The new renter's ally: Student Legal Services

by George Sweeney

For many students, a first apartment fulfills a long-held desire for independence. Escaping the supervision of the dorms, they long for a place they can finally call their own. But for some, the freedom of their first apartment is marred—because the independence of apartment life also means they bear responsibility, legal and financial, when dealing with landlords.

At the same time, a potential asset for students sits mostly unused.Of the UI’s 29,000 students, Student Legal Services serves only 1,300 of them every year, and not all complaints stem from landlord-tenant disputes.

“It’s free coverage,” said Greg Bal, the attorney who leads University of Iowa Student Legal Services. Bal added that not many students enlist his group’s help before signing a lease; they mostly ask for help only after encountering problems.

“A lot of landlords, not all, try to do whatever they can to take advantage of students’ lack of knowledge of the law,” he added

Bal said sometimes landlords hurt students through what he called “unconscionable provisions” in leasing contracts, like clauses that put an unreasonable amount of liability on renters for damage done to property. An example Bal gave was if a passer-by threw something through an apartment’s window, clauses exist in some leases that make renters liable.

Provisions like this are illegal, Bal said, and could be eliminated if a student brought their lease to Student Legal Services before signing it.

SLS can help students most effectively by examining leases before renters sign them, he said. But once a student signs a lease, it is difficult to absolve students of their responsibility, he added.

But once a student enters a contract they believe is unfair, SLS might still be able to help, by assisting them in drafting letters of complaint to landlords, or by educating them about what their real rights are.

If a provision is illegal, it still may be possible for a tenant to escape their obligation to it, even if it’s part of a contract they agreed to, Bal said.

Even while students have Student Legal Services’ help available to them, they still must be vigilant.

“Some landlords lie to tenants,” Bal said, mostly to convince tenants they hold more liability than they actually do.

Lindsey Walters, a senior journalism major at the University of Iowa, said Student Legal Services helped her avoid getting ripped off by a landlord.

“They helped us a lot,” Walters said about her and her roommates. After a tornado severely damaged her apartment in April 2006, their landlord told them to continue to live in the apartment, which had a tarp in lieu of a roof.

Walters said that Student Legal Services helped them file complaints in small claims court to get their deposits back.

Student Legal Services can also help students draft complaints to landlords if a student thinks a landlord is not fulfilling the obligations outlined in the lease, Bal said. He added while there are no guarantees of whether such a letter can be effective in convincing a landlord to act a certain way, a well-written letter is far better than other alternatives, like accepting a landlord’s instructions.

But Bal said many renters are wronged before any paperwork is involved. In what he called a “bait and switch” practice, he said some renters agree to a lease before even seeing the space they’ll inhabit for a year or more.

Even though a landlord may assure a potential renter that the show space is similar to the one the renter will live in, differences sometimes exist, he added.

Students should ask to see the same space they’ll be living in, Bal said.

Bal also said the intricacies of real estate law offer renters advantages about which they might not know. For example, if a landlord fails to pay back a deposit 30 days after the end of a lease, the tenant is entitled to 100 percent of the deposit, regardless of damage done to the space. But to take advantage of this technicality, a tenant must provide a forwarding address to the landlord.

Bal said students must take other steps toward protecting themselves from being wronged by a landlord, like inspecting the apartment before moving any of their possessions into the rented space. Checklists for inspections are available at Student Legal Services.

“Take pictures, find every little thing,” he said.

Renter's insurance

by Margaret Boyd

UI senior Cody Kenkel has a Dell desktop computer, a flat-screen TV, a queen-sized bed, an Xbox 360, and a closet full of clothes. The contents of his apartment bedroom are representative of the contents in the room of a typical college student. The difference between Cody Kenkel’s stuff and that of many other UI students is that his possessions are protected by renters’ insurance.

Kenkel said he has rented apartments in Iowa City for three years, and this is the first year he has invested in renters insurance or “even thought about it, for that matter.” This year, Kenkel bought renters’ insurance because his landlord required it.

Kenkel’s landlord, John Faselt, owns five rental properties in Iowa City. He is one of the few landlords in the area that requires his tenants to buy renters’ insurance.

“An apartment owner only pays to insure their building and the land that the building stands on,” said Theresa Weeks, a State Farm Insurance agent. “The only way a landlord is responsible for damaged tenant property is if it is the result of landlord negligence [or failure to maintain the property].”

