Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa landlords can no longer use certified mail to notify tenants of eviction hearings, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court said a state law allowing landlords to mail notices of hearings is unconstitutional because certified mail may not arrive in time for tenants to prepare for a hearing. Previously, the law considered service of notice complete when a letter was mailed even if there was no proof it had been received.
The ruling came in the case of Geneva Plummer, who fell behind in her rent to The War Eagle Village Apartments in Sioux City in July 2006. War Eagle management testified they gave Plummer notice that unless she paid the delinquent rent within three days, her lease would be terminated.
The apartment manager testified a certified letter was mailed to Plummer on July 24, 2006, but no attempt at personal service was made. The post office had no record of the letter, but it's believed a first notice would have been delivered to Plummer on July 27. The letter notified her of an eviction hearing on July 31.
Plummer testified she received a notice of a certified letter on Aug. 1 and picked up the letter the following day.
Because she did not attend the hearing, a default judgment was entered against her and she was ordered to move.
Plummer appealed, claiming her due process rights under the Iowa Constitution had been violated.
A Woodbury County District Court judge disagreed and ordered Plummer to move from her apartment.
The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court decision.
"We conclude this statutory scheme authorizes a process that is not calculated to give tenants adequate notice of hearings at which their continued occupancy ... will be determined," the court wrote. "This scheme gives the illusion, but not the reality, of due process."
The court also objected to the part of the law that said notice was complete upon mailing.
"Dropping a letter in a mailbox is not notice, yet it is deemed sufficient notice," the court wrote. "It is mere lip service to meaningful notice."
Frank Tenuta, manager of the Iowa Legal Aid office that represented Plummer, said landlords must change how they notify tenants of eviction hearings.
"They no longer can be served by certified mail," Tenuta said. "Landlords will have to rely on other means, usually personal service by either a sheriff's deputy or private processor."
Tenuta said the dispute between Plummer and War Eagle Village Apartments is not unusual, but he believes the case was the first of its kind to reach the Iowa Supreme Court.
"We've been working on this issue for a long time," he said.
William G. Deck, the attorney for the apartment complex, said he had not seen the ruling and declined immediate comment.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
