Which Iowa rentals require a lead paint disclosure?

Any residential rental built before 1 January 1978, which the rule calls target housing. Units built in 1978 or later are outside the rule. Narrow exemptions cover 0-bedroom dwellings, leases of 100 days or less with no renewal or extension, housing certified lead-based paint free by a certified inspector, and housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities. Two of these carry a child condition. Under 40 CFR 745.103 as amended effective January 13, 2025 (89 FR 89416), both the 0-bedroom exclusion and the elderly-or-disabled exclusion are withdrawn where a child under six resides or is expected to reside there. The 100-day and certified lead-free exemptions do not depend on whether a child lives in the unit.

Is a studio apartment exempt if a child under six lives there?

No longer, as of 2025. This point was inverted for years, but the federal rule itself changed. 40 CFR 745.103 was amended effective January 13, 2025 (89 FR 89416); target housing now means "any housing constructed prior to 1978, except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities or any 0-bedroom dwelling (unless any child who is less than 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside in such housing)." The amendment moved the child parenthetical to the end of the clause, so it now qualifies the 0-bedroom dwelling as well as the elderly and disabled limb. A studio or other 0-bedroom dwelling is exempt only when no child under six resides or is expected to reside there; with a child under six in it, it is target housing and the disclosure is required. EPA defines a 0-bedroom dwelling as one "in which the living area is not separated from the sleeping area," and states that the term "includes efficiencies, studio apartments, dormitory housing, military barracks, and rentals of individual rooms in residential dwellings." Notably, this brings the federal definition into line with Iowa's own definition in Iowa Code 10A.901(2), which already attached a child condition to its no-bedroom limb; before the 2025 amendment the two differed.

Do I have to give Iowa tenants 10 days to inspect for lead?

No. The 10-day inspection opportunity is a sales rule, not a rental rule. 40 CFR 745.110(a) provides that "Before a purchaser is obligated under any contract to purchase target housing, the seller shall permit the purchaser a 10-day period (unless the parties mutually agree, in writing, upon a different period of time) to conduct a risk assessment or inspection for the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards." Purchasers, sellers, purchase. The same scoping appears in the statute at 42 U.S.C. 4852d(a)(1)(C). The lessor requirements at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no inspection-opportunity item at all, and the received-or-waived statement lives only on the sales disclosure at 745.113(a)(5). Several pages ranking for Iowa lead queries surface the 10-day window inside a rental frame without scoping it, which invites a reader to infer a tenant right that does not exist. You may offer an inspection window voluntarily as a matter of good practice, but no federal rule compels it for a lease.

Does an Iowa landlord have to test for lead-based paint?

No. The rule requires disclosure of what you actually know, not investigation. 40 CFR 745.107(a) says in terms that "Nothing in this section implies a positive obligation on the seller or lessor to conduct any evaluation or reduction activities." If the unit has never been tested and you hold no reports, no knowledge is the honest and lawful answer. What you may not do is check no knowledge while sitting on an inspection report, a prior abatement record, or knowledge of a child's elevated blood-lead result in the unit.

Do I need to be certified to renovate my own Iowa rental?

If the rental is target housing and your tenant is occupying it while the work happens, yes. Both conditions matter. This is a genuinely Iowa-specific trap and it is a certification duty, not a disclosure duty. Iowa Code 10A.902(2) exempts a person who owns real property including a residential dwelling and who performs lead inspection, lead abatement, or renovation of that dwelling from having to be certified. But the exemption is withdrawn "unless the residential dwelling is occupied by a person other than the owner or a member of the owner's immediate family while the measures are being performed." A tenant is a person other than the owner or the owner's immediate family, so the do-it-yourself exemption that protects an owner-occupier does not protect a landlord renovating an occupied rental. Losing the exemption is not by itself the duty, though. The prohibition sits in Iowa Code 10A.902(3), and for renovation work it reaches only renovations on target housing or a child-occupied facility. Iowa defines target housing at 10A.901(2) as housing constructed prior to 1978, subject to its own elderly, disabled, and no-bedroom carve-outs. So an occupied rental built in 1978 or later is outside the renovation certification requirement. Note that 10A.902(3) scopes lead abatement and lead inspections more broadly than renovation, without a target-housing limit. Iowa Code 10A.902(4) sets a civil penalty of up to five thousand dollars for each offense. The federal Renovation, Repair and Painting rule at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E applies on top of this.

How long must an Iowa landlord keep the signed disclosure?

