Changes to Iowa law lower eviction notice policy from 30 days to three

In 2020, the CARES Act was passed to assist with those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of that legislation mandated that landlords were required to extend eviction notices from three days to 30 days.

In a recent ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, the state has now rescinded the extended eviction notice back to three days. For organizations like The Salvation Army , three days might not be enough time for its assistance programs.

“We have different fundings from grants that pay for people’s rent,” said Kelle Larned, the program and operations director for The Salvation Army of the Quad Cities. “So it depends on what guidelines each grant has, to see who qualifies and what grant (applies.) So it does take a little bit. And (applicants have) tons of paperwork they have to fill out, a lot of documents they have to bring in, and that takes time. It cannot happen in three days.”

Those who were served an eviction notice prior to the change are not guaranteed those 30 days.

“Now that it is no longer required to give a 30-day notice, I would imagine that a landlord could re-serve that tenant with a three-day notice,” said Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane. “It would be a new notice. It would be three days and it would shorten that period down.”

The Salvation Army can’t help with rental assistance until someone has been served with a notice. “Our hands are kind of tied,” said Larned.

The Salvation Army is working with Iowa Legal Aid on a pilot program to offer landlords money to extend eviction notices with the hope to give low-income families more time to pay rent.

“We will offer you (landlords) $500 if you continue the eviction for two weeks,” said Larned. “Give us a little bit more time to run their applications.”

The Salvation Army reported 780 households called asking for rental assistance in January compared to 2024, when that number was 351.

“It is a dire need now, because there is not enough affordable housing in the Quad Cities and people are not making enough money to make their ends meet, because the cost of everything continues to rise,” Larned said.

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