MIMG CLXXII Retreat on 6th, LLC v. Nathan Williams and Parties in Possession

• Court: Supreme Court of Iowa
• Decided: January 24, 2025
• Docket: 23-0672
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Iowa Supreme Court

No. 23–0672

Submitted December 17, 2024—Filed January 24, 2025

MIMG CLXXII Retreat on 6th, LLC,

Appellant,

vs.

Nathan Cortez Williams and Parties in Possession,

Appellees.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Lars G. Anderson,

judge.

Reversed and Case Remanded.

Per curiam.

Mark E. Weinhardt (argued) of The Weinhardt Law Firm, Des Moines, for

appellant.

Patrick Bigsby (argued), Melanie N. Huettman, and Alexander V. Kornya

of Iowa Legal Aid, Des Moines, for amicus curiae Iowa Legal Aid.

Jodie C. McDougal and Jackson G. O’Brien of Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.,

Des Moines, for amici curiae Greater Iowa Apartment Association; Iowa

Manufactured Housing, Association; Landlords of Iowa, Inc.; Central Iowa

Property Association; Dubuque Area Landlords Association, Inc.; Fort Dodge

Area Landlord’s Association; Iowa City Apartment Association, Inc.; Landlords of

Linn County; Marshalltown Rental Property Association; Muscatine Landlord

Association, Inc.; North Iowa Landlords Association; Pottawattamie County

Landlord Association; Siouxland Rental Association, Inc.; Southeast Iowa 2

Property Owners; Wapello County Area Chapter Landlords Association; and

Conlin Properties, Inc. 3

This case involves the same questions that were decided in MIMG CLXXII

Retreat on 6th, LLC v. Miller, ___ N.W.3d ___ (Iowa 2025). In May 2022, Nathan

Williams entered into a residential lease for an apartment owned by MIMG

CLXXII Retreat on 6th, LLC (The Retreat) in Cedar Rapids. Williams defaulted as

to rent and was served with a three-day notice to quit in December. The Retreat

then brought a forcible entry and detainer action in the small claims division of

the district court. See Iowa Code §§ 648.1, .22 (2022). Williams did not appear

at the hearing. However, because The Retreat qualifies as a “covered dwelling”

under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the

magistrate concluded that a thirty-day notice was required and dismissed the

case. See 15 U.S.C. § 9058. The Retreat appealed and the district court affirmed.

We granted The Retreat’s application for discretionary review. We invited Iowa

Legal Aid to file an amicus brief and to argue in support of the decision below.

Iowa Legal Aid did so.

For the reasons set forth in Miller, we now reverse the judgment of the

district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with Miller.

This opinion shall not be published.