Free Iowa Landlord Forms
Every Iowa landlord form we publish, organised by the stage of the tenancy it belongs to, each one paired with the Iowa Code section and the deadline that triggers it — including the counting rule that quietly adds four days to a mailed notice.
Every form linked on this page is free, fillable in your browser, and downloadable as a PDF with no account, no membership and no paywall. Iowa tenancies run on chapter 562A, the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law, with eviction procedure in chapter 648. It is a stable code — the core sections have not been amended in years — but two of its counting rules are genuinely unusual, and two widely circulated “2026 changes” are bills that never passed.
The short version
- Nonpayment of rent — three days, stating both the nonpayment and the intention to terminate.
- Other lease breach — seven days to remedy, seven days to terminate. It is seven-and-seven, not seven-and-thirty.
- Mailed notice is deemed completed four days after posting — so a three-day notice mailed on Monday is not served until Friday.
- Month-to-month — thirty days before the periodic rental date; week-to-week is ten days.
- Entry — twenty-four hours, at reasonable times, with no clock hours set.
- Deposit — capped at two months, returned within thirty days of both termination and receipt of a mailing address.
- Deposit interest for the first five years belongs to the landlord.
- Late fees are capped, on two tiers split at seven hundred dollars. There is no third tier.
The Cure Period Is Seven and Seven, Not Seven and Thirty
Iowa Code § 562A.27(1) uses the same number twice. The rental agreement terminates on a date not less than seven days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in seven days. Both figures are seven.
The thirty days that turns up in Iowa summaries is a genuinely different rule: § 562A.27(5) gives thirty days only to a municipal housing agency, and only where the violation is of a federal regulation governing public-housing eligibility — and it carries no cure right at all. If you are a private Iowa landlord, that subsection is not yours.
The repeat rule sits in the same subsection: where substantially the same act recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate on at least seven days’ written notice with no cure right. Our Iowa eviction notice laws guide walks each route through.
| Situation | Notice | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment of rent | 3 days’ written notice of the nonpayment and of the intention to terminate | § 562A.27(2) |
| Other lease breach | 7 days to remedy; terminates not less than 7 days after receipt | § 562A.27(1) |
| Repeat of substantially the same act within 6 months | 7 days, no cure right | § 562A.27(1) |
| Clear and present danger | A single 3 days’ written notice of termination and notice to quit | § 562A.27A |
| Week-to-week termination | At least 10 days, either party | § 562A.34(1) |
| Month-to-month termination | At least 30 days prior to the periodic rental date specified, either party | § 562A.34(2) |
One procedural saving worth knowing: a landlord who gave a three-day rent notice and terminated under § 562A.27(2) may file without a separate notice to quit under § 648.3(1).
Iowa Adds Four Days for Mail — and Requires Two Mailings at Once
Mailed notice is deemed completed four days after deposit in the mail and postmarking, whether or not the recipient signs a receipt. That rule appears three times over — at §§ 562A.29A(2), 562A.8(2) and 648.3(3). A three-day pay-or-quit posted on a Monday is therefore not served until the Friday, and the tenant’s three days run from there.
The service methods themselves are prescribed for termination notices at § 562A.29A(1), and the third one is more demanding than most landlords expect:
- (a) Delivery with a signed and dated acknowledgment by a resident aged eighteen or over — and that is deemed notice to all tenants.
- (b) Personal service under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.305.
- (c) Posting on the primary entrance door AND mailing by BOTH regular mail AND certified mail. The posting must occur within the notice period, and it must include the date posted.
Route (c) is not “post or mail”. It is post and mail and certify, all three, with a date written on the posted copy. Anyone who has posted a notice and dropped a single first-class letter in the box has not completed service.
Counting runs on § 4.1(34) by way of § 562A.8A: the first day is excluded and the last day is included; a last day falling on a Sunday extends to the following Monday; and filing deadlines extend past Saturdays, Sundays, listed legal holidays and days the clerk’s office is closed.
