Iowa Landlord-Tenant Laws

Verified October 1, 2026

Iowa at a glance

Rule	Iowa	Cited to
Max security deposit	2 months' rent	Iowa Code 562A.12
Deposit return deadline	30 days	Iowa Code 562A.12
Rent-increase notice (month-to-month)	30 days	Iowa Code 562A.13 +3 more
Statewide rent control / rent cap	No	Iowa Code 562A.13 +3 more
Late-fee cap	Two hard tiers set by monthly rent. If rent is $700 a month or less, the late fee may not exceed $12 per day or $60 total per month; if rent is more than $700 a month, the ceiling is $20 per day or $100 total per month (562A.9(4)).	Iowa Code 562A.9
Entry notice	24 hours	Iowa Code 562A.19 +3 more
Eviction notice (nonpayment)	3 days	Iowa Code 562A.27 +40 more
Application fee cap	No statutory cap	Iowa Code § 562A.9 +22 more
Interest owed on deposits	No — the statute addresses the interest and does not give it to the tenant	Iowa Code § 562A.12 (rental deposits; custody and ownership of interest earned) +1 more
Repair deadline after tenant notice	7 days	Iowa Code 562A.2 (purposes; rules of construction) +9 more
Repair and deduct	Only for essential-service failures, not general repairs	Iowa Code 562A.2 (purposes; rules of construction) +9 more
Landlord notice to end a month-to-month tenancy	30 days (3 counting rules)	Iowa Code § 562A.34 +15 more
Owner and agent identity disclosure	Required — in the lease or in a separate writing	Iowa Code § 562A.6 (definitions; rental agreement, landlord, reasonable attorney fees) +23 more
In-force state hazard disclosures beyond the federal lead-paint rule	1	Iowa Code § 562A.6 (definitions; rental agreement, landlord, reasonable attorney fees) +23 more
Pet deposit	Counts inside the general deposit cap	Iowa Code § 216.8B +21 more
Assistance animals: the state instrument	Documentation statute or rule	Iowa Code § 216.8B +21 more

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Iowa Landlord-Tenant Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/iowa/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Iowa statute it comes from on the linked topic page.

Local rent regulation in Iowa

Iowa law prohibits both cities and counties from adopting any ordinance limiting the amount of rent that can be charged for private residential or commercial property, apart from housing the local government itself has an interest in.

Cited to Iowa Code § 364.3 (cities) , Iowa Code § 331.304 (counties) · Verified October 1, 2026 · Full Iowa rent-increase rules →

Iowa landlord-tenant laws by topic

Iowa security deposits

Iowa caps security deposits at two months' rent and gives landlords 30 days to return the deposit or deliver a written statement of specific reasons for keeping any of it — but the 30-day clock runs from the later of the tenancy ending and the landlord receiving the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, so a tenant who never provides an address never starts the clock, and one who waits more than a year forfeits the deposit entirely.

Iowa rent increase notice

Iowa landlords must give every tenant written notice of any rent increase at least 30 days before it takes effect — an express statutory requirement in Iowa Code 562A.13(5), not merely a convention derived from termination notice — and the increase cannot take effect before the tenant's current lease term or renewal expires.

Iowa late fees

Iowa caps residential late fees with two hard statutory tiers: if rent is $700 a month or less, the fee cannot exceed $12 per day or $60 total per month; if rent is more than $700 a month, it cannot exceed $20 per day or $100 total per month.

Iowa entry notice

Iowa landlords must give tenants at least 24 hours' notice before entering a rental and may enter only at reasonable times — with two statutory exceptions: emergencies, and situations where giving notice 'is impracticable.'

Iowa eviction process

To evict a tenant in Iowa the landlord serves a written termination notice - three days for unpaid rent under Iowa Code 562A.27(2), or seven days to cure a lease violation under 562A.27(1) - and then, for every ground except nonpayment, must serve a SECOND, separate three-day notice to quit under Iowa Code 648.3(1) before filing a forcible entry and detainer petition, on which the court must set a hearing no later than eight days after filing.

