The Construction Counselor

On July 30, 2025, the Iowa Supreme Court granted a landlord’s application for discretionary review of a district court order that affirmed the dismissal of forcible entry and detainer action (FED) against a tenant who was holding over following termination of her lease for failure to cure her nonpayment of rent — based upon that lower court’s interpretation of Iowa’s 30-day peaceable possession bar in a situation where multiple months’ of rent were included in the landlord’s Notice of Nonpayment. The granting of the application is significant, as small claim litigants do not have the right to appeal beyond the district court level. Instead, the Iowa Supreme Court has to affirmatively approve of any appeal of a small claims order to the Iowa Supreme Court or Iowa Court of Appeals, which occurred here. That case is Highgate Ironwood, L.P. v. Jasmine Gant. The landlord is represented by Fredrikson attorneys Jodie McDougal and Michael Currie. Read te landlord’s Application for Discretionary Review (PDF), and the Order granting the application (PDF).

This case seeks clarification on several frequently litigated landlord-tenant issues including the following (1) whether a landlord’s Notice of Nonpayment that contains multiple months’ rent is per se deficient under Iowa’s landlord-tenant statues; (2) whether Iowa’s peaceable possession statute bars an eviction for holdover tenancy when the tenant fails to vacate the leased premises following termination of their lease for failure to cure the nonpayment, where multiple months’ of rent were included in the landlord’s Notice of Nonpayment, and finally, (3) whether a court may raise the peaceable possession statute sua sponte, i.e., on its own and without the tenant raising it.

The facts of this case are as follows: In January and February of 2025, the tenant failed to pay her monthly rent as set forth in her lease agreement with Highgate. On February 14, 2025, Highgate served the tenant with a three-day Notice of Nonpayment of Rent, which contained the unpaid rent for both January and February 2025. The notice advised the tenant:

The tenant did not timely cure during the default period, and the lease terminated three days later, per the Notice. Highgate then filed its FED/eviction action for holdover tenancy under Iowa Code § 648.1(2), noting specifically in its Petition that its eviction action was based upon the tenant unlawfully holding over at termination of her lease. At the eviction hearing, the magistrate judge raised, sua sponte, the affirmative defense of the peaceable possession bar set forth by Iowa Code section 648.18 and entered an order dismissing Highgate’s petition on the basis that inclusion of January rent in the total balance due on the nonpayment notice violated the peaceable possession statute. Highgate appealed the magistrate’s ruling to the district court. April 3, 2025, a Polk County district associate judge affirmed the magistrate judge’s ruling, holding:

The three-day notice should have only been for February delinquent rent. Since the landlord did not take any action in January, that month would fall into the peaceable possession restriction. In this case, since the Defendant demanded rent in excess of the delinquent period, the notice to the tenant was misleading and therefore not enforceable. The Court does agree that the landlord would have the right to terminate that lease agreement, but that does not grant them immediate possession of the property. If that were the case, the concept of peaceable possession would have no [sic] relevance. The landlord would still need to give the appropriate notice of holding over pursuant to Iowa Code Section 562.34.

Highgate then filed its application for discretionary review (PDF).

Importantly, two Iowa Court of Appeals decisions, Des Moines RHF Housing, Inc. v. Spencer, 919 N.W.2d 768 (Table), No. 17-1465, 2018 WL 3057604, at *1 (Iowa Ct. App. June 20, 2018) and AHEPA 192-1 Apartments v. Smith, 810 N.W.2d 25 (Table), No. 11-0167, 2011 WL 6669744, at *6–7 (Iowa Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2011), have implicitly affirmed Highgate’s practices in this case, as described in detail in Highgate’s Application for Discretionary Review. In granting Highgate’s application for review, the Iowa Supreme Court will decide these crucial issues, which will impact every landlord-tenant relationship in the state.

This article will be updated once all written briefs are submitted and oral argument is set. An opinion is expected sometime in 2026.

If you have questions regarding landlord-tenant law in Iowa, please contact Jodie McDougal and Michael D. Currie.