Every Iowa Landlord Form, by Stage of the Tenancy
An alphabetical list is the least useful arrangement, because a landlord arrives knowing what has happened, not what the document is called. The index below is ordered by where you are in the tenancy.
Starting the tenancy
- Iowa residential lease agreement — the master document. Set the late fee here within the statutory tiers, and remember that in the absence of a definite term the tenancy is month-to-month, or week-to-week for a roomer paying weekly rent.
- Lead-based paint form — required by federal law, not Iowa law, for any dwelling built before 1978.
- Move-in / move-out condition checklist — the record behind any restoration deduction, which the statute limits to returning the unit to its condition at commencement, ordinary wear and tear excepted.
During the tenancy
- Notice to enter the property — § 562A.19(3), at least twenty-four hours, and entry only at reasonable times. No clock hours are specified.
- Rent increase notice — Iowa has no rent control. On a month-to-month tenancy the thirty-day period before the periodic rental date is the operative constraint.
- Late rent notice — a courtesy reminder. There is no statutory grace period; rent is payable without demand or notice at the agreed time.
When the tenant breaches
- Three-day notice to pay rent or quit — § 562A.27(2). It must state the intention to terminate, not merely the arrears.
- Notice to cure or quit — the seven-day notice, with both sevens on the page.
- Unconditional quit notice — the repeat-violation route, and the vehicle for a clear-and-present-danger termination.
Ending the tenancy without fault
- Notice of non-renewal — at least thirty days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice.
- Tenant notice to vacate — the same periods, since § 562A.34 binds either party.
After the tenant moves out
- Security deposit itemisation — the written statement of the specific reason for withholding, and where damages are claimed, the nature of them.
- Security deposit return letter — the covering document for the thirty-day return.
The Clear-and-Present-Danger Notice Is Iowa’s Most Specific Form
Section 562A.27A creates a fast route that almost no forms page explains properly. It is a single three-day written notice that serves as both the notice of termination and the notice to quit — and it must state the specific activity and set forth the language of subsection 3. The tenant is then entitled to at least three days’ notice before the hearing.
Its reach is geographic as well as personal: it covers danger to other tenants, to the landlord, to the landlord’s employees or agents, or to persons on or within one thousand feet of the property.
| Enumerated ground | Detail |
|---|---|
| (a) Physical assault or threat of physical assault | — |
| (b) Illegal use of a firearm or other weapon, the threat to use one illegally, or possession of an illegal firearm | Mere possession or storage of a firearm by a tenant in the rented unit is NOT a clear and present danger |
| (c) Possession of a controlled substance | Unless obtained by valid prescription. Applies to another person on the premises with the tenant’s consent only if the tenant knew |
The list is expressly not exhaustive — it “includes, but is not limited to” those three.
And there is an exemption a landlord must check before serving. Where a person other than the tenant caused the conduct, the tenant is exempt if they (1) sought a protective or restraining order under chapter 235F, 236, 598, 664A or 915; (2) reported the matter to law enforcement or the county attorney to initiate criminal action; or (3) wrote the person a no-return letter and sent a copy to law enforcement. Route (3) is unavailable on a repeat — if a letter was already sent without action (1) or (2) and the person offends again, the tenant must use one of the first two. The tenant must give the landlord written proof before suit is commenced.