“It’s in the best interest of the tenant [to buy renters’ insurance]. My insurance does not cover loss of property,” Faselt said. “A lot of renters don’t really understand that it is in their best interest, like if there was another tornado, for example.”

A basic renters’ insurance policy costs around $15 per month and will protect damaged, stolen or destroyed personal property. The policy will cover damage of possessions due to smoke, fire, wind, and water.

UI senior Sam Gold has had experience with all four kinds of damage that put renters’ insurance to use.

In October, Gold was displaced from his 804 N. Dubuque St. apartment for two days by a fire that began in a grill on a fire escape. Last year, the April 13 tornado ripped the roof off of his apartment building and many of Gold’s belongings were damaged by rain.

Gold had renters’ insurance on neither occasion. Luckily, most of Gold’s possessions were covered by an extension of his parents’ homeowners’ insurance.

Doug Myrick, agency executive for Insurance Policy Centres LLC, 521 Highway 1 west, said most students have $5000 to $10000 in belongings with them while they’re away at school.

As Gold could attest, an incident that could result in damaged property is not as improbable as most renters may think. However, according to Weeks, just 25 and 50 percent of tenants buy renters’ insurance nationwide.

“It’s not far-fetched to assume that in comparison to the number of rental properties in Iowa City the number of people who buy renters insurance is low,” Myrick said.

There are currently there are 30,209 students enrolled at the UI for fall 2007, according to the University of Iowa registrar’s office. There are 5,407 spots for students to live in dorms. That leaves 24, 802 students who live off campus. That number added to any non-student renters forms a substantial rental market.

Myrick said one reason why many renters do not buy insurance is because it is not legally mandated.

“If you buy house, the bank says, ‘You’re going to have insurance on this house,’” he said. “If you buy a car, it says, ‘You’re going to have insurance on this car’.”

However, a landlord can require renters’ insurance as part of a lease. Of the 20 rental companies and landlords contacted in the Iowa City area, only three, including Faselt, said that they require their tenants to have renters’ insurance, though the majority of landlords said that they recommend it.

Former UI student Brianna Waldorf bought renters insurance this year because her lease for Seville Apartments required it.

Seville Apartments, Emerald Court, Westgate Villas, Parkside Manor Apartments, Park Place Apartments, and Scotsdale Apartments are all owned by Barker Apartments. To move into an apartment owned by Barker, a tenant must have a renters’ insurance policy within 24 hours of signing a lease.

Susan Dozark, the apartment manager at Emerald Court, said that there was a specific incident that led to the inclusion of the renters’ insurance lease condition.

She said that a few years ago, some students left a pan of grease on the stove that started a fire. The fire caused burn damage in the apartment and water damage in the apartment below it.

“It was a mess, but they had renters insurance,” Dozark said. “It just affirmed the fact that renters insurance is needed.”

Renters’ insurance information is available at most rental company offices, but a major rental company that requires tenants to have renters insurance is hard to come by. Barker Apartments seemed to be the exception for large rental companies.

As an independent landlord, Faselt does not own as many properties as most of the larger rental companies.

“I guess other companies don’t care as much,” he said.

Alternatives to renting

by Brent Johnson

Life as a renter can come with many pitfalls in Iowa City. Rolling her eyes as she began a list of her own grievances, RaeAnn Nordmeyer leveled her anger at one particular apartment she rented in 2002.

“In the middle of winter, [AUR Managements] decided to paint all the woodwork in our apartment,” Nordmeyer said of 806 E. College St. “It took them a day or two to finish it. There were horrible fumes, which gave us headaches and made us sick, and we really couldn’t open the windows, so we stayed with other people.”

But Nordmeyer, like some Iowa City residents, has given up on large management companies and apartment complexes in favor of other alternatives such as landlords who rent out one property instead of dozens. Many are even buying houses without long-term plans to live in them.

With her fiancé, Nordmeyer, a 28-year-old high school English teacher and University of Iowa graduate student now rents a two-bedroom house at 1117 Ash St. in a quiet middle-class neighborhood near Kirkwood campus. Nordmeyer said that she hit it off right away with her landlord, who bought this house but then moved in with her boyfriend somewhere else. When it was discovered that Nordmeyer was a teacher, she said, and would probably make good tenet, the landlord decreased the rent by $200 and changed the lease to allow cats.

“She seemed like my kind of person,” Nordmeyer said, “and she reminds me of my mom.”

