EVICTION: A court-ordered removal of a tenant from a property where they reside.

Evictions can happen for many reasons. During or at the end of a tenant’s lease term, a landlord can file to legally remove a tenant from their residence for reasons such as nonpayment of rent, violation of the lease agreement, or criminal activity. The most common cause of eviction, typically, is nonpayment of rent.

In many states, clearing a rental balance with a landlord is one of the only options for diverting the threat of eviction once a “notice to quit” has been issued against a tenant. However, because eviction cases disproportionately impact low-income renters, many tenants who are evicted for nonpayment of rent find it difficult to pay back any arrears and have their eviction case dismissed. Consequently, a tenant who is aware that they have not met this requirement will often not challenge an eviction order brought against them. The tenant may then choose not to appear in court, resulting in a default eviction judgment against the tenant, usually in favor of the landlord (NLIHC, 2024).

unevictIA is a Central Iowa research initiative that seeks to reduce eviction rates across Iowa communities. They believe access to eviction data is an integral first step to materializing this vision. Eviction data reveals critical information and patterns about who is being evicted, where evictions are occurring, and the implications for how organizations and public agencies develop solutions to limit the experience of evictions in our community.

See what eviction looks like in your Iowa neighborhood by visiting unevcitIA’s Inertactive Eviction Filing Map. 

According to Iowa Legal Aid, Iowa saw the lowest number of eviction hearings during 2020 and 2021, representing 12,430 and 13,181 respectively. This decrease was the result of the eviction Moratorium and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which allowed renters to keep their housing during the pandemic. The Eviction Moratorium ended in August of 2021 (Iowa Legal Aid).

On September 1, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took action by issuing a temporary national moratorium on most evictions for nonpayment of rent to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The eviction moratorium prohibited a landlord from removing a covered tenant from a residential rental property for non-payment. The Eviction Moratorium ended in August 2021. (NLIHC, 2021).

Source: Iowa Legal Aid

In 2023, 17.7% of Iowans were people of color, yet 41.1% Iowans of color were facing eviction. In Polk County, 27% of the population identified as a person color, but 47.1% were facing eviction.

Women make up 49.9% of Iowa’s population, yet 68.7% of tenants facing eviction are women.

People with disabilities also face disproportionate impacts in eviction. Iowa Legal Aid found that in 2023 only 8.4% of Iowans identified as having a disability, but they made up 38.7% of tenants facing eviction.

Eviction expungement is a process that allows eviction filings in specific circumstances to be removed from public record (eg, after a certain amount of time, in cases that are resolved out of court). Landlords are often advised to deny potential renters who have had prior evictions. In Iowa, an eviction and a dismissed eviction filing look exactly alike in someone’s public record. (Homeward)

Once an eviction has been filed with the court, the filing can follow an individual for years, making it more difficult to obtain and maintain future housing as a renter. Eviction filings pose a threat to individuals because they appear during background screenings. Landlords often utilize background screenings through third-party screening companies during the application process, which can result in outdated and inaccurate or misleading information about applicants being shared with landlords. As a consequence, property owners and landlords often reject applications from prospective tenants whose screening reports reveal eviction filings, regardless of the outcome or circumstances surrounding the filing. (NLIHC) 

Eviction record sealing and expungement protections are effective interventions for minimizing the impacts of eviction. While eviction record sealing and expungement protections do not prevent evictions from occurring, these protections can be used to reduce the threat of housing instability for many renter households. For low-income and marginalized renter groups, sealing and eviction protections, especially those that limit public access to eviction records, can ensure that tenants who have faced eviction lawsuits are not forced into undesirable and unsafe living situations. It is imperative that state and local lawmakers work to enact protections for tenants that address evictions in all forms and at all stages of the eviction process (NLIHC)