Security Deposits: A Dual Trigger and a Five-Year Interest Rule
| Rule | Value | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | Not in excess of two months’ rent | § 562A.12(1) |
| Return — dual trigger | Thirty days from BOTH (i) the termination of the tenancy AND (ii) receipt of the tenant’s mailing address or delivery instructions — return the deposit or furnish a written statement of the specific reason for withholding | § 562A.12(3)(a) |
| Permitted deductions (exclusive) | (1) the tenant’s default in rent or other funds due; (2) restoring the unit to its condition at commencement, ordinary wear and tear excepted; (3) expenses of acquiring possession from a tenant not acting in good faith in failing to surrender | § 562A.12(3)(a) |
| Burden of proof | On the landlord, by preponderance of the evidence | § 562A.12(3)(b) |
| Penalty for missing the thirty days | The landlord forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the deposit | § 562A.12(4) |
| Bad faith | Punitive damages not to exceed twice the monthly rental payment, in addition to actual damages | § 562A.12(7) |
| Attorney fees | The court may award reasonable fees to the prevailing party | § 562A.12(8) |
The forfeiture that runs against the tenant is rarely published. If no mailing address or delivery instructions are provided to the landlord within one year from termination of the tenancy, the deposit reverts to the landlord and the tenant is “deemed to have forfeited all rights” to it (§ 562A.12(4)). Note also what the statute does not say: it requires a “mailing address or delivery instructions”, and the words “in writing” do not appear. The common written-address gloss is not statutory.
The interest rule is the other Iowa peculiarity. Deposits must be held in a federally insured bank, savings and loan or credit union and not commingled; they may sit in a trust account, which may be interest-bearing. And then: “Any interest earned on a rental deposit during the first five years of a tenancy shall be the property of the landlord.” The code is silent about years six and beyond, and we are not going to tell you it says otherwise. See our Iowa security deposit laws guide.
Late Fees: Two Tiers, and a Third That Does Not Exist
| Monthly rent | Maximum late fee |
|---|---|
| Does not exceed seven hundred dollars | Twelve dollars per day, or sixty dollars per month |
| Greater than seven hundred dollars | Twenty dollars per day, or one hundred dollars per month |
There are exactly two tiers, split at seven hundred dollars, and § 562A.9(4) was last amended in 2013. A third tier — a fourteen-hundred-dollar threshold with a two per cent daily and ten per cent monthly cap — circulates widely as current Iowa law. It comes from Senate File 2225, which was introduced and never enacted. Ironically, that bill’s own official fiscal explanation is the cleanest confirmation of the real rule: “Current law caps late fees on rental agreements in which rent is greater than $700 per month at $20 per day and $100 per month.”
There is no statutory grace period in chapter 562A; rent is payable without demand or notice at the agreed time and place. On bounced cheques, § 554.3512 allows a surcharge not to exceed thirty dollars — but only if the holder has clearly and conspicuously posted notice at the usual place of payment or in the billing statement stating that a surcharge will be assessed and its amount. No posted notice, no surcharge. It is also not assessable where the dishonour was a stop payment. See our Iowa late fee laws guide.
Entry, and What Chapter 562A Does Not Restrict
Section 562A.19(3) requires at least twenty-four hours’ notice of intent to enter, and entry only at reasonable times. There are no clock hours in the statute — “reasonable” is the whole of the constraint, which is why a written notice naming a specific window is worth more here than a bare twenty-four-hour warning.
Notice is excused in an emergency or where giving it is impracticable; entry is also available by court order, under §§ 562A.28 and 562A.29, and on abandonment or surrender. See our Iowa landlord entry laws guide.
Court, Forms and Costs
Iowa evictions are forcible entry and detainer actions under chapter 648, heard in the district court sitting in small claims. The small claims limit is six thousand five hundred dollars for actions commenced on or after 1 July 2018, exclusive of interest and costs.
Small claims has concurrent forcible entry and detainer jurisdiction — but only on four of the grounds. Section 631.1(2) reaches § 648.1 subsections 1, 2, 3 and 5 only. If your ground sits elsewhere in § 648.1, small claims is not the forum.
