Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Iowa District Court Judge rules against City of Cedar Rapids on certain mandated changes in Chapter 29

Tommy Tucker Realty Co. has utilized a Crime Free Lease Addendum for nearly ten years. However, the "Crime Free Lease Addendum" required by the City of Cedar Rapids is a different document and has been ruled out by an Iowa District Judge. We agree with the judge that the City of Cedar Rapids went too far with changes in Chapter 29 in 2010.

Court throws out Cedar Rapids Crime-Free Lease‎ -Eastern Iowa Government
“All portions of Cedar Rapids City Code Chapter 29 which reference or implement the 'Crime Free Lease Addendum' are void and unenforceable,” District Court ...

Court Throws Out Cedar Rapids Crime-Free Lease‎ - KCRG-TV9
Includes video link on a TV9 news story

We received the following e-mail on this breaking news on the lawsuit over the City's Chapter 29 change in 2010:


The Landlords of Linn County have won their District Court lawsuit for
summary judgment against the city of Cedar Rapids. Provisions of the city's
chapter 29 which dealt with the crime free lease addendum were found to be
unenforceable.

The first issue in the lawsuit had to do with use of home
rule power by the city in proposing the rewrite of chapter 29 which broadened
the provisions of the state home rule law. Landlords could have lost their
licenses to operate if they didn't follow the provisions of chapter 29. Here is
what the court said:

"This Court concludes that new Chapter 29 was not
enacted incident to an exercise of an
independent city power. The
independent city power must be something other than the general
police power
granted in the first sentence of §364.1, to “preserve the rights, privileges,
and
property of the city or of it residents, and to preserve and improve the
peace, safety, health,
welfare, comfort, and convenience of its residents”.
Defendant has not identified any
independent power to justify the ordinance
and their reliance on their power to enact housing
safety codes is
misplaced. Because new Chapter 29 violates the limitation imposed by Iowa
Code § 364.1, the Court concludes new Chapter 29 is unenforceable."

The second issue raised by the Landlords of Linn County dealt with the
conflict between the provisions of the state clear and present danger law with
particular provisions of chapter 29. The issue is whether the city could be more
stringent than the state law. Here is the court's findings:

"The grounds
for eviction and the lack of cure provisions in
new Chapter 29 render it
irreconcilable with state law. The conflict between the two laws is
obvious,
unavoidable and not a matter for reasonable debate. The only way to resolve the
conflict between the two is, as the Defendant points out, to choose the
provisions of § 562A.27A
to protect a tenant who has followed the cure
provisions afforded by that statute or who has
committed a crime that is not
enumerated in § 562A.27A. Therefore, this Court finds that the
conflict
preemption form of implied preemption applies to preempt the ordinance in this
case and
provides an additional basis for finding that new Chapter 29 is
unenforceable."

Landlords of Linn County had two other provisions in
their summary judgment argument. The court didn't find their arguments
compelling on the points of the city's ordinance being "vague" in violation of
Iowa's constitution and the argument that the ordinance amounted to a violation
of the "taking" provisions of the Iowa Constitution.
However, the losses on
those points didn't mean anything. Winning on two counts was enough for the
court to find on behalf of the Landlords of Linn County.
We congratulate
this chapter for standing up for their rights. The document should be useful for
any other chapter finding themselves similarily situated.

Joe Kelly
Lobbyist for Landlords of Iowa
We hope the City of Cedar Rapids will consider bringing the community to the table to improve public safety, the delivery of City services and further discussion of housing issues, including affordability and preservation of housing stock through the establishment of a Housing Commission for the City of Cedar Rapids. Realtors, Landlords and others in the community have been recommending such for some time.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The week of July 5, 2011 for Tommy Tucker Realty Co.

We have received several calls either seeking low income rental housing, as well as calls from property owners who have Executive Housing to rent.

Before listing your property to sell, have you considered, whether marketing the property for rent would be better suited in our current housing market?

Over the Holiday weekend, we advertised the following ads:



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Friday, July 1, 2011

We want to salute our Men and Women who serve this Independence Day Holiday!


On behalf of Tommy Tucker Realty Co., we want to thank those who serve our Country. We also want to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable month of July.


It's hard to believe one-half of 2011 is now in the books, as we approach the Independence Day holiday weekend.
Our Rotary Club has begun a new Rotary year, as of July 1, 2011. Thank you to our outgoing President Doug Laird and best wishes to our new President Ted Townsend.


  • July 1 - Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the North

  • July 4 - Our offices will be closed due to Independence Day

  • July 7 - Global Forgiveness Day

  • July 11 - World Population Day

  • July 11 - DAY with the Kernals sponsored by Collins CCU and The Gazette

  • July 13 to July 22 - A Tucker family Homecoming with our special guests Tommy and LaVerne Tucker

  • July 15 - Kernals Game with the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission

  • July 18 - Mandela Day

  • July 20 - Realtor monthly luncheon discussing Chapter 29 Tenant-Landlord Housing

  • July 24 - Parents' Day

  • July 27 - National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

  • July 28 - The anniversary of the beginning of WWI in 1914

  • July 28 - RPAC Grill Out at Noelridge Park Duck Pond Pavilion

We are here to be of service for your property management and general real estate brokerage needs.



  • Buying

  • Selling

  • Like-kind exchange

  • Leasing

  • Property Management

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