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Iowa residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Iowa allows.

What Iowa law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleIowaWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit2 months' rentThe deposit must be held in an insured bank, savings and loan or credit union account and not mixed with the landlord's own money.Iowa Code 562A.12(1)
Earliest a late fee may be chargedThe day after it is dueIowa Code 562A.9(4)
Most a late fee may be$60 at or below $700, and $100 where the rent is above $700Iowa caps the fee by the day as well as by the month: at most $12 a day and $60 a month where rent is $700 or less, and $20 a day and $100 a month above that.Iowa Code 562A.9(4)
Notice before the landlord may enter24 hoursIowa Code 562A.19(3)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy30 daysThe notice runs to the periodic rental date named in it.Iowa Code 562A.34(2)

What Iowa makes you disclose

Who manages and who owns
The landlord must disclose to the tenant in writing at or before the start of the tenancy the name and address of the person authorized to manage the premises, and of an owner or someone authorized to act for the owner in accepting service of process and notices. The information has to be kept current. Iowa Code 562A.13(1), (2)
Utility rates and charges
The landlord must fully explain the utility rates, charges and services to the prospective tenant before the rental agreement is signed, unless the tenant pays the utility company directly. Iowa Code 562A.13(4)
Notice of a rent increase
A tenant must be notified in writing of any rent increase at least 30 days before it takes effect. Iowa Code 562A.13(5)

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Iowa lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Iowa requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Iowa?

Iowa caps every deposit taken together at 2 months' rent (Iowa Code 562A.12(1)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has. The deposit must be held in an insured bank, savings and loan or credit union account and not mixed with the landlord's own money.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Iowa?

Yes, but not without limit. Iowa caps it at $60 at or below $700, and $100 where the rent is above $700 (Iowa Code 562A.9(4)). A fee charged earlier or larger than that is not enforceable, and the rest of the lease still stands. Iowa caps the fee by the day as well as by the month: at most $12 a day and $60 a month where rent is $700 or less, and $20 a day and $100 a month above that.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Iowa?

24 hours for anything that is not an emergency, at a reasonable hour (Iowa Code 562A.19(3)). A lease cannot shorten it, so the builder raises your figure if you enter a smaller one. Genuine emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Iowa?

30 days of written notice from either side (Iowa Code 562A.34(2)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. The notice runs to the periodic rental date named in it.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Iowa read it before you rely on it.