Bill Text: IA SF2249 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act requiring that agreements to terminate farm tenancies be in writing. (Formerly SSB 3079.)

Sponsorship: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-06 - Withdrawn. S.J. 639. [SF2249 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-SF2249-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2249 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON
                                     AGRICULTURE

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO SSB
                                     3079)

                                 (COMPANION TO HF 2344
                                     BY COMMITTEE ON
                                     AGRICULTURE)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act requiring that agreements to terminate farm tenancies be
  2    in writing.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 562.6, Code 2016, is amended to read as
  1  2 follows:
  1  3    562.6  Agreement for termination.
  1  4    If an a written agreement is made fixing the time of the
  1  5 termination of a tenancy, whether in writing or not, the
  1  6 tenancy shall terminate at the time agreed upon, without
  1  7 notice. Except for a farm tenant who is a mere cropper or a
  1  8 person who holds a farm tenancy with an acreage of less than
  1  9 forty acres where an animal feeding operation is the primary
  1 10 use of the acreage, a farm tenancy shall continue beyond the
  1 11 agreed term for the following crop year and otherwise upon
  1 12 the same terms and conditions as the original lease unless
  1 13 written notice for termination is served upon either party or
  1 14 a successor of the party in the manner provided in section
  1 15 562.7, whereupon the farm tenancy shall terminate March 1
  1 16 following. However, the tenancy shall not continue because of
  1 17 an absence of notice if there is default in the performance of
  1 18 the existing rental agreement.
  1 19                           EXPLANATION
  1 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  1 21 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  1 22    BILL.  This bill would require parties to a lease for land
  1 23 used in farming to make any agreement terminating the lease in
  1 24 writing.
  1 25    BACKGROUND.  A farm tenancy is a type of lease in which
  1 26 the lessor receives some form of rent from a lessee who uses
  1 27 the leased land to produce crops or livestock.  The relevant
  1 28 statutes refer to the lessee as the "farm tenant" and the
  1 29 farm's tenant's leasehold interest as a "farm tenancy" (see
  1 30 Code section 562.1A).  The lease may be made either in writing
  1 31 or orally.  Generally, all farm tenancies terminate on March
  1 32 1 at the end of the farm tenant's crop year.  However, in
  1 33 order to effectuate the termination, one party to the lease
  1 34 must have given the other party written notice of termination
  1 35 by the previous September 1 (Code sections 562.5 through
  2  1 562.7). Without such timely written notice of the termination,
  2  2 the lease automatically continues, under its same terms and
  2  3 conditions. The following September 1 is the latest date
  2  4 that a party may again exercise a right of termination by
  2  5 written notice effective the following first day of March.  One
  2  6 exception to the written notice requirement allows the parties
  2  7 to agree to the termination either in writing or orally.  The
  2  8 parties may make the agreement any time during the term of the
  2  9 lease, and the agreement may provide for a termination date
  2 10 earlier than March 1.
  2 11    The bill, in part, is a response to the Iowa Court of
  2 12 Appeals' decision in Auen v. Auen, 851 N.W.2d 547 (Iowa Ct.
  2 13 App. 2014).
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