So you want to be a landlord? Sure, you've got rights under Iowa law. So do tenants.

Elaine Miller, a real estate agent, knows well the importance of keeping up a property.

But the last two go-rounds she’s had with tenants living in her Urbandale duplex make her worry about her investment and whether Iowa landlords get a fair shake when tenants violate leases.

One tenant she ousted last year allowed smoking, Miller says, though the lease clearly prohibited it. The tenant also welcomed a live-in boyfriend, not on the lease, who broke down a door and was charged with domestic assault, she says.

Yet Miller was forced in civil court to return most of that woman’s deposit money — but for the broken door.

Miller says she used SmartMove, a tenant-screening service offered by TransUnion, to screen the next woman who moved in, last August. Her rental application asked, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Moneeco Elliston answered, “yes theft 5th Kohls 2017."

But Miller says Elliston turned out to be even more blatant than the previous tenant in violating the terms of her lease, including painting the basement and making several other changes to the unit without permission.

Elliston counters that the changes she made were improvements — or to fix things that already were broken or didn’t work.

A fast-deteriorating situation culminated this month when Elliston, 48, called Urbandale police and alleged that Miller was entering the unit while she was at work. That was followed by a series of terse emails and texts that didn’t resolve anything.

Miller ultimately wrote Elliston saying she could make changes she wanted in the bathroom to make it “livable,” but she had to abide by the lease, allow walk-through inspections every three weeks, and resist more threats or “meltdowns” if she wanted to stay — or they could go to court.

Elliston protested and said there was no reason the landlord needed to inspect her apartment so often and that Miller was invading her privacy. She noted that she’d always paid her rent on time.

Later, in a 2:24 a.m. email, Elliston told the landlord, “I’m ready for you sweetie” and called her a great liar.

“The things you highlighted in my lease, I violated none of them. But once you knew I wanted to move because you made living here soooooo uncomfortable. U attempted to find violations. I got pics from the first day I moved in so. You can have who you want testify. U gunna have a lil surprise in court.”

After Miller served Elliston with notice to vacate, Elliston responded by filing a civil suit, alleging violation of her tenant rights, emotional distress, pain and suffering.

Considering income property? Novices beware

It’s a tempting time to try to become a landlord. Rents are high: $901 on average, according to a market analysis by CBRE-Hubbell Commercial for the first quarter of 2019.

The Des Moines metro continues to experience robust growth and low unemployment. And after an explosion of new apartment development, especially downtown, a slightly weaker rental market is expected to return to normal in 2020 and 2021.

Darcy Valline, Hubbell’s vice president of apartment living, says the metro’s strong economy has meant fewer damaged apartments, fewer evictions and overall “better quality” residents. But the company is also experiencing higher overall expenses for maintenance and upkeep.

“We are paying our associates higher wages to be leasing agents/property managers/service technicians/etc., as well as paying increased costs for third-party businesses on a need-now basis,” she said.

In good times or bad, however, being a landlord can be challenging, said Andrew Lietzow, executive director of the Iowa Landlord Association. Knowing landlord-tenant law, where to go for help and how to work with tenants is critical, he said.

“You don’t want to be an accidental landlord for very long. You want to get educated and learn from people,” he said.

Demand for affordable housing has reached a crisis point in Iowa and across the country, Lietzow said. Yet most prospective renters have no access to training on how to be better tenants to qualify for units.

“With demand for affordable housing so high, the incidence of those with criminal histories is increasing, not decreasing,” he said.

Once someone moves in, landlords are limited by law in how they can deal with tenants they may want to evict. They can’t harass or retaliate against them, change the locks or remove their belongings.

To better screen tenants, landlords are advised to use a reputable, full-scale screening service that provides a nationwide criminal background check, a nationwide eviction check and a credit report, Lietzow said.

Landlord association members can use Contemporary Information Corp. out of California, but that service, like any other, will provide only convictions, he said.

The association also provides members access to forms, including leases, that have been written and reviewed by some of the state’s top landlord-tenant attorneys. And it will cover the first $1,000 in any court fees should those forms fail to protect a member in court.

