An Iowa rental agreement is a legal contract between a landlord overseeing a rental property and a tenant using the property. Iowa landlord-tenant law governs and regulates these agreements.
Iowa Rental Agreement Types
Iowa Required Residential Lease Disclosures
- Landlord’s Name and Address (required for all leases) – Iowa leases must contain the name and address of the landlord or authorized agent. This allows required communication (for example, about repairs) to happen in a smooth way. Typically includes additional contact information, such as phone numbers and email addresses.
- Shared Utility Disclosure (required for some leases) – When Iowa rental property share a master meter with a common area or another unit, the landlord must disclose how utility charges get allocated. This helps avoid billing disputes.
- CERCLA Disclosure (required for some leases) – Iowa landlords must provide a pollutant disclosure for rental property that’s in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)’s database.
- Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (required for some leases) – Landlords must provide an EPA-approved disclosure and informational pamphlet to tenants renting any property built before 1978.
To learn more about required disclosures in Iowa, click here.
Iowa Landlord Tenant Laws
- Warranty of Habitability – Iowa landlords can only rent out habitable property. This means providing certain basic health and safety features like heat, plumbing, and electricity. Landlords must repair any issues within seven days after proper notice from the tenant. Failure to repair lets a tenant sue the landlord, end the lease, or repair and deduct from the rent. Tenants can’t unilaterally withhold rent.
- Evictions – Iowa landlords may evict for rent nonpayment, lease violations, or illegal acts, among other things. Before filing eviction, landlords must serve tenants with prior notice to pay, comply or quit, depending on the eviction type. This means most evictions in Iowa take between a few days to a few weeks. While the CARES Act required a minimum 30 days of advance notice before filing eviction for nonpayment of rent or other fees, a 2025 Iowa Supreme Court decision has voided this requirement.
- Security Deposits – Iowa sets a maximum of two months’ rent for a security deposit. When a lease ends, a landlord has 30 days to return any unused portion of a tenant’s security deposit.
- Lease Termination – Iowa lets tenants end a month-to-month lease with 30 days of advance notice. Terminating a fixed-term usually requires active military duty, landlord harassment, uninhabitable property, or domestic abuse.
- Rent Increases and Fees – Iowa landlords may raise rent by any amount, at will, as long as they give at least 30 days of advance notice. Late fees are capped from $12/day or $60/mo (when rent is $700/mo or less), to $20/day or $100/month (when rent is over $700/mo). Returned check fees have a $30 cap and cannot be charged unless the landlord posts a highly visible disclosure.
- Landlord Entry – Iowa landlords may enter rental property for reasonable business purposes like maintenance and inspections. Before entering, they must provide at least 24 hours of advance notice before entering, except in emergencies.
- Settling Legal Disputes – Iowa lets small claims courts hear landlord-tenant disputes, as long as the amount in controversy is under $6,500. The statute of limitations is 10 years for written contracts and five years for verbal contracts.
To learn more about landlord tenant laws in Iowa, click here.
Sources
- 1 Iowa Code § 562A.9(4)
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For rental agreements in which the rent does not exceed seven hundred dollars per month, a rental agreement shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds twelve dollars per day or a total amount of sixty dollars per month. For rental agreements in which the rent is greater than seven hundred dollars per month, a rental agreement shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds twenty dollars per day or a total amount of one hundred dollars per month.
Source Link - 2 MIMG CLXXII Retreat on 6th, LLC v. Miller, No. 23-0670 at 11-12 (Iowa 2025)
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[S]ection 9058(c)(1), read in context, applies only to nonpayment defaults that occurred during the 120-day moratorium described in section 9058(b).
Source Link - 3 Iowa Code § 554.3512
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1. The holder of a dishonored check, draft, or order may assess against the maker of that check, draft, or order a surcharge not to exceed thirty dollars.
2. The surcharge authorized by this section shall not be assessed unless the holder clearly and conspicuously posts a notice at the usual place of payment, or in the billing statement of the holder, stating that a surcharge will be assessed and the amount of the surcharge. However, the surcharge shall not be assessed against the maker if the reason for the dishonor of the check, draft, or order is that the maker has stopped payment pursuant to section 554.4403.
Source Link - 4 In the Matter of Ongoing Provisions for Coronavirus / COVID-19 Impact On Court Services, Iowa. Supr. Ct., May 22, 2020 (order amended March 12, 2021)
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Any plaintiff bringing an FED action under chapter 648 for nonpayment of rent after the date of this order shall submit a CARES Act verification in a form approved by this court. This requirement shall continue in effect until further order of this court.
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