What to include in 3 Day Notice to Quit or Cure in Iowa

Question

Here we go! First month's rent rent up front. Second month's rent paid on time. Third month an email to say it would be late. Paid four days late but they didn't pay the late fees. Fourth month was due yesterday. Not paid and no contact from them.

I want to serve them with a 3 day notice to quit or cure. I've found examples online but have a couple of questions.

1. Do I need to cite the legislation code that I'm using?

2. Can I include late fees?

3. I use Cozy for online payments. If they make a partial payment online will it negate the notice to quit?

I'm in Des Moines, IA

Ryan Parnow · Answer

Lots of misinformation in this thread.

@Cornelius Burton @Mitch Coluzzi No, you can not include late fees on your 3 day notice. Nor can you include the previous months rent if it goes past the first of the next month (or the time period when rent is due if its not due on the first).

@Justin Marshall Time of the year has nothing to do with it.  You are not prevented from evicting someone in the winter.

@Rebecca B. 1. Google Linn county iowa sheriff 3 day notice.  They have a form and a process flow map you can use for eviction.  Landlords of Linn County also has a nice guide to evictions.  I suggest you check it out.   2. No you cant include late fees in your 3 day notice.

Mitch Coluzzi · Answer

@Ryan Parnow because you do not charge late fees, or are ignorant of the process in Polk County, does not mean they cannot be charged in a Pay or Quit notice.   If you can find the interpretation anywhere in the code to the contrary, please provide it.  Until then... do not claim I provided misinformation.

To clarify:  Ryan's partially correct response; if you did NOT serve the tenant with a pay or quit notice the month prior to, you SHOULD not include it in this month's pay or quit.  Well... technically, you can but it will likely trigger a 30 day possession;  the total to cure the breach would ONLY be rent (and rent related fees) due this month.  Tenant will have 30 days to come up with the previous month's rent.

Time of year for evictions HAS come into play in the past for us.   Typically, it should not but it strongly depends on the magistrate.   We have also physically evicted someone on Christmas Eve day...  with 6" of snow on the ground.  So...

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Back to late fees:  if charging late fees, be intelligent about it.   If you are serving Pay or Quit on the 2nd (rent due on the FIRST) DO NOT INCLUDE late fees as they have not accrued yet.  If you are provide a grace period until the 6th (5 days), include them.  NOTE:  The 3 day timer does not begin until tenant has received the notice.

Late fees could vary by area and the judge whom reviews; neither in Iowa nor Indiana have I had any problems with including these on the Pay or Quit...  Typically, if you abide by the rules and charge REASONABLE fees on your pay or quit; the magistrate will not have a problem with FED moving forward.  Also, if the tenant pays rent-in-full but NOT the late fees, you still have to accept it (within the three pay period).   You are entitled to your late fees and should then serve a separate notice to cure breach of contract (along with a notice that next late rent will terminate lease agreement)

Late fees are a rent-related charge; for Polk County, the simple $12/day under $700 (max $60) vs $20/day over (max $100) will keep you protected.

To be technical, the FED does not include any monetary valuation and is for the possession of the property only.  The judgement which follows (after you have possession and have determined extent of damages, minus deposit etc) is where you would re-coop any unpaid balances.

The basic requirements for notice are (as I understand them):

•  Include date, address, tenant name
•  State amount of rent due
•  If including late fees,  state amount of late fees
•  Provide total which must be paid by end of period
•  Make clear that the lease will terminate if tenant does not pay within expiration period

Andy Petzold · Answer

We've included late fees on 3day notices in the past but if you don't clearly separate them on the notice it will definitely get thrown out in Linn County. A while back we stopped putting late fees on the 3day notice and started including a second page with a 90day ledger statement.

In Linn County you will absolutely get your FED case dismissed for including anything but the current month's base rent as the amount necessary to cure the 3day notice, hence the need to clearly separate the late fees if you're putting them on there at all. We mail our noticeds certified AND regular AND tag the door then wait 8 days to file the FED, and have had no problems with service from the judges. You can file a little sooner if they sign a copy of the notice for you.

Remember that the FED paperwork needs to be served by a third party (process server, Sherrif, etc...)

We've never had a problem with the time of year being a problem, if necessary we have evicted any time of year.

Justin Marshall · Answer

note the time of year. If you don't have them out by winter you cannot evict til Spring .

Mitch Coluzzi · Answer

You can prompt Cozy to not accept paymend unless in full, I believe.  Upon serving notice I typically require certified funds with personal delivery or pickup (I typically try to pick up).  This gives you a chance to  discuss with them their obligations and also review condition of property.

Make sure you include the full amount due including late fees.  In Iowa it is a prorate over 5 days.  60 under 700 at a max of 12.00 per day and 100 over at a max of 20.00 per day.  Hopefully your lease note this stuff.

It needs to be served properly.  If they'll sign for receipt or response to an email, awesome. Irregardless though send it certified as well.

The first time you do an eviction, use an attorney and ask them to include you on the steps.  Never need one again and you'll have all the standard forms,  processes, etc

Rick Hernandez · Answer

Hello, does anyone know if accepting partial rent in Linn County is bar to filing 3 day notice to pay rent and than to proceed with eviction?  I have a set of tenants where they take turns paying so I get one check one week and another a week or two later.  I also allow for deposits right into my bank account so I am wondering if this is not a good business practice for me.  Thanks in advance.

Chase Keller · Answer

This is a difficult topic for people in different areas to answer, even within Iowa, the counties and the magistrates have different ways of interpreting the law. I have property in 5 different counties and I adjust our service by how each county tends to work. It is very frustrating, but that's how our legal system works. We have an amazing process server in our area and he knows the system inside and out. I deal with serving very little because of him.

Mitch Coluzzi · Answer

@Rebecca B.  send it certified with tracking and also try to get them to sign / date a copy.  You are 100% covered then...   If they are able to pay, they will.    In the interim, research your next step.

I am leaving the office in about 60 mins to go serve a notice,  stopping at the post office then heading to the property...  if they are not home I will tape it to their door.   In my experience, one of the other tenants finds the notice on the door and realizes the "responsible" party did not make the payment on time and immediately remits.

Rebecca B. · Answer

Thanks for all your responses.

I contacted Cozy and they replied promptly. They did advise that I could end the lease. If the tenants then bring themselves current I can extend the lease.

I looked up Linn County Sheriff's site. Good info. Thanks. The Landlord's of Linn County require a password though.

I do have an additional question. How do I serve them? I've read numerous ways ate acceptable.

Personally serving and having them sign an acknowledgement. Posting a notice at the property which also requires notices sent by revaluation and certified mail. Using a server.

What are my options?

Kayla W. · Answer

Hi @Rebecca B. and @Mitch Coluzzi! This is Kayla from Cozy's support team. I wanted to help clear the air about how we deal with partial payments. Cozy doesn't automatically prevent partial payments from tenants, but you can prevent all payments through Cozy by ending the Cozy "lease" if you're in an eviction scenario.

What to include in 3 Day Notice to Quit or Cure in Iowa

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