Landlord, tenant disagree on who's done what

Miller’s lease explicitly called for no painting without permission, as well as no alterations or destruction to the unit. The landlord says she never gave Elliston permission to paint the basement, a bathroom vanity or the bathroom door, but Elliston did so anyway.

Elliston says Miller gave her permission to paint the basement. She admits she painted the vanity and bathroom door without permission, but that was because staining, something the landlord had allowed previously, was too messy.

The two also have bickered about other changes to the unit. Elliston removed blinds and closet doors that she says were broken. Elliston says Miller failed to make some of the repairs she requested, and didn’t reimburse her for new vents she bought.

Miller contacted Watchdog the same week she served Elliston with a 30-day notice to vacate, asking why landlords face such an uphill battle. She says she didn’t enter the unit to spy on Elliston; she entered only with advanced notice for repairs.

“How are you supposed to deal with clients who are abusive and blatant in violating their leases?” she asked. “The best I can hope for is a judgment against her. But it’s really not fair.”

Elliston says her landlord is “full of it” and she sensed when moving in that Miller would be on her case because of the experience with her last tenant.

“She’s been a thorn in my side. It’s always something,” she said. “She can’t just go into my unit whenever she feels like it.”

To date, Urbandale police have treated the dispute as a civil matter.

The two are supposed to go to court in the next month. But Elliston may face difficulty resisting Miller’s attempt to evict her for an entirely different reason.

Court records show Elliston has been convicted of more crimes than she acknowledged on her rental application: multiple counts of theft, assault, disorderly conduct, interference with official acts, possession of crack cocaine and criminal mischief.

Elliston also has been sued in small claims court by credit companies, by Iowa’s Department of Human Services and by another apartment complex for unpaid rent, those records show. She has sued others for harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Elliston says most of her convictions were many years ago when she was younger, and all of them were misdemeanors.

Court records show she has no felony convictions, but she had two more recent theft convictions, in 2011 and 2014, and was convicted of criminal mischief for vandalizing a car at Murray Motors in 2016.

Miller says she never would have rented to Elliston had she reported all her past convictions on her rental application.

She says she had Elliston fill out her information on SmartMove, and still doesn’t know why the convictions didn’t appear on her background check report.

Lietzow says those convictions would likely be enough for Miller to file a seven-day notice for breach of her lease.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.

What you can and cannot do as a landlord

Deposits

Landlords enjoy “substantial discretionary judgment” when it comes to deposits, but what they can collect is limited to an amount equal to or less than two months’ rent.

The landlord must hold security deposits in a secured account and not commingle them with personal funds.

Iowa law requires a landlord to either return the security deposit to the tenant or send the tenant a written statement citing the reasons for withholding any portion within 30 days from the date of a lease termination.

A landlord can withhold a portion to remedy a tenant’s default in payment of rent or other funds; restore the unit to its condition at the beginning of the tenancy, except for ordinary wear and tear; or recover expenses incurred in taking possession from someone who has been notified he or she isn't complying with the rental agreement.

Entering a unit

A landlord has the right to access a unit only as allowed by statute or court order, or if the tenant abandoned or surrendered it.

Chapter 562A provides that a landlord “shall not abuse the right to access or use it to harass the tenant” and, when not impracticable, the landlord shall provide the tenant at least 24 hours’ notice.

A landlord may enter to do the following: Inspect the premises; make necessary or agreed repairs or improvements; supply necessary or agreed services; exhibit the dwelling unit or mobile home space to certain individuals; in the case of an emergency; to make decorations or alterations; when the tenant is absent longer than 14 days; or to remedy a tenant’s noncompliance with the statutory duty to maintain the premises.

Maintaining a unit

A landlord has to comply with applicable building and housing codes affecting health and safety, make all repairs and do what is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.

That includes keeping common areas safe and clean and maintaining electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances supplied by the landlord. This includes having running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times and reasonable heat.

To prove a breach of habitability, the tenant must prove that the premises is unsafe or unsanitary and thus unfit. The landlord is liable for only those injuries that result from a hidden defect if the landlord knew or should have known of the defect.

Rent increases

An apartment tenant must be notified at least 30 days prior, and a mobile home tenant be notified 60 days prior. Rent cannot be increased during the term of a rental agreement.