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Iowa Foreclosure Law Summary
Quick Facts
- Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
- Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
- Primary Security Instrument: Mortgage
- Timeline: Typically 150
- Right of Redemption: No
- Deficiency Judgments Allowed: No |
In Iowa, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage
in default using either the judicial or the alternative non-judicial
foreclosure process.
Judicial Foreclosure
The judicial foreclosure process is one in which the lender must file
a complaint against the borrower and obtain a decree of sale from a
court having jurisdiction in the county where the property is located
before foreclosure proceedings can begin. Generally, if the court finds
the borrower in default, they will give them a set period of time to
pay the delinquent amount, plus costs. If the borrower does not pay
within the set period of time, the court will then order the property
to be sold.
Notice of the sale must be posted in at least three public places of
the county, one of which shall be at the county courthouse. In addition,
there shall be two weekly publications of such notice in some newspaper
printed in the county, with the first publication being at least four
weeks before the date of sale, and the second at a later time before
the date of sale. If the borrower is in actual occupation and possession
of the property, the notice must be served on them at least twenty days
prior to the date of the sale.
The sale must be at public auction, between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm and
the time must be stated clearly in the notice of sale. The sheriff shall
receive and give a receipt for a sealed written bid submitted prior
to the public auction. The sheriff may require all sealed written bids
to be accompanied by payment of any fees required to be paid at the
public auction by the purchaser, to be returned if the person submitting
the sealed written bid is not the purchaser. The sheriff must keep all
written bids sealed until the commencement of the public auction, at
which time the sheriff will open and announce the written bids as though
made in person.
The sale may be postponed, but if it postponed for more than three days,
notice of the new sale must be publicly announced at the time the sale
was to have been made.
Alternative non-judicial
foreclosure procedure
Borrowers in Iowa have the option of avoiding a foreclosure suit by
voluntarily conveying all of their rights in the property secured by
the mortgage to the lender. If the lender accepts the conveyance from
the borrower, they are given immediate access to the property. However,
they must waive any rights to file for a deficiency judgment against
the borrower.
Additionally, the borrower is required to sign a "disclosure of notice
and cancellation", which states, among other things, that they are voluntarily
giving up their rights to reclaim or occupy the property. The borrower
and lender must also file a jointly executed document with the county
recorders office stating that they have chosen to proceed with the foreclosure
using the voluntary foreclosure procedures.
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more information on Iowa foreclosure laws. |
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