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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 421 Modifies Landlord-Tenant Law, Notice Rules, and Eviction Record Sealing
Last action · April 3, 2025: Introduced, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 893 .Sponsor: Shipley
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 421 updates Iowa property law by revising definitions of rent, standardizing mail notice timelines across weekends and holidays, modifying rules for enforcing prohibited lease terms, adjusting procedures, and establishing guidelines for sealing eviction court records.
Changes rules governing how landlords serve legal notices, how long tenants have before an eviction action is barred, and under what conditions residential eviction records are sealed from public view.
- Senate File 421 is introduced during the 91st General Assembly of the State of Iowa by Shipley. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Landlords
Landlords must adjust notice delivery procedures, compliance with prohibited lease enforcement rules, and handling of tenant personal property.
Tenants
Tenants experience changes in notice service timelines, definition of rent, protections against enforcing prohibited lease terms, and new pathways for sealing eviction records.
Key Facts
- Defines 'rent' under Code chapter 562A to include base rent, utilities, late fees, and other payments made under the rental agreement.
- Establishes that mail notice completion excludes the first day and includes the final day, regardless of weekends or federal holidays.
- Prohibits enforcing known prohibited rental agreement provisions rather than willfully using them, allowing tenants to recover actual damages and up to three months' periodic rent.
- Provides that notices delivered by posting on the primary entrance door and mailing to all tenants and unknown parties provide legal notice to all occupants.
Show all 9 facts
- Extends the peaceable possession bar in forcible entry and detainer proceedings from 30 days to 90 days.
- Allows plaintiffs to immediately dispose of a defendant's remaining personal property after removal, excluding mobile homes unless they are the premises.
- Requires courts to seal eviction records within three days if the defendant is found not guilty, the case is dismissed, the plaintiff does not appear, or there is no genuine issue of material fact.
- Sets conditions under which defendants found guilty of nonpayment of rent can apply to seal their eviction records after seven years, provided they meet payment and subsequent offense criteria.
- Mandates that certain eviction record sealing provisions take effect on July 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the bill include in the definition of rent?
When does the peaceable possession bar take effect in eviction proceedings?
Under what conditions must the court seal residential eviction records?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
12 actions- Apr 3, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 893 .
- Apr 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 983 .
- Mar 6, 2025HouseCommittee vote: Yeas, 15. Nays, 6. H.J. 550 .
- Mar 6, 2025HouseCommittee report, recommending passage. H.J. 550 .
- Mar 5, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 4, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
Show 6 earlier actions
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/04/2025 3:30PM RM 19.
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/05/2025 10:00AM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Feb 27, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Thomson, C., Dunwell and Meyer, B. H.J. 464 .
- Feb 27, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 461 .
- Feb 25, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Shipley, Blake, and Westrich. S.J. 357 .
- Feb 24, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Judiciary. S.J. 340 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Eviction Record Sealing Framework
The bill establishes structured timelines and conditions for automatically or upon application sealing residential eviction court records.
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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