Although renting remains a popular option especially for younger residents who might move more frequently, many have done away with leases and purchased their own homes.

In 2005 Darcy Burnett, 29, moved back to Iowa City after years of wandering the globe. In addition to Chicago and Kansas City, she spent several years teaching English in exotic locales such as Japan, Korea and India. When the time came to find a place in Iowa City, Burnett said that she was fed up with renting – especially considering one of her last Iowa City rentals nearly ten years ago.

“The place wasn’t well kept by the company that owned it,” Burnett said before her shift as a bartender at the Deadwood. “There were so many cockroaches. It was really bad – and we didn’t leave food out.”

Instead, Burnett took the money she saved in Korea and bought a house. She settled on the first property she looked at, an aged two-story home built in 1910. One alluring aspect of this building, she said, was the separate upstairs apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom, allowing her to rent it out. Now a landlord to her friends, she is able to use the extra money to fix appliances such as a furnace and pay off bills that as a renter she never encountered.

“I hadn’t planned on taking more than one tenet but it made sense,” Burnett said. “I can pay off my mortgage, save money and give my friends a cheap place to live.”

Burnett learned through trial and error that homeownership involves a unique set of problems, usually unknown to many renters. During her first tax season, she did not save enough money, causing some financial strain. Now everything is much smoother, and the benefits for Burnett outweigh the additional responsibility.

“I prefer to be on my own and take care of everything,” Burnett said. “The biggest reason to buy is to be more in control of your own life.”

Generally, there are many perks that result from purchasing a home, said Jeff Bill, vice president of the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors, which oversees ethics and business practices for its members. For taxes, he said, you can write off the interest on mortgage payments, and you personally gain more equity with each payment unlike a rental. In Iowa City, Bill said, property values have consistently appreciated in value throughout the years.

And he added, “It’s the American dream to own a home.”

Although homeownership endures as a matter-of-course for many renters, economic forecasts for the housing market have turned bleak within the past year. According to the Global Insight, which provides worldwide analysis of market conditions, in 2008 nationwide home sales are predicted to decline by 10 percent, and foreclosures on homes are expected to increase by more than 1.4 million.

In Iowa City, Bill said, homeowners can typically expect to make a profit after three years, but nothing is certain. A house’s profitability depends on market conditions and how well the property is maintained, he said.

“I’m aware of the market, but it’s not a huge concern for me. It’s still better than renting,” said Josh Newman.

Five years ago Newman, 32, a job coach at Goodwill Industries, bought his first home from his landlord who wanted to get rid of the place. Because he was 27 years old, he had some apprehensions about such a major commitment.

“I thought it was crazy because I was a single guy,” he said. “But the payments were $100 less [each month] than when I was renting the place.”

After two years, Newman said that the neighborhood was going downhill so he sold his house at 311 Douglas St. for a profit of $7,000.

During this time Newman saw a for-sale sign at 442 W. Benton St. and quickly decided to purchase this single story, two-bedroom home since it was so close to downtown. Once again he forwent a real estate agent and made the arrangements himself by going to the bank for a credit check, which procured for him a 30 year mortgage. From start to finish, he said, the process took less than 2 months. He also found a roommate to alleviate expenses.

Although Newman spent $200 on a housing inspector for his first house, he went with his intuition on the second one – a decision that Jeff Bill does not recommend.

“Hire a professional home inspector and make sure you know what you’re buying,” Bill said. “Also, go along with the inspector so you learn more about the house – how to check the furnace and how to check the insulation in the attic.”

Although Newman now must pay property tax and insurance as well as unexpected bills such as a new furnace and a new sewer line, he is still enthusiastic about his decision to move beyond renting.

“I’m better off than I use to be,” Newman said. “I try to talk people into it. I felt like I had to make that jump. I just hit that age.”

An apartment for your car: parking in Iowa City

by Morgan Ottier

Ryan Fisher’s mother waited in a sweltering hot line all day August 9 so Ryan could have a spot to park his car in for the year. Fisher, a 22-year-old student, explained his mother needed to do this for him because he was traveling that day.

“It’s first come, first serve…if you’re not there that day waiting in that long line you probably won’t get a spot.”

Fisher paid $920 for his spot at Key West Apartments on South Gilbert St for the entire year. The apartments and the rental parking spaces are managed by Apartments Near Campus.