At least three years from the start of the leasing period, under 40 CFR 745.113(c). Keep the signed disclosure, a note of which pamphlet edition was delivered, and copies of every record you handed over. Do not read the three-year rule as an expiry date on your exposure: 40 CFR 745.113(c)(2) states that the retention requirement "is not intended to place any limitations on civil suits under the Act, or to otherwise affect a lessee's or purchaser's rights under the civil penalty provisions of 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3)." The signed disclosure is the landlord's primary defence in an EPA or HUD inquiry, so retaining it for as long as you own the property is the safer practice.

What are the penalties for skipping the disclosure in Iowa?

Two separate exposures, and they are federal. First, 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3) makes a knowing violator jointly and severally liable to the lessee for three times the damages that person incurred, and 4852d(b)(4) lets the court add court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and expert witness fees. Second, government civil money penalties, which EPA adjusts for inflation each year under 40 CFR 19.4. We deliberately print no per-violation figure here: the figures quoted on most form sites are stale the moment the annual adjustment lands, and one AI answer for this query currently quotes a number with no source at all. Check the current 40 CFR 19.4 table rather than trusting any page's number, including ours. Knowing violations can also carry criminal exposure.

Does the disclosure apply to Iowa lease renewals?

A fresh disclosure is required for a new lease with a new lessee. Renewals are addressed directly by 40 CFR 745.101(d), which exempts "Renewals of existing leases in target housing in which the lessor has previously disclosed all information required under 745.107 and where no new information described in 745.107 has come into the possession of the lessor." Note the cross-reference is to 745.107, not 745.113. Both conditions must hold. If you obtained a new lead report or learned of a hazard since the original disclosure, the exemption does not apply and the new information must be disclosed. That paragraph also states that renewal "shall include both renegotiation of existing lease terms and/or ratification of a new lease." Redisclosing at each renewal is the conservative practice and costs nothing.

Can the Iowa lead paint disclosure be signed electronically?

Yes. Electronic disclosure and signature are permitted under the E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001. EPA attaches conditions: give a clear statement of the right to receive paper documents, explain the procedure to withdraw consent and its consequences, explain how to access and retain the electronic records, and obtain the tenant's consent in a way that demonstrates they can actually access the materials. Emailing a link alone is not delivery. Retain the electronic record for the same three years.

What is the Lead Warning Statement?

It is the fixed federal paragraph required by 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) that must be attached to or inserted into the lease. It states that pre-1978 housing may contain lead-based paint, that lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women, that lessors must disclose the presence of lead-based paint and hazards, and that lessees must receive a federally approved pamphlet on lead poisoning prevention. It is prescribed wording, so rewriting or improving it can defeat the disclosure. The generator on this page reproduces it verbatim. One detail is worth care, because it is easy to get wrong and this page did get it wrong in an earlier draft: the codified lease statement does not contain the word known before lead-based paint. Both 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) and HUD's identical text at 24 CFR 35.92(b)(1) read lessors must disclose the presence of known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards in the dwelling. Many circulating versions insert known there. Reproduce the codified paragraph as written. Note also that the lease version differs from the sales version: the sales Lead Warning Statement at 745.113(a)(1) adds that a risk assessment or inspection is recommended prior to purchase. That sentence has no place on a lease disclosure.

Does an Iowa contractor have to give my tenant anything before renovating?

Yes, and this is a duty on the contractor rather than on you. Iowa Code 10A.903(1)(a) provides that a person who performs renovation, remodeling, or repainting services for target housing or a child-occupied facility for compensation shall provide an approved lead hazard information pamphlet to the owner and occupant of the housing before commencing the services. Note that it runs to the owner and the occupant, so as a landlord you should receive one too. The penalty under 10A.903(2) is up to five thousand dollars for each offense. Because the section is scoped to work performed for compensation, it does not reach a landlord doing their own work, but Iowa Code 10A.902 and the federal Renovation, Repair and Painting rule may still do so.

Do I have to disclose records for other units in the building?

Yes, where they exist. 40 CFR 745.107(a)(4) requires the lessor to provide any records or reports available concerning lead-based paint and hazards, and states that the requirement "includes records or reports regarding common areas" and "records or reports regarding other residential dwellings in multifamily target housing, provided that such information is part of an evaluation or reduction of lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards in the target housing as a whole." The duty is not limited to the four walls of the leased unit. If a building-wide risk assessment identified hazards in a stairwell or a laundry room, that report is within scope for a pre-1978 building.

Does a lead paint problem let an Iowa tenant break the lease?

Not through the disclosure rule, but potentially through habitability. EPA is explicit that the disclosure rule does not cancel leasing or sales contracts, and a failure to disclose does not void the lease. The Iowa route runs through Iowa Code 562A.15(1)(a), which requires a landlord to comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety and to keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition. Iowa Code 562A.21 then supplies the remedy: for a noncompliance with 562A.15 materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver written notice specifying the breach, and the rental agreement terminates in not less than seven days if the breach is not remedied within seven days. Under 562A.21(2) the tenant may also recover damages and obtain injunctive relief, plus reasonable attorney fees where the landlord's noncompliance is willful. Deteriorated lead paint in a pre-1978 Iowa unit is a habitability question, and it is independent of whether you disclosed.

