Iowa Eviction notice (nonpayment)

What notice does a landlord have to give before evicting for unpaid rent in Iowa?

Under Iowa Code § 562A.27(2), if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within three days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement. Subsection (1) sets a separate written-notice process for material noncompliance with the rental agreement or with section 562A.17 that materially affects health and safety, generally giving a date not less than seven days after receipt of the notice to remedy, with a path to terminate upon at least seven days' written notice if substantially the same act or omission recurs within six months. Subsection (4) is a defense in a possession action based on nonpayment of rent if the tenant proves the listed conditions, including that the landlord failed to comply with the rental agreement or section 562A.15, that the tenant notified the landlord at least seven days prior to the due date of the tenant's rent payment of an intention to correct the condition at the landlord's expense, that the reasonable cost of correcting the condition is equal to or less than one month's periodic rent, and that the tenant in good faith caused the condition to be corrected before receiving written notice of the landlord's intention to terminate for nonpayment. Subsection (5) allows a municipal housing agency established pursuant to chapter 403A to issue a thirty-day notice of lease termination for a rental-agreement violation that is a violation of a federal regulation governing the tenant's eligibility for or continued participation in a public housing program, and the agency is not required to provide a right or opportunity to remedy when the notice cites that federal regulation as authority. Example: a private landlord who has not been paid rent must give written notice of the nonpayment and of an intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within three days; the three-day clock in subsection (2) starts from that written notice, not from a different kind of notice.

Verified Source: Iowa Code § 562A.27(2) · last checked 2026-11-12