Graham v. Baker

William and Velda Graham (plaintiffs) sold a piece of agricultural land to Allen and Cindy Henry pursuant to a real estate contract that required annual payments from the Henrys to the Grahams. The Henrys became unable to make the payments, and the Grahams hired an attorney, George Flagg, to whom they granted power of attorney as to the real estate contract. Flagg served a notice of forfeiture upon the Henrys. However, because Iowa law required a creditor to request mediation and obtain a mediation release prior to initiating forfeiture proceedings, Flagg withdrew the notice of forfeiture, and a mediation session was held. At mediation, Flagg refused to cooperate and demanded a release. The mediator did not consider Flagg to have “participated” in the proceedings and asked his supervisors not to issue the release based upon the mediation service’s own standards for assessing whether a party had participated. Instead, the mediation service granted an extra 30 days to attempt mediation. Flagg served a second notice of forfeiture on the Henrys, and they brought an action to enjoin the Grahams from continuing the forfeiture proceedings because they had not obtained the mediation release. The district court granted the injunction, and the Grahams sought a writ of mandamus requiring the mediation service to provide the release. The district court ordered the mediation service to issue the release, and the Henrys appealed.