“I need the spot so I can drive home to Illinois conveniently so I expected to pay,” Fisher explained.

Underground parking is the only renter parking available for Fisher’s building, but first time renters should realize all of their options.

Students can choose to purchase parking from their rental company, one spot or multiple parking spots may be included in their monthly rental fee, or they can choose to look for free spots or street spots, in which case they should be aware of ticketing and time of day that they are allowed to park.

Brenna Derksen, a 22-year-old student pre-med student who cannot afford the extra thousand dollars to park her car, decided against renting a spot even though she drives her car every day.

“I can get my car towed eight times before it would equal the amount I’d have to pay for an outdoor spot never mind an underground spot.”

Derksen’s apartment is managed by Apartments Downtown and the building on South Gilbert St, named The Villas, offers outdoor parking for $750 for the entire year. She parks in the rental spots outside her apartment that she knows have not been purchased by anyone. Derksen’s strategy has worked out fine so far.

“I have only been towed once this year. It was during the few days that people spend in line fighting for a spot . . . probably because the rental companies want to prove how important they think it is to rent a spot from them.”

Derksen explained that her roommate rented a parking spot last year while living at Cornerstone Apartments on Dubuque St., but did not this year for the same reason as Derksen.

An employee of Apartments Downtown, who would rather remain anonymous, explained the dates to begin renting parking spots begin around move in times in August. If renters decide not to rent parking, they might be out of a solid parking option.

“The price for parking in some places can fluctuate [from year to year],” explained the employee. “But this is obviously due to the demand in certain buildings related to the amount of parking spaces offered.”

Apartments Downtown also claimed that those who think they are “beating the system” by parking in empty spots or possibly other people’s spots, may be fooling themselves,

“We send people out all the time to check lots and make sure no one is parking in un-rented spaces . . . and chances are, other renters may not be happy about it either. They have a right to get illegal parkers towed as well.”

The Apartments Downtown employee also claims that the management company will warn tenants with a reminder on their windshields that they will be towed if they continue to park illegally.

Towing is done through an Iowa City Police towing phone number, (319) 356-5275, and Big 10 University Towing usually handles the job.

“Roughly half the calls we get are for renter parking spots and the caller specifies if they want the person in their spot to be ticketed or towed,” explains Sgt. Troy Kelsay of the Iowa City Police. “Sometimes property managers or on-site managers call, but it’s usually renters.”

Big 10 University Towing charges $70 for a standard tow, $15 per day of outside storage, and $25 per day of inside storage.

For Apartments Downtown, an Assigned Parking Agreement must be signed by renters on the date of renting their spot to receive a parking sticker, which assigns the vehicle to its proper stall or outdoor space. On the Agreement it states that non-tenants must pay an additional $120 above the actual cost.

“The additional $120 is to ensure that tenants have priority in purchasing a spot,” explained the Apartments Downtown employee.

The Agreement from Apartments Downtown also explains that motorcycles, scooters and mopeds must purchase their own parking spaces and are not to share a stall or spot with another vehicle of any kind.

A section on the Parking Agreement is devoted to parking stickers and their proper use, which is how Apartments Downtown enforces their parking regulations.

It’s important to pay attention to parking agreement regulations for this specific purpose because, in the case of Apartments Downtown, if a person’s sticker is located in an incorrect area on their car, they are subject to towing just as an illegal parking would be.

Not all management companies issue the same rules when it comes to parking.

Tim Furman, manager of Cruise Properties at 2700 E. Washington St. in Iowa City, explains that most of his units have one to two free parking spaces that are basically paid for within the monthly rent instead of in one lump sum.

“Several properties have extra spaces that we rent out for the year and no one is required to buy extra spaces if they don't want to.” Furman explains. He goes on to explain that like most rental companies “spaces are leased on a first-come, first-served basis but with priority being given to people who have already lived or are living at the property.”

There is no deadline to rent a spot under Cruise Properties but all the spaces are usually rented before leases start in August. If someone wants to purchase parking later in the year, which Furman says rarely happens,

“I just pro-rate the rent for the remaining time meaning, if someone rented a space in November that normally cost $600 I would only charge them $450 because three months had already passed.”

Like Apartments Downtown, all towing is done through the Iowa City Police towing line. But Furman explains that Cruise Properties only tows people parked in spots that violate city code, like in front of dumpsters or no parking signs:

“It’s the job of the renter who’s spot is being parked in to tow that person . . . for other violations, Cruise Properties tries to give a few written warnings.”

