Bill Text: IA HF866 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to landlords and tenants, including service animal requirements, rent late fees, forcible entry and detainer court records and property disposal, and peaceable possession, and including applicability provisions. (Formerly HF 843, HSB 253.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-21 - Subcommittee recommends passage. [HF866 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2021-HF866-Amended.html

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House File 866 - Reprinted
HOUSE FILE 866
BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 843)
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 253)
(As Amended and Passed by the House April 15, 2021 )
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to landlords and tenants, including service
animal requirements, rent late fees, forcible entry and
detainer court records and property disposal, and peaceable
possession, and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 216.8C, Code 2021, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 7. A request for accommodation made by
a person under this section must be reasonable under the
circumstances. A landlord may make other accommodations to the
person making the request including but not limited to offering
to relocate the person to another housing unit managed by the
landlord.
Sec. 2. Section 562A.9, subsection 4, Code 2021, 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 ten percent of the rent per
month.
Sec. 3. Section 562A.11, subsection 2, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
2. A provision prohibited by subsection 1 included in a
rental agreement is unenforceable. If a landlord willfully
uses enforces provisions in a rental agreement containing
provisions known by the landlord to be prohibited, a tenant may
recover actual damages sustained by the tenant and not more
than three months’ periodic rent and reasonable attorney fees.
Sec. 4. Section 648.18, Code 2021, is amended to read as
follows:
648.18 Possession —— bar.
Thirty days’ peaceable possession with the knowledge of the
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H.F. 866
plaintiff after the cause of action accrues is a bar to this
proceeding. However, this section does not apply to a landlord
that notifies a tenant in a writing of a breach of a financial
obligation under a rental agreement entered into under chapter
562A and the landlord’s intent to enforce such provision.
Sec. 5. Section 648.22, Code 2021, is amended to read as
follows:
648.22 Judgment —— execution —— costs —— disposal of personal
property —— sealing of court records .
1. If the defendant is found guilty, judgment shall be
entered that the defendant be removed from the premises, and
that the plaintiff be put in possession of the premises, and an
execution for the defendant’s removal within three days from
the judgment shall issue accordingly to which judgment for
costs shall be entered in the judgment docket and lien index ,
and to which shall be added a clause commanding the officer to
collect the costs as in ordinary cases.
2. Any personal property of the defendant remaining on the
plaintiff’s real property after the defendant’s removal under
this section may be disposed of by the plaintiff.
3. In a residential forcible entry and detainer action the
court shall enter an order sealing the court records of the
action not later than three days from the date of the hearing,
or from the date the hearing would have been held as provided
by law, if any of the following occurs:
a. The defendant is found not guilty.
b. By motion or upon the court’s own determination, the
court finds there is no genuine issue of material fact between
the parties.
c. The case is dismissed.
d. The plaintiff does not appear for the hearing.
4. Upon application of a defendant found guilty in a
residential forcible entry and detainer action for nonpayment
of rent, the court shall enter an order sealing the record of
the action, the existence of the petition, all filings and
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H.F. 866
documentation within the case file, and any associated writs of
execution, if all of the following conditions are met:
a. More than five years have passed since the date of the
finding of guilt.
b. The applicant has not been found guilty in a subsequent
forcible entry and detainer action in the five-year period
directly preceding the application.
c. The applicant has not previously been granted a sealing
of a finding of guilt under this chapter within ten years prior
to the application.
d. The applicant has paid all court costs, fees, fines, and
any other financial obligation ordered by the court or assessed
by the clerk of the district court in the case.
5. The application to seal the record of the action shall be
included in the record the defendant wishes to seal, using a
form prescribed by the supreme court.
6. Upon sealing, the existence of the petition, all filings
and documentation within the case file, and any associated
writs of execution shall be removed from any publicly
accessible location under the direction of the judicial branch
or county, as applicable. Notwithstanding chapter 22, records
sealed upon satisfaction of the requirements specified in this
section shall not be available for public inspection except in
one of the following manners:
a. Upon request by the defendant or the attorney for the
defendant by filing a motion in the sealed case.
b. Upon application to the judicial branch using a form
prescribed by the supreme court for scholarly, educational,
journalistic, or governmental purposes only, provided that in
all cases, the names of minor children shall remain sealed
at all times, and that the names and personally identifiable
information of all persons named as defendants or included in
the plaintiff’s petition shall be redacted and remain sealed
unless the court determines that release of such information is
necessary to fulfill the scholarly, educational, journalistic,
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H.F. 866
or governmental purpose of the request.
c. The clerk of court in the county in which an action is
originated shall maintain a record in the aggregate of all
filings and the final disposition of any such actions, to
include dismissal, default judgment, and writs associated with
disposition. The clerk of court shall make available to the
public and report annually such aggregate information in such
a manner prescribed by the supreme court as to protect the
identity of the parties while still providing the public with
information regarding eviction proceedings in the county.
7. Upon sealing, a consumer reporting agency shall
not disclose the existence of, or information regarding,
an eviction action or other civil action sealed or made
confidential under this section or use such action as a factor
to determine any score or recommendation to be included in a
consumer report regarding any person named in such case.
8. Subsections 3 through 7 shall not apply to a money
judgment awarded for an action that was filed with a forcible
entry and detainer action or arising from the same set of facts
and circumstances.
Sec. 6. APPLICABILITY. The following applies to rental
agreements whose lease terms begin on or after January 1, 2022:
The section of this Act amending section 562A.9.
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