And there is a hard bar most landlords have never heard of: thirty days’ peaceable possession with the plaintiff’s knowledge after the cause of action accrues BARS a forcible entry and detainer action entirely (§ 648.18). Sitting on a ground for a month can extinguish it.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Eviction form | Small Claims Form 3.6 — Original Notice and Petition for Forcible Entry and Detainer, last amended 26 June 2018, effective 1 July 2018. Appeal is Form 3.26 |
| Notice form | There is NO official Iowa court form for the three-day notice or the notice to quit. Forms 3.1 to 3.27 contain none, and the Judicial Branch treats the notice as a party-drafted document |
| Hearing | Set within eight days of filing, or up to fifteen days where the plaintiff requests or consents to a later date; the defendant is entitled to at least three days’ notice before the hearing |
| Removal after judgment | Execution for the defendant’s removal within three days from judgment, § 648.22 |
| Filing fee | A genuine discrepancy. Section 631.6(1) splits it: ninety-five dollars filing and docketing plus twenty dollars postage. The Judicial Branch’s own eviction instructions call the combined one hundred and fifteen dollars the filing fee, while its general small claims page says ninety-five. Budget one hundred and fifteen. A money-judgment claim filed at the same time carries the one fee; filed later, a second applies |
Because no official notice form exists, a well-drafted fillable notice is not a second-best option in Iowa — it is the only option, and it is exactly where a defect will cost you the case.
Two “2026 Iowa Laws” That Are Not Law
Chapter 562A has no 2024, 2025 or 2026 amendment. The history notes are unambiguous: § 562A.9 was last amended in 2013, § 562A.12 in 2014, § 562A.27 in 2003, § 562A.27A in 2021, § 562A.29A in 2013, § 562A.8 in 2010, § 648.3 in 2013, § 648.22 in 1995, and §§ 562A.19 and 648.18 have not been amended since the code was recompiled.
Against that, two documents circulate as though they were current law:
- Senate File 421 — presented in search results as effective 1 July 2026, raising the peaceable-possession bar from thirty days to ninety and creating eviction-record sealing. It is captioned “Senate File 421 – Introduced”, carries no Acts chapter and no signing line, and appears in none of the 2026 signing lists. Its bill number belongs to the 2025 session — 2026 Senate Files are numbered in the two thousands. The current statutes settle it: § 648.18 still reads “Thirty days” and § 648.22 contains no sealing provisions.
- Senate File 2225 — the third late-fee tier described above. Also introduced only.
Which Iowa Form Do I Need?
- The tenant has not paid rent. Three-day notice stating the nonpayment and the intention to terminate. Add four days if you mail it.
- Another lease term has been broken. Seven days to remedy, terminating not less than seven days after receipt — and serve within a sensible time, because thirty days’ peaceable possession can bar the action.
- The same breach has recurred within six months. Seven days, no cure right.
- Someone is in danger. The single three-day clear-and-present-danger notice — but check the tenant-exemption routes first.
- Nobody is at fault and you want the tenancy to end. Thirty days before the periodic rental date; ten days week-to-week.
- You need to get into the property. Twenty-four hours, at a reasonable time.
- The tenant has moved out. Thirty days from termination and receipt of a mailing address — and if nothing arrives within a year, the deposit reverts to you.
How to Fill Out an Iowa Three-Day Notice
- Name every tenant and describe the premises exactly as the agreement does.
- State the amount of rent unpaid and the period it covers.
- State the intention to terminate. Section 562A.27(2) requires notice of the nonpayment and of the intention — a bare demand does not satisfy it.
- Pick a service route and complete it fully. Signed acknowledgment by a resident aged eighteen or over; or personal service under Rule 1.305; or posting on the primary entrance door and regular mail and certified mail.
- Write the date on the posted copy. The statute requires it, and the posting must fall inside the notice period.
- Add four days if any part of the service was by mail.
- Count the days properly — first day out, last day in, Sunday rolling to Monday.
- Do not serve a separate notice to quit afterwards. Section 648.3(1) does not require one after a three-day rent notice.
What Happens If the Form Is Wrong
The distinctively Iowa failure is filing four days early after a mailed notice. The rule is easy to miss because it is not written as an extension of the notice period — it is written as a rule about when service is completed.
