Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 657A - Abandoned or Unsafe Buildings -- Abatement by Rehabilitation

• abandonment: means that a building is vacant, or is occupied only by trespassers, and in violation of the housing code or building code of the city in which the property is located or the housing code or building code applicable in the county in which the property is located if outside the limits of a city. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Building: means a building or structure located in a city or outside the limits of a city in a county, which is used or intended to be used for commercial or industrial purposes or which is used or intended to be used for residential purposes and includes a building or structure in which some floors may be used for retail stores, shops, salesrooms, markets, or similar commercial uses, or for offices, banks, civic administration activities, professional services, or similar business or civic uses, and other floors are used, designed, or intended to be used for residential purposes. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• clerk: means clerk of the court in which the action or proceeding is brought or is pending; and the words "clerk's office" mean the office of that clerk. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interested person: means an owner, mortgagee, lienholder, or other person that possesses an interest of record or an interest otherwise provable in property that becomes subject to the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to this chapter, the city in which the property is located, the county in which the property is located if the property is located outside the limits of a city, and an applicant for the appointment as receiver pursuant to this chapter. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Livestock: includes but is not limited to an animal classified as an ostrich, rhea, or emu. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Neighboring landowner: means an owner of property which is located within five hundred feet of property that becomes subject to the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to this chapter. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• official: means the person appointed by the city or, if the building is outside the limits of a city, the county, to enforce its building codes and regulations in general or to enforce this chapter in particular. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• Owner: includes a person who is purchasing property by land installment contract or under a duly executed purchase contract. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Public nuisance: means a building that is a menace to the public health, welfare, or safety, or that is structurally unsafe, unsanitary, or not provided with adequate safe egress, or that constitutes a fire hazard, or is otherwise dangerous to human life, or that in relation to the existing use constitutes a hazard to the public health, welfare, or safety by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, obsolescence, or abandonment. See Iowa Code 657A.1
• real property: include lands, tenements, hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Iowa Code 651.1
• security: includes , but is not limited to, a certificated security, an uncertificated security, and a security account. See Iowa Code 633D.2
• State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Iowa Code 633D.2
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• undertaking: means a promise or security in any form. See Iowa Code 4.1