HF 866 (LSB 2769HZ (1) 89)

HOUSE FILE 866

BY  COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 843)
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 253)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to landlords and tenants, including service animal requirements, rent late fees, forcible entry and detainer property disposal, and peaceable possession, and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    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 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.
   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 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.
    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.
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-tenant law. The bill provides that the request of a person for an accommodation of a service animal must be reasonable under the circumstances and that the landlord can accommodate the person by relocating the person to another housing unit managed by the landlord.
   The bill provides that for rental agreements where rent is more than $700 but less than $1,400 per month, late fees shall not exceed $20 per month. Late fees for rental agreements where rent is at least $1,400 or more per month shall not exceed 2 percent of the rent per day or 10 percent of the rent per month. This provision of the bill applies to rental agreements whose lease terms begin on or after January 1, 2022.
   The bill provides that if a landlord willfully enforces provisions prohibited by Code section 562A.11(1) in a rental agreement, the tenant may recover actual damages. Under current law, a tenant may recover actual damages if the landlord willfully uses prohibited provisions.
   The bill provides that any personal property left on the landlord’s property after the defendant’s removal from a forcible entry and detainer disposition may be disposed of by the landlord.
   The bill provides that a bar to a proceeding from a tenant’s peaceful possession with landlord notice does not apply to landlords who have notified a tenant in writing of a breach of financial obligation under the rental agreement and the landlord’s intent to enforce the obligation.