A little differently from Apartments Downtown, Furman explains he will sign parking leases with non-tenants after communicating with his tenants and making sure they don’t want to purchase them. This is done at no extra cost.

Cruise Properties also finds stickers to be more of a hassle than a help, so he trusts his tenants to work out parking situations on their own.

Public parking lots and garages around Iowa City are another option for monthly, quarterly, or annual permits. Some public lots who offer this option are: the Chauncey Swan parking garage on Washington St, the Court Street Transportation Center, or outdoor lots at City Hall or the Recreational Center.

Prices for these lots and garages are comparable to any apartment rental management company with annual fees ranging from $684 for an outdoor spot to $855 or $912 for a parking garage spot.

Beth Montgomery, the parking customer service representative at the City of Iowa City Parking office, explains that it may be more difficult to reserve one of these spots then it is through an apartment management company.

Montgomery claims that to reserve a spot, people should get on the wait list five to six months prior to need.

Iowa City's biggest renter?

by Marcus Schulz

The owners of Apartments Downtown Management Company were the highest taxpaying apartment owners in Iowa City in 2006.

According to the city assessor’s annual report, James A. Clark ranked third on Iowa City’s list of top taxpayers, after Mid-American Energy Company and ACT Inc. Clark owned property with an assessed value at $26.8 million in 2006, up from nearly $20 million in 1997, according to an Iowa City assessors report. The tax rate in Iowa City is about $36 per $1,000 of assessed value. Johnson County Treasurer Thomas Kriz said that Clark would be paying approximately $967,320 in taxes.

Clark’s business is listed as apartments. Created as Associated University Realty Inc. on August 29, 1972, Clark’s corporation has switched names several times. In 1987, the company adopted the name AUR Downtown Apartments. The company changed its official name to DTA Iowa City Inc. on August 1, 2003, and immediately switched again to Apts. Downtown Inc. on September 1, 2003.

Between 2003 and 2004, Apartments Downtown added several names that it could also use to do business. These include Apartments Near Campus, Iowa City Maintenance, AUR Downtown Apartments and Associated University Realty.

Harry Davis of the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office said that companies sometimes have multiple names when they participate in different types of business. He said that Clark’s company remains one legal entity.

Apartments Downtown manages properties owned by many different partnerships, most of which are listed under members of the Clark family, which includes James’ wife, Loretta, and three sons, Bryan, Joseph and Jeffrey. Partnerships are defined by Iowa Code as "an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners of a business for profit…” Registration with the state is not required for a partnership, and it may be as simple as an oral agreement between two people. Partnerships are created to conduct the business and affairs, or to act for, the co-owners of a certain property.

Iowa City Assessor Dennis Baldridge said that all of the property owners’ tax bills go to the same address at 414 E. Market St., which is also the location of Apartments Downtown. Doing business through multiple names does not affect the property taxes the company pays.

Along with Clark’s apartment companies, several of his projects are known to Iowa City residents. The new Writers Square at the corner of Linn and Market streets, home to TSpoons coffee house, RSVP card shop and many apartments, was completed in November. The Key West Condominiums that are occupied by Falbo Brothers Pizza, Sam’s Pizza and the Liquor House, was also recently built by Clark.

A different kind of property owner

by Jacklyn Kaeding

Driving east on Burlington Street, amidst the successive stop lights and business signs, the Sheraton Hotel slowly moves from sight to expose its neighbor – the modern, lofty, steel constructed Plaza Tower.

Its metallic tone, however, is illuminated by the icicle lights that hang from each and every balcony. The building’s tenants are not the ones responsible for the holiday lights. They were provided and hung with care by an unlikely source – the building’s owner, Marc Moen.

Moen, being the man commonly referred to in Iowa City as a real-estate powerhouse, owns dozens of prominent buildings within the area. One thing that may come as a surprise to those who don’t know him is the fact that he personally purchases and hangs icicle lights for his tenants.

But those who do know him wouldn’t expect any less.

“This is a guy worth over $100 million, and here he is hanging Christmas lights,” says George Etre, one of Moen’s long time renters.

Etre, who previously lived in the Whiteway apartment above Joseph’s Steakhouse, another Moen-owned building, has resided in one of Moen’s newest and most successful buildings, the Plaza Tower, since it was constructed in 2006.

