Landlord Tenant – Lease Termination – Iowa

562A.34 Periodic tenancy—holdover remedies.

1. The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least ten days prior to the termination date specified in the notice.
2. The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least thirty days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice.
3. If the tenant remains in possession without the landlord’s consent after expiration of the term of the rental agreement or its termination, the landlord may bring an action for possession and if the tenant’s holdover is willful and not in good faith the landlord, in addition, may recover the actual damages sustained by the landlord and reasonable attorney’s fees. If the landlord consents to the tenant’s continued occupancy, section 562A.9, subsection 4 applies.

648.3 Notice to quit. Before action can be brought in any except the first of the above classes, three days’ notice to quit must be given to the defendant in writing. However, a landlord who has given a tenant three days’ notice to pay rent and has terminated the tenancy as provided in section 562A.27, subsection 2, or section 562B.25, subsection 2, if the tenant is renting the mobile home or the land from the landlord may commence the action without giving a three-day notice to quit.

648.4 Notice terminating tenancy. When the tenancy is at will and the action is based on the ground of the nonpayment of rent when due, no notice of the termination of the tenancy other than the three-day notice need be given before beginning the action.

562A.29A Method of notice and service of process. Notwithstanding sections 631.4 and 648.5, the written notice of termination required by section 562A.27, subsection 1, a notice of termination and notice to quit under section 562A.27A, a notice to quit as required by section 648.3, or a petition for forcible entry and detainer pursuant to chapter 648, may be served upon the tenant in any of the following ways:

1. By personal service.
2. By sending notice by certified or restricted certified mail, whether or not the tenant signs a receipt for the notice.