"Evergreen" Provisions

No statutory language available.

Courts in Iowa have held that automatic renewal terms in a lease are enforceable if the perpetual nature of the lease is unmistakable. “In order to be enforceable, a provision for extension or renewal must be definite and certain in its terms, particularly with respect to the duration of the additional term and the amount of rent to be paid. . . . The terms and conditions of a renewal should be specified with such definiteness and certainty that the court may determine what has been agreed upon, and if it falls short of this requirement it is not enforceable.” W.M. Petty v. Faith Bible Christian Outreach Ctr., Inc., 584 N.W.2d 303, 306 (Iowa 1998). Where the renewal clause in a lease leaves the rental open to be determined by a future, mutual agreement of the parties, the renewal clause will likely be deemed to be an “agreement to agree” and therefore unenforceable in Iowa. See Ellis v. City of Le Mars, 817 N.W.2d 495 (Iowa Ct.App. 2012) (holding that the automatic renewal provision in a lease was unenforceable because it did not provide for the amount of the rent, which was an essential term of the contract).