The second is incomplete service on route (c): posting plus one letter is not posting plus regular mail plus certified mail, and a posted copy without a date on it does not comply.
The third is offering thirty days to cure, which imports a rule that belongs to municipal housing agencies enforcing federal regulations.
And the fourth is the deposit: starting the thirty days at move-out rather than at the later of termination and receipt of a mailing address.
What This Page Does Not Have
We would rather scope this honestly than promise documents we do not host. Iowa landlords also commonly want a rental application, a sublease or assignment, a roommate agreement, a commercial lease, a rent receipt and an abandonment notice. Those are not published here as Iowa-specific forms.
We have also not answered three questions the code leaves open, rather than guessing at them: who owns deposit interest after year five (§ 562A.12(2) assigns it to the landlord for the first five years and then says nothing); whether the forwarding address must be in writing (the statute does not use those words); and the sheriff’s service fee, which § 631.6 leaves to “amounts specified by law” and which varies by county.
Common Iowa Landlord Form Mistakes
- Forgetting the four days for mailed service.
- Posting without also sending regular and certified mail, or posting without writing the date on it.
- Giving thirty days to cure. The private-landlord rule is seven and seven.
- Serving a bare demand for rent without stating the intention to terminate.
- Serving a separate notice to quit after a three-day rent notice, when § 648.3(1) does not require one.
- Letting a ground go stale. Thirty days’ peaceable possession bars the action.
- Filing in small claims on the wrong ground. Concurrent jurisdiction covers only § 648.1 subsections 1, 2, 3 and 5.
- Starting the deposit clock at move-out instead of at the later of termination and receipt of an address.
- Returning deposit interest for the first five years. It is the landlord’s under the statute.
- Charging a late fee on a third tier. There are two, split at seven hundred dollars.
- Charging an NSF surcharge with no posted notice. The notice is a precondition.
- Assuming a grace period exists. It does not.
- Relying on Senate File 421 or Senate File 2225. Neither was enacted.
Free Fillable Forms Versus the Paid Iowa Form Sites
Iowa’s results page is unusually shallow. The page holding the top of the money query is a landlord-association directory stub of about sixteen hundred words, most of it site chrome, with twelve form links behind a membership wall and no Iowa law on the page at all. The deepest measured ranker in the wider set runs to roughly two thousand five hundred and eighty words.
What almost none of them carry is the thing that decides an Iowa case: the four-day mailing rule, the three-part service route, and the fact that the seven-day cure period is seven days on both sides. Those are worth more than another copy of a generic notice.
Every form linked from this page is free, fills in the browser, and downloads as a finished PDF. There is no account, no trial and no upsell attached to the documents themselves. What we ask in return is straightforward: if you are about to hand keys to someone, run the screening first, because nearly every dispute described on this page is cheaper to prevent than to litigate.
Iowa Landlord Forms: FAQ
How many days is an Iowa notice to pay rent or quit?
Three days under Iowa Code § 562A.27(2), and the notice must state both the nonpayment and the landlord’s intention to terminate. A landlord who gave that notice may file without a separate notice to quit under § 648.3(1).
Is the Iowa cure period seven days or thirty?
Seven, twice. Section 562A.27(1) terminates the agreement on a date not less than seven days after receipt if the breach is not remedied in seven days. The thirty-day figure belongs to § 562A.27(5), which applies only to a municipal housing agency where the violation is of a federal regulation governing public-housing eligibility — and it carries no cure right.
Does Iowa add days when a notice is mailed?
Yes. Mailed notice is deemed completed four days after deposit in the mail and postmarking, whether or not the recipient signs a receipt — §§ 562A.29A(2), 562A.8(2) and 648.3(3). A three-day notice mailed on Monday is not served until Friday.
How must an Iowa termination notice be served?
Three routes under § 562A.29A(1): delivery with a signed and dated acknowledgment by a resident aged eighteen or over (deemed notice to all tenants); personal service under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.305; or posting on the primary entrance door AND mailing by both regular mail AND certified mail, with the posting occurring within the notice period and including the date posted.
