## Facts

- Barbara Flickinger rented an apartment from Mark IV Apartments Association and became delinquent on rent.
- On September 4, 1976, Flickinger returned to her apartment and could not enter because Mark IV had installed a new lock; Mark IV had previously used lockouts to collect rent from her.
- Flickinger left Iowa City without contacting Mark IV and was jailed in another county until November 10, 1976.
- Flickinger’s parents retrieved her children and were allowed to remove the children’s clothing and toys; Mark IV then moved the remaining apartment contents to a locked storage facility.
- In January 1977, Mark IV obtained a small-claims default judgment for $500 in delinquent rent.
- In August 1977, Mark IV told Flickinger by phone that her property was stored and that she could settle the judgment for $200.
- In early 1978, through counsel, Flickinger received notice to remove the property; Mark IV later extended the removal deadline to May at Flickinger’s request.
- Flickinger made partial payments toward the judgment but did not retrieve the stored property after the extension; Mark IV later warned it would donate the items if not removed.
- Flickinger filed a replevin action alleging wrongful detention of her personal property following the lockout and removal to storage.

## Issues

1. Whether a landlord’s self-help lockout and removal of a tenant’s personal property without legal process constitutes wrongful detention supporting replevin.
2. Whether the tenant was entitled to damages for loss of use of the detained property in addition to possession (or value) of the property.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the bench-trial judgment in full.
- The court upheld the determination that Mark IV, without legal process, locked Flickinger out and wrongfully detained her personal property.
- The court upheld the award of possession of the property (or its value) to Flickinger.
- The court affirmed the denial of loss-of-use damages based on the record and the parties’ subsequent dealings concerning storage and retrieval.

## Legal Principles

- Replevin lies when a defendant wrongfully detains another’s personal property by exercising control inconsistent with the owner’s possessory rights.
- A landlord may not use self-help measures, such as lockouts and unilateral seizure of a tenant’s chattels, in place of lawful judicial process.
- In replevin, recovery may include possession (or value) and, when proven, damages for loss of use; loss-of-use damages require non-speculative proof of compensable injury.
- Subsequent agreements, opportunities to retrieve property, and the plaintiff’s delay or failure to mitigate may limit or defeat claimed loss-of-use damages without curing the initial wrongful detention.

## Conclusion

The court held that Mark IV’s lockout and seizure of Flickinger’s household goods without legal process amounted to wrongful detention supporting replevin for return or value, but it affirmed denial of loss-of-use damages because the evidence did not establish a concrete, compensable loss and the later course of conduct supported limiting recovery.


Flickinger v. Mark IV Apartments Ass'n, 315 N.W.2d 794 (Iowa 1982)