Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Iowa

We rented an apartment in Iowa in April. Last week, our landlord informed us that she was signing the house back to the bank at the beginning of this week and that our deposit would be forwarded to the bank as our next month's rent. On Friday (9-10), she removed the fridge in our unit and replaced it with another one, as she wanted to keep the original fridge. A few hours later, we discovered it was infested with cockroaches. She refused to get us an exterminator (while she was still legally in possession of the property). I lost $168 in food due to contamination. On Monday (9-13), I spoke with the bank and they informed me that she had not and could not forward our deposit to them. When I contacted our landlord, she agreed to reimburse us for the food and return our deposit, even though she had spent our deposit after receiving it. She is no longer taking any of my calls or returning any of my messages. What do I do now and how much time does she legally have to return our money?


Asked on 9/16/10, 11:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

About all you can do is sue in small claims court but between the filing fees and the limited possibility of recovery from a person in financial distress it does not seem like a good use of your time or money. After all, if she's walking away from the property what interest would she have in paying you?

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Answered on 9/24/10, 6:25 am


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