How much notice must an Iowa landlord give before entering?
At least twenty-four hours, and entry only at reasonable times, § 562A.19(3). No clock hours are specified. Notice is excused in an emergency or where it is impracticable, and entry is also available by court order, under §§ 562A.28 and 562A.29, or on abandonment or surrender.
What is the security deposit cap in Iowa?
Not in excess of two months’ rent, § 562A.12(1).
How long does an Iowa landlord have to return a deposit?
Thirty days from BOTH the termination of the tenancy AND receipt of the tenant’s mailing address or delivery instructions — whichever happens later starts the clock, § 562A.12(3)(a). The landlord must return the deposit or furnish a written statement of the specific reason for withholding. Missing the thirty days forfeits all rights to withhold any portion.
What happens if an Iowa tenant never gives a forwarding address?
If no mailing address or delivery instructions are provided within one year from termination of the tenancy, the deposit reverts to the landlord and the tenant is deemed to have forfeited all rights to it, § 562A.12(4). Note the statute says “mailing address or delivery instructions” and does not say “in writing”.
Who gets the interest on an Iowa security deposit?
Deposits must be held in a federally insured institution and not commingled. “Any interest earned on a rental deposit during the first five years of a tenancy shall be the property of the landlord”, § 562A.12(2). The code is silent on years six and beyond, and it says a trust account may be interest-bearing rather than requiring one.
What are Iowa’s late fee limits?
Two tiers under § 562A.9(4), split at seven hundred dollars a month. At or below that: twelve dollars per day or sixty dollars per month. Above it: twenty dollars per day or one hundred dollars per month. The section was last amended in 2013. A widely circulated third tier is not law — it comes from Senate File 2225, which was introduced and never enacted.
Did Iowa change its eviction law for 2026?
No. Chapter 562A has no 2024, 2025 or 2026 amendment. Senate File 421 — widely described as raising the peaceable-possession bar to ninety days and creating eviction-record sealing from 1 July 2026 — is an introduced bill only. Section 648.18 still reads “Thirty days” and § 648.22 contains no sealing provisions.
Can thirty days of delay bar an Iowa eviction?
Yes. Under § 648.18, thirty days’ peaceable possession with the plaintiff’s knowledge after the cause of action accrues bars a forcible entry and detainer action. Note also that small claims has concurrent jurisdiction only on § 648.1 subsections 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Related Iowa Guides
- Iowa landlord-tenant laws — the full statutory overview.
- Iowa eviction notice laws — every ground and its counting rule.
- Iowa security deposit laws — the dual trigger and the interest rule.
- Iowa lease termination laws — thirty and ten days, either party.
- Iowa breaking lease laws — early termination and abandonment.
- Iowa rent increase laws — why Iowa has no rent control.
- Iowa late fee laws — the two tiers, and the tier that is not law.
- Iowa landlord entry laws — twenty-four hours and reasonable times.
- Iowa habitability laws — repair duties and tenant remedies.
- Iowa pet and ESA laws — pets, deposits and assistance animals.
- Iowa tenant screening laws — background checks and adverse action.
Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team
Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful tenant screening and follow state landlord-tenant codes across all fifty states. Iowa publishes its code as a PDF per section and every automated read of them failed, so for this page we opened the 2026 edition files directly and read the printed pages — which is how we can say the cure period is seven and seven, and that the two 2026 changes circulating online are bills that never passed.
Screen Iowa Applicants Before They Sign
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Last reviewed 2026. This page is general information about Iowa landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. Chapter 562A carries no 2024, 2025 or 2026 amendment, and two documents circulating as current Iowa law are introduced bills that were never enacted. We have deliberately left open the questions the code does not answer, including who owns deposit interest after five years. Confirm the current requirements with the clerk of your district court or with an Iowa attorney before you serve a notice or file a case.
