Can You Recover Rent Paid If the Landlord Didn’t Pay the Mortgage in Iowa?

This question came to us from one of our users in Iowa:

Can you recover rent paid if the landlord didn’t pay the mortgage in Iowa? I was renting from a friend who was supposed to be paying it to the mortgage company instead she was pocketing the money in the last year I have gotten 2 foreclosure notices on the house for her so I moved is there anything I can do get some of the money back? It was almost 17 grand.

Yes, a landlord’s failure to pay their mortgage, resulting in threats of eviction to the tenant, would likely qualify as a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment. A tenant may be able to enforce their right to Quiet Enjoyment against their landlord by filing a lawsuit, refusing to pay rent, and terminating their lease, depending on the severity of the violation and other factors.

What is the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment?

The Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment is an implied agreement that is part of every lease in Iowa. The Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment is a landlord’s implied promise that the tenant will be able to enjoy quiet and peaceful possession of the premises. In short, no one should be allowed to interfere with the tenant’s use of the lease premises.

A tenant should be allowed to enjoy their leased premises without people coming in and disturbing them.

What are some examples of violations of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment?

A common example of a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment is a landlord or their employees entering the tenant’s leased premises without giving them adequate notice (usually, a 24-hour notice must be given to the tenant before entering the premises).

Another example is allowing the tenant to be harassed by other tenants. Finally, preventing the tenant from using their leased premises by locking them out of the premises or removing them from the premises would be a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment.

Are threats of eviction from the landlord’s mortgagor a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment?

Likely yes, regular threats of eviction are a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment. Threats of eviction for reasons outside of a tenant’s control can create severe anxiety and an inability to enjoy the property based on valid fears of impending eviction.

Further, an actual eviction by the landlord’s mortgagor would certainly result in a violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment by the landlord.

What are a tenant's potential remedies for a landlord’s violation of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment?

It is true that a tenant can enforce their right to Quiet Enjoyment against their landlord by filing a lawsuit, refusing to pay rent, and terminating their lease. However, what action they are allowed to take is generally controlled by the severity of the interference.

One letter warning that the landlord is deficient on their mortgage payment and eviction may result is less severe interference than many letters threatening to evict the tenant and giving a specific date that eviction will occur.

Actual eviction is even more severe than either of these. Actual eviction would certainly allow the tenant to bring legal action, refuse to pay rent, and terminate their lease. However, threats of eviction may not entitle a tenant to take terminate the lease entirely.

If a tenant takes an action more severe than their interference, then the court may still find the tenant at least partially liable for their breach of the lease agreement. There is a significant amount of nuance to this that may require the expertise of a legal professional.

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Designed for general information use only. The content above does not constitute legal advice or the formation of an attorney/client relationship.