Iowa application & screening fees

Iowa does not regulate what a landlord charges someone to apply for a rental home: no statute caps an application or screening fee, requires a receipt or a refund, sets what must be told an applicant before the money is taken, or governs a deposit to hold a unit.

Iowa deposit interest

Iowa does not require landlords to pay interest on security deposits.

Iowa habitability & repairs

Iowa law requires a landlord to comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, to make all repairs necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition, and to supply running water, reasonable hot water and reasonable heat at all times.

Iowa lease termination

Either side ends an Iowa month-to-month tenancy with at least 30 days' written notice before the rent-due date the notice names, and a week-to-week tenancy with at least ten days before the date the notice names.

Iowa lease disclosures

An Iowa lease need not be written and no statute makes the landlord give the tenant a copy, but three things must be told to the tenant: the name and address of the manager and of an owner or someone authorized to act for the owner, in writing at or before the tenancy begins; a full explanation of utility rates, charges and services, before the agreement is signed, unless the tenant pays the utility company directly; and, in writing before the tenancy begins, whether the property is on the federal environmental cleanup listing.

Iowa pets & assistance animals

Iowa has no pet-deposit and no pet-rent statute, so a refundable pet deposit is simply part of the ordinary deposit and counts inside the two months' rent cap.

Iowa mobile home park laws

Iowa's Manufactured Home Communities or Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Iowa Code chapter 562B, governs the tenancy of a resident who owns the home and rents the lot beneath it in a community of three or more homes, and its central number is ninety days: ninety days' written notice before a lot-rent increase, and ninety days' written notice from either side to end the agreement.

Iowa Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every Iowa metro area and county.

Editable Iowa deposit kit · Editable Iowa disclosure packet — editable documents built on the verified Iowa rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Iowa Legislature site (legis.iowa.gov), Iowa Code 2026 section PDFs: 562A.12, 562A.9, 562A.13, 562A.19, 562A.34, and 562A.35 each read on the official PDF, with every decisive figure matching verbatim (2-month deposit cap, 30-day return clock and its dual trigger of termination plus receipt of the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, first-5-years deposit interest to landlord, 1-year forwarding-address forfeiture, punitive damages capped at twice the monthly rental payment, $700 late-fee threshold with $12/day-$60/month and $20/day-$100/month tiers, 30-day written rent-increase notice, 24-hour entry notice, 30-day month-to-month termination notice, one-month's-rent damages floor for unlawful entry). Also read once (official): 562A.28 and 562A.29 (cross-referenced entry rights), 331.304 (county rent-control preemption), and chapter 562B sections 562B.10/562B.13/562B.14 for cross-chapter trap mapping. Rent-control preemption in 364.3(9) and 331.304(10) dated from 2000 Acts ch 1083, which added both subsections and which both history lines credit. Pending-bill check 2026-07-10: 91st GA adjourned sine die 2026-05-03; SF 2225 (omnibus tenant bill: third late-fee tier at $1,400 rent, 180-day mobile-home rent notice) died in Senate Judiciary subcommittee; HF 481/482 (2025 mobile-home protections) also died; 2026 enacted housing bills (SF 2369 ADUs, SF 2448 HOA disclosure, SF 2472 FirstHome) touch none of the four topics. On October 1, 2026 every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read again on legis.iowa.gov in the Iowa Code 2026, which carries the 2025 session and not the 2026 session: chapters 562A, 562B, 648 and 631 with sections 4.1, 3.7, 618.15, 626.14, 364.3, 331.301 and 331.304, and the Iowa Court Rules. The Code and Acts Sections Amended lists for 2025 and 2026 show no act amending chapter 562A, 562B or 648; 2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1192 (House File 2770), which raised two court fees on July 1, 2026, was read for the eviction answers.