MidWestOne Bank, Trustee, Haywood B. Belle Family Trust v. Short's Burger & Shine, LLC, Kevin Perez, and Dan Ouverson

── MidWestOne Bank, Trustee, Haywood B. Belle Family Trust v. Short's Burger & Shine, LLC, Kevin Perez, and Dan Ouverson ── Court: Supreme Court of Iowa Date: May 22, 2026 Category: General In the Iowa Supreme Court No. 24–0763 Submitted February 19, 2026—Filed May 22, 2026 MidWestOne Bank, as trustee of the Haywood B. Belle Family Trust, Appellee, vs. Short’s Burger & Shine, LLC, Kevin Perez, and Dan Ouverson, Appellants. On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, David M. Cox, judge. Decision of Court of Appeals and District Court Judgment Affirmed. Christensen, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Waterman, McDonald, McDermott, and May, JJ., joined. Mansfield, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Oxley, J., joined. Shawn Shearer (argued) of The Shearer Law Office, P.C., University Heights, for appellants. Siobhan Briley (argued) and Benjamin G. Nielson (until withdrawal) of Pugh Hagan Prahm PLC, Coralville, for appellee.  2 Christensen, Chief Justice. I. Introduction. Short’s Burger & Shine, LLC (Short’s) appeals from an order and writ of removal and possession in a commercial forcible-entry-and-detainer (FED) action brought by MidWestOne Bank (MWO). The court of appeals affirmed the rulings of the lower courts, and we do the same. II. Facts. Short’s has held a lease to its premises since May 1, 2011. The lease terms provided Short’s with the option to “renew th[e] lease for 7 additional terms of 3 years each by giving Landlord a written notice of intent to renew at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the term that precedes each such renewal term.” This meant it had a deadline of January 30 of each year to exercise its lease option before the lease was set to expire. The lease had the following additional provisions at issue in this appeal. Short’s would default on the lease if it “failed to engage in its usual and customary business activities on the premises for more than fifteen (15) consecutive business days.” Short’s also could not “make . . . structural alterations or improvements without the prior written consent of the Landlord.” Additionally, the lease provided, “None of the covenants, provisions, terms or conditions of this lease shall be modified, waived or abandoned, except by a written instrument duly signed by the parties. This lease contains the whole agreement of the parties.” From April to August 2022, Short’s closed temporarily to remodel and repair the interior, without written consent from MWO. An individual identified as Garland Rosenbush emailed the Iowa City Press-Citizen to provide a statement regarding its closure. According to Rosenbush’s email, the building  3 was “crumbling” and wasn’t “going to be standing.” Rosenbush relayed that he was in contact with the property owners regarding the structural issues. These statements were published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen. No credible evidence was presented that Short’s informed MWO of its reported concerns with the structural issues of the building, and it was later revealed that “Garland Rosenbush” was actually an alias for one of the two Short’s owners. On May 10, 2022, MWO provided notice that the closure was an event of default under paragraph 16(A)(3) of the lease agreement and demanded that Short’s cease renovations. Short’s responded that it could not open because the natural gas had been shut off during the renovations, and it would not be able to reopen until the renovations were concluded. While Short’s claimed that the natural gas had been shut off because of the condition of the wall where the gas meters were located, other gas meters located on the same wall remained operational. The renovation and repair efforts cost “between $45[,000