Home › Free Landlord Forms › Iowa Landlord-Tenant Laws › Lead Paint Disclosure

Free Iowa Lead Paint Disclosure

Q: Does Iowa have its own lead paint disclosure law?

No. Iowa has no state lead paint disclosure statute for landlords. The duty in Iowa is entirely federal, under 42 U.S.C. 4852d with implementing rules at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A. This is verifiable rather than assumed: Iowa Code 562A.13 is the section of the Iowa Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law that enumerates what a landlord must disclose in writing before a tenancy, and lead does not appear in it. What that section does add is unrelated to paint: 562A.13(6) requires a landlord to disclose in writing, before the tenancy commences, if the property is listed in the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System. Iowa law matters to lead in two adjacent ways instead: habitability under Iowa Code 562A.15, and the lead certification and notification regime in Iowa Code chapter 10A, which governs people who perform lead work, not people who lease.

The federal disclosure every Iowa landlord must deliver before leasing housing built before 1978. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d and 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F. Iowa adds no lead paint disclosure statute of its own — and the 10-day inspection window you see on other sites is a sales rule, not a rental rule.

Federally Required 42 U.S.C. 4852d 40 CFR Part 745 Iowa Free PDF

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Reviewed for Iowa ~19 min read

An Iowa lead paint disclosure is the federally mandated form a landlord delivers to a prospective tenant before any lease of residential property built before 1978. It carries the fixed federal lead warning statement, states the lessor’s actual knowledge of lead-based paint and hazards, lists the records being handed over, documents the tenant’s receipt of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, captures any agent’s acknowledgment, and is signed and dated by every party. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d (Section 1018 of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992), implemented at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F (EPA) and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A (HUD). Iowa imposes no separate lead paint disclosure statute on landlords — the duty here is purely federal. What Iowa does add sits alongside it: an independent habitability duty under Iowa Code 562A.15, covered in our Iowa habitability laws guide, and a lead certification regime in Iowa Code chapter 10A that catches landlords who renovate an occupied unit. Generate the form below, then read on for exactly what the rule requires.

Key Takeaways

Pre-1978 is the only trigger. Original construction before 1 January 1978 makes the unit “target housing” and the disclosure mandatory. The build date controls even if the unit was gutted and rebuilt in 1995.
Iowa has no landlord lead disclosure statute. The duty is 100% federal. Iowa Code 562A.13 lists what an Iowa landlord must disclose in writing before a tenancy and lead is not on the list. The one environmental item it does add is a Superfund-listing disclosure, not paint.
The 10-day inspection window does not apply to leases. 40 CFR 745.110 gives it to purchasers only. The lessor rules at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no such item.
A studio is exempt only if no small child lives there. Since the 2025 amendment to 40 CFR 745.103 (eff. 13 January 2025, 89 FR 89416), the 0-bedroom exclusion carries the same child-under-six condition as the elderly and disabled limb. This now matches Iowa’s own definition in Iowa Code 10A.901(2), which already read that way.
You never have to test. The rule compels disclosure of actual knowledge, not investigation. “No knowledge” is honest and lawful when nothing has been tested and you hold no reports.
Deliver before the tenant is obligated, not at move-in and not with the keys. Late delivery is the same violation as no delivery.
Retain the signed disclosure three years from the start of the leasing period (40 CFR 745.113(c)). It is your only real defence in an enforcement inquiry.
Renovating an occupied Iowa rental is where Iowa law actually bites. Iowa Code 10A.902(2) withdraws the do-it-yourself exemption the moment a tenant is living there. That is a certification duty, not a disclosure duty.

▶ Watch overview

Iowa lead paint disclosure overview

Iowa Lead Paint Disclosure at a Glance

Trigger

Built before 1978

Authority

42 U.S.C. 4852d

Iowa Statute

None — federal only

Retention

3 years

Timing

Before lease obligation

Pamphlet

EPA, mandatory

Duty to test

10-day inspection

Sales only

The one-line answer: if your Iowa rental was built before 1978 and the lease runs longer than 100 days, you must hand the tenant this signed disclosure plus the EPA pamphlet before they are obligated under the lease, and keep the signed copy for three years. Nothing in Iowa law changes that; nothing in Iowa law adds to it. Iowa’s own lead statutes govern the people who work on the paint, not the paperwork you hand a tenant — with one exception that catches landlords, covered below.

