I've heard that lease laws in Iowa favor the renter, but the information I've found so far has NOT indicated this is true. My landlord no longer allows me to take my kids out to play in the yard in front of our building, he has harassed my friends (making inappropriate comments about one's suxuality, though he himself is gay) and did nothing to fix my windows for ten months (he said they were painted shut, and the painters would come fix them, but they were all just jammed, I had a friend fix them), he also blamed me and never offered to look at the security cameras that he "says" are there when my apartment was almost broken into. On top of all this, my kids and I are in a one bedroom apartment and have found another place to live... but HOW DO I DO IT?

When does your lease expire? Is the front yard common space? Did the police get involved with the almost break in?

What can you prove, what evidence can you hand the judge to prove all of this. In the end, it will end up in front of the judge if you break the lease and the landlord will not let you out without paying a penalty

My lease runs up in September; the front is a common space, and while he did say it was a policy for the building, he has posted no sign and none of the other tenants know about this rule (but there aren't many other people who are out there often). The police did get involved in the almost break in, but I didn't know about these security cameras (that I am not sure are there at all) then, so I didn't ask.

You should have the police request the tapes. Frankly, I think you would have an uphill battle to get out of the lease. So I would just stick it out until sept.