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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 1-857 / 11-0167 Filed December 21, 2011

AHEPA 192-1 APARTMENTS, Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. HARRY E. SMITH, Defendant-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carol L. Coppola, District Associate Judge.

The plaintiff was granted discretionary review of the district court's ruling that its forcible entry and detainer action was barred by Iowa Code section 648.18 (2009). REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Christopher P. Jannes of Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant. Christopher B. Rottler of Iowa Legal Aid, Des Moines, for appellee.

Heard by Danilson, P.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.

2 DANILSON, P.J. This appeal concerns the proper interpretation of a lease and the interplay with federal regulations, Iowa Code section 562A.27A, and chapter 648 (2009). The district court determined this forcible-entry-and-detainer (FED) cause of action accrued at the time of the tenant's physical assault or the threat of physical assault upon other tenants. Consequently, the court found the cause of action was statutorily barred by section 648.18 because the landlord provided the offending tenant thirty-days' notice of termination rather than three-days' notice allowed by section 562A.27A. Because we conclude the tenant did not have thirty days peaceable possession, and federal public policy makes paramount that subsidized housing be safe and crime-free for all tenants, we reverse and remand. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. AHEPA 192-1 Apartments is the operator of an apartment community providing subsidized housing for elderly and disabled persons in Johnston, Iowa. AHEPA entered into a contract with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is subject to applicable federal regulations. When leasing apartments, AHEPA uses the model lease for

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