What the Iowa lead paint disclosure does

The disclosure exists because of a single congressional finding: low-level lead exposure damages developing brains, and the largest remaining reservoir of lead in American housing is the paint applied before the 1978 ban. Congress did not respond by ordering landlords to remove it. It responded by ordering them to tell the truth about what they know before a tenant commits, so the tenant can make an informed decision about where their family lives.

That framing explains almost every quirk of the rule. It is a disclosure statute, not an abatement statute. It compels honesty, not testing. It attaches to the moment of decision — before obligation — rather than to move-in day. And it is enforced primarily through the tenant’s own private right of action, not through routine inspections. Once you understand the rule as an information rule, the details stop looking arbitrary.

An Iowa landlord’s compliance therefore has three moving parts, and only the first is a piece of paper. You deliver the disclosure with the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is obligated. You keep the signed original for three years. And you avoid the two adjacent Iowa duties — habitability under Iowa Code 562A.15, and lead-work certification under Iowa Code 10A.902 — that are triggered by the condition of the paint and by who disturbs it, not by the disclosure at all. Landlords who treat this form as the whole of their lead obligation are the ones who get caught.

Does Iowa have its own lead paint disclosure law?

No. Iowa imposes no lead paint disclosure duty on residential landlords. The obligation in Iowa is entirely federal. This is worth stating plainly because much of the material ranking for Iowa lead queries either implies a state duty exists or is too vague to tell, and because a page that invents a state statute number is more dangerous than a page that says nothing at all.

The claim is verifiable rather than assumed. Iowa Code 562A.13 is the section of the Iowa Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law titled simply “Disclosure.” It is the exhaustive list of what an Iowa landlord must tell a tenant in writing at or before the tenancy begins, and it contains six subsections:

562A.13(1) — the name and address of the person authorized to manage the premises, and of an owner or a person authorized to act for the owner for service of process and for receiving notices and demands.
562A.13(2) — that information must be kept current, and the duty runs against a successor landlord, owner, or manager.
562A.13(3) — a person who fails to comply becomes the landlord’s agent for service of process and for performing the landlord’s obligations.
562A.13(4) — the landlord must fully explain utility rates, charges, and services before the rental agreement is signed, unless the tenant pays the utility directly.
562A.13(5) — each tenant must be notified in writing of any rent increase at least thirty days before its effective date, a rule covered in our Iowa rent increase laws guide.
562A.13(6) — the landlord must disclose in writing, before the tenancy commences, if the property is listed in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System maintained by the federal EPA.

Read that list again. Iowa’s legislature plainly turned its mind to environmental hazards when it wrote this section — subsection (6) is a Superfund-listing disclosure, added in 2004 — and it did not add lead paint. The words “lead” and “paint” do not appear anywhere in Iowa Code 562A.13. That silence is deliberate drafting, not an oversight in our reading, and it means the federal rule stands alone in Iowa.

How we verified this negative

A claim that a statute does not say something is only as good as the text you read. This page’s sources were pulled from the Iowa Legislature’s own site rather than from a legal aggregator or an AI summary, and the extraction was checked against known landmarks in Iowa Code 562A.13 — the Superfund-listing language, the utility-rate explanation, the thirty-day rent increase notice, service of process, and the name-and-address item — before the absence of any lead item was accepted as real rather than as a broken fetch. All five landmarks were present. Only then was the negative asserted.

What Iowa’s seller disclosure statute is, and why it is not this

Iowa Code chapter 558A requires a written disclosure of a property’s condition, and it does contain the word “lead.” Do not import it. Chapter 558A is a sales instrument: Iowa Code 558A.2(1) requires the statement to be delivered by a person “interested in transferring real property” to a person “interested in being transferred the real property,” before a written offer is made or accepted. It creates no landlord duty and mentions no tenant. And its lead content is not paint at all — Iowa Code 558A.1(4) defines a “lead service line” as a water service line made of lead, and 558A.4 requires disclosure of “the presence of lead service lines.” Lead pipes, not lead paint. Conflating the two is a live error in this subject area, and this page does not.

What the rule actually requires: the six elements of 40 CFR 745.113(b)

Nearly everything written about lead disclosure describes it in the abstract — “tell tenants about lead” — and then stops. The rule is not abstract. 40 CFR 745.113(b) is a closed list of six elements that must be attached to, or contained within, every lease of target housing. Miss one and the disclosure is defective even if you delivered it on time. Not one of the pages currently ranking for Iowa lead paint queries reproduces this list.

Element	What 40 CFR 745.113(b) requires	Who completes it
(b)(1) Lead warning statement	The fixed federal paragraph, reproduced in its prescribed wording, attached to or inserted into the lease.	Pre-printed on the form
(b)(2) Lessor’s disclosure of known pa