It has been Moen’s personal relationships with his tenants and his hands-on approach that keeps Etre coming back, he says. And it’s not just him.

“The repeat customers are how [Moen] makes his money,” says Etre. “People want to come back because of that X-Factor.”

That X-Factor may as well include the Y and the Z. Apart from Moen’s light-hanging, he is revered by tenants as the man who they can call to come personally fix anything, count on to invite them to his Christmas party, give personal tours of his buildings for prospective buyers, and, most importantly, almost always guarantee a full refund of a security deposit.

“With security deposits we bend over backwards to refund,” says Moen. “A security deposit is meant to cover real damage. From an economic point of view it may not make sense, but our goal is to refund every tenant of every deposit.”

A goal that would be a nightmare for some landlords in Iowa City. In 2000 alone, Apartments Downtown made $7 million off of security deposits.

Moen’s definition of damage proves to be different.

Moen and his co-manager, Bobby Jett, employ a cleaning worker for a modest fee, and offer the tenant with the choice to clean their living quarter themselves, deduct the fee from the deposit to have it done for them.

Small items that the tenant forgot to clean, like an oven for example, would gladly be taken care of free of charge, says Moen. Only large damages would be taken into account, such as a hole in the wall or a broken window.

This rare desire of pleasing the customer over making money is what Etre says earns Moen his repeat customers – a feat other Iowa City landlords seldom accomplish.

Moen’s buildings holding these recurring customers range from commercial to residential.

Some of the commercial buildings include restaurants like The Mill, and Graze. Other residential buildings consist of the Woodlawn apartments on Evans Street, the Blackstone apartments on Dubuque, and Brewery Square on 123 North Linn.

These are three of many residential buildings owned by Moen, ranging in price from $620 to $2,500 a month.

The higher scaled prices of Moen’s residential properties are worth the money, says Etre.

“[Moen’s] places are secluded and exclusive. People like it, that’s why they pay.”

The exclusive nature of the apartments and lofts is what draws Moen’s primary customer-base: young professionals and older tenants.

Moen’s goal for student apartments that separates them from the rest caters to those wanting to live in a quieter setting. The apartments primarily appeal to single or couple tenants, providing single bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms.

His apartments and penthouses range from 400 to 3,000 square feet.

With the private nature of his residential buildings, Moen believes he has achieved a certain “niche” within the predominantly student populated downtown Iowa City.

Another contributor to the Moen buildings’ exclusive character is his screening process.

“Not only is he selective in people he rents to, but the properties he buys,” says Etre.

Moen and Jett are so selective about the properties they own, that they, themselves, live within their walls. Initially it was above Mondo’s restaurant, now Joseph’s Steakhouse, on Clinton Street. Currently they live in their loft found in the Plaza Towers.

“Our motto really is if the apartment isn’t good enough for live in it ourselves, then it’s no good,” says Jett.

Jett and Moen have been living together in their own buildings for fifteen years. The two are partners in business and domestically.

Their close working relationship, Jett says, provides an advantage for their practice.

“I’m the more laid back ‘whatever.’ I also get too involved,” says Jett. Marc is much more direct and serious.”

Jett says their personal traits allow them to assume different roles within their business. Moen being the one to lay down the law and terminate a lease, and Jett the one to “hold a hand,” or simply patch things up when it comes to his tenants.

The two assume the same responsibilities, however, when it comes to personally managing all of their buildings. Those responsibilities being leasing, meeting with clientele and occasionally their parents, read emails and answer calls, taking care of waiting lists, sending out renewal letters, and giving tours to those interested in buying.

The long list of tasks isn’t too overwhelming for Moen and Jett, however. Their desire to personally manage all of their buildings far outweighs the paper work and maintenance tasks.

“Once you hire out a manager you lose control, and you’re one step away from your tenants,” says Jett.

This hands-on approach is what gives Moen and Jett their respected reputation, a characteristic often overlooked in the business world.

Aside from the personal involvement, Moen has also come to make his company synonymous with another groundbreaking attribute – his innovative collection of old and new buildings.

Moen’s first investment was the side by side duplex on 412 North Dubuque Street, located next to City High School. The building was in shambles when Moen purchased it, and it was the first brick house to have ever been built in Iowa City. Now he has added modern creations like the Plaza Towers to his wide array of buildings.

“The mixture of stark, new buildings next to historical buildings is intriguing and beautiful,” says Moen.