that
exceeds twenty dollars per day or a total amount of one hundred
dollars per month. For rental agreements in which the rent is
at least one thousand four hundred dollars per month, a rental
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agreement shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds two
percent of the rent per day or a total amount of ten percent of
the rent per month.
7. a. If a tenant who was sole owner of a mobile home dies
during the term of a rental agreement then that person’s heirs
or legal representative or the landlord shall have the right
to cancel the tenant’s lease by giving sixty days’ written
notice to the person’s heirs or legal representative or to
the landlord, whichever is appropriate, and the heirs or the
legal representative shall have the same rights, privileges and
liabilities of the original tenant.
b. (1) If a tenant who was sole owner of a mobile home dies
during the term of a rental agreement resulting in the mobile
home being abandoned as provided in section 562B.27, subsection
1, and the landlord cannot, despite due diligence, locate such
tenant’s heirs or legal representatives, then the landlord may
bring an action for abandonment as provided in section 555B.3,
naming as defendants the estate of the tenant and any and all
unknown heirs of the tenant and, upon the landlord’s filing
of an affidavit that personal service cannot be had on any
heir, legal representative, or estate of the tenant, the court
shall permit original notice of such action to be served by
publication pursuant to subparagraph (2) of this paragraph.
(2) Publication of the original notice shall be made
once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the county where the petition
is filed, as provided in rules of civil procedure 1.313 and
1.314. Service is complete after the third consecutive weekly
publication.
(3) In the event any tax lien or other lien exists on
the mobile home, the landlord may proceed with an action for
abandonment as provided in section 555B.3, except that:
(a) Notice shall be provided to the county treasurer as
provided in section 555B.4, subsection 3, if a tax lien exists.
(b) Personal service pursuant to rule of civil procedure
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1.305 shall be made upon any lienholder no less than twenty
days before the hearing.
(4) Any notice to a lienholder shall state that failure
to assert a claim to the mobile home is deemed a waiver of
all right, title, claim, and interest in the mobile home and
is deemed consent to the sale or disposal of the mobile home.
If personal service upon the lienholder cannot be completed
in time to give the lienholder the minimum notice required by
subparagraph (3), the court may set a new hearing date.
Sec. 7. Section 648.5, subsection 1, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
1. An action for forcible entry and detainer shall be
brought in a county where all or part of the premises is
located. Such an action shall be tried as an equitable action.
Upon receipt of the petition, the court shall set a date,
time, and place for hearing. The court shall set the date
of hearing no later than eight days from the filing date,
except that the court shall set a later hearing date no later
than fifteen days from the date of filing if the plaintiff
requests or consents to the later date of hearing. The
requirement regarding the setting of the initial hearing is not
a jurisdictional requirement and does not affect the court’s
subject matter jurisdiction to hear the action for forcible
entry and detainer.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill relates to landlord remedies and procedures
relating to failure to timely pay rent, abandonment, and
forcible entry and detainer.
Current law caps late fees on rental agreements in which
rent is greater than $700 per month at $20 per day and $100
per month. Current law also allows an aggrieved party to
recover actual damages in certain situations when a prohibited
provision is willingly or knowingly used in a rental agreement.
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The bill allows a rental agreement to provide for late fees
not to exceed 2 percent of the rent per day and 10 percent of
the rent per month when rent exceeds $1,400 per month.
The bill makes changes to the process for an action for
abandonment of mobile homes. The bill extends the time by
which a district court shall set a hearing after receiving a
petition from not later than 14 days to no sooner than 25 days
when there is a lien other than a tax lien on the mobile home
or personal property. The bill provides notice, service, and
publication procedures in an action for abandonment if the
sole owner of a mobile home dies during the term of a rental
agreement.
The bill also makes a procedural change relating to
jurisdiction in actions for forcible entry and detainer.
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