Iowa Landlord-Tenant Laws
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 August 12, 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 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.
Changes since last full verification
The Verified date above (July 10, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official state sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).
- Correction, August 29, 2026 — Deposit-interest prose corrections from a primary-source re-read of every state's law: IA unsupported after-five-years inference removed (Iowa Code 562A.12 stops at the five-year landlord allocation) and the anti-commingling rule narrowed to the landlord's personal funds; FL commingling bar scoped to the two account options in 83.49(1)(a)-(b); IL local line names Chicago only and the Department announces the qualifying bank's rate; NJ 46:8-19's ten-unit tier stated as a mandatory vehicle rule (money-market fund or variable-rate account); MN unverified pre-2003 5.5% figure removed and 504B.178 subd. 7's bad-faith presumption with its two-week-after-suit cure window added; NM 47-8-18's rate reference records the 1986 federal ceiling expiry alongside the 1989 agency abolition; VA repeal pinned to July 1, 2014 (accrual duty) and January 1, 2015 (rate schedule) under 2014 Acts c. 651 enactment clause 4; MO 99.040 carve-out stated in the statute's own scope words; AZ mobile-home-park deposit cell gains A.R.S. 33-1431(B)'s five-percent-minimum annual interest duty (paid or compounded annually) with the 33-1431(D) doubling remedy.
- Correction, August 26, 2026 — Same-page consistency corrections: prose on the South Carolina and Iowa application-fee pages, the Delaware eviction page, and the Alaska rent-increase page described bills as still in committee after their assemblies had adjourned sine die; each passage now states the bill's outcome. No statute-derived figure or rule changed.
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 twice — official PDF plus independent FindLaw mirror stated current as of 2026-01-01 — 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 364.3(9) verified against three official Code editions (2026, 2019, 2001) plus the 1999 edition negative check proving enactment by 2000 Acts ch 1083, not 2019. 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.