1.Notwithstanding section 562A.27 or 648.3, if a tenant has created or maintained a
threat constituting a clear and present danger to the health or safety of other tenants, the
landlord, the landlord’s employee or agent, or other persons on or within one thousand feet
of the landlord’s property, the landlord, after the service of a single three days’ written notice
of termination and notice to quit stating the specific activity causing the clear and present
danger, and setting forth the language of subsection 3 which includes certain exemption
provisions available to the tenant, may file suit against the tenant for recovery of possession
of the premises pursuant to chapter 648, except as otherwise provided in subsection 3. The
petition shall state the incident or incidents giving rise to
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1. Notwithstanding section 562A.27 or 648.3, if a tenant has created or maintained a
threat constituting a clear and present danger to the health or safety of other tenants, the
landlord, the landlord’s employee or agent, or other persons on or within one thousand feet
of the landlord’s property, the landlord, after the service of a single three days’ written notice
of termination and notice to quit stating the specific activity causing the clear and present
danger, and setting forth the language of subsection 3 which includes certain exemption
provisions available to the tenant, may file suit against the tenant for recovery of possession
of the premises pursuant to chapter 648, except as otherwise provided in subsection 3. The
petition shall state the incident or incidents giving rise to the notice of termination and
notice to quit. The tenant shall be given the opportunity to contest the termination in the
court proceedings by notice thereof at least three days prior to the hearing.
2. A clear and present danger to the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, the
landlord’s employees or agents, or other persons on or within one thousand feet of the
landlord’s property includes, but is not limited to, any of the following activities of the tenant
or of any person on the premises with the consent of the tenant:
a. Physical assault or the threat of physical assault.
b. Illegal use of a firearm or other weapon, the threat to use a firearm or other weapon
illegally, or possession of an illegal firearm. The mere possession or storage of a firearm by a
tenantinthedwellingunitthatthetenantrentsdoesnotconstituteaclearandpresentdanger.
c. Possession of a controlled substance unless the controlled substance was obtained
directly from or pursuant to a valid prescription or order by a licensed medical practitioner
§562A.27A, UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT LAW 14
while acting in the course of the practitioner’s professional practice. This paragraph applies
to any other person on the premises with the consent of the tenant, but only if the tenant
knew of the possession by the other person of a controlled substance.
3. a. This section shall not apply to a tenant if the activities causing the clear and present
danger, as defined in subsection 2, are conducted by a person on the premises other than
the tenant and the tenant takes at least one of the following measures against the person
conducting the activities:
(1) The tenant seeks a protective order, restraining order, order to vacate the homestead,
orothersimilarreliefpursuanttochapter235F,236,598,664A,or915,oranyotherapplicable
provision which would apply to the person conducting the activities causing the clear and
present danger.
(2) The tenant reports the activities causing the clear and present danger to a law
enforcement agency or the county attorney in an effort to initiate a criminal action against
the person conducting the activities.
(3) The tenant writes a letter to the person conducting the activities causing the clear
and present danger, telling the person not to return to the premises and that a return to the
premises may result in a trespass or other action against the person, and the tenant sends
a copy of the letter to a law enforcement agency whose jurisdiction includes the premises.
If the tenant has previously written a letter to the person as provided in this subparagraph,
without taking an action specified in subparagraph (1) or (2) or filing a trespass or other
action, and the person to whom the letter was sent conducts further activities causing a clear
and present danger, the tenant must take one of the actions specified in subparagraph (1) or
(2) to be exempt from proceedings pursuant to subsection 1.
b. However, in order to fall within the exemptions provided within this subsection, the
tenant must provide written proof to the landlord, prior to the commencement of a suit
against the tenant, that the tenant has taken one of the measures specified in paragraph “a”,
subparagraphs (1) through (3).