Landlords of Linn County suing Cedar Rapids over new rules

The Landlords of Linn County, a group that represents most landlords in Cedar Rapids, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Cedar Rapids.

The lawsuit seeks to either change or eliminate the latest city ordinance which modifies the rules governing landlords and renters in the city.

It's commonly referred to as Chapter 29, and the rules hadn't been changed for many years.  The city said it has been working on the changes for the last few years, with most of the work coming in the last few months.

The ordinance is already in effect since it was published in the city-designated newspaper (the Gazette) in July.

In its essence, the lawsuit says the new ordinance is too vague, and thus unenforceable.

Here are some of the most interesting points -

- Landlords must sign a Crime Free Lease Addendum.  In that agreement, residents, guests or “other persons affiliated with the resident” may not engage in any criminal activity, including simple misdemeanors, on the rental property.  None of those parties may engage in specified crimes within 1,000 feet of the residence.

- If the Addendum is violated, landlords have good cause to terminate a lease and evict a resident.  However, the lawsuit says Chapter 29 states”No proof of conviction is required.”

- Landlords may lose their license to rent property in Cedar Rapids if someone violates the Crime Free Lease Addendum and the landlord acts “Without any notable of reasonable effort at enforcement.”

Landlords of Linn County say those requirements don't come with any guidance, and they raise the following questions:

- Must the landlord evict the renter, or must they just attempt to evict a renter?

- What happens if the court denies the eviction, must the landlord appeal?

- If the ordinance states only that landlords have good cause to evict, what happens if they don't chose to evict a renter?

- If a renter commits a crime and the landlord does not incur harm or hardship because of the crime, the city then becomes the victim.  Why should the landlord pay court costs for eviction filings to appease the city, which is the victim?

- How soon must the eviction action take place?  Is a year too long to wait?

Because of these basic questions, the Landlords of Linn County are asking the city to repeal or change the new ordinance.

We asked the city to respond to these allegations in a story filed a week ago. The city's position is that it disagrees with these interpretations.