3 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Johnson County, Iowa.
Verified from official government sources
Iowa has no rent control, and no government in Johnson County can create one. Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty landlords set and raise rent at market. The state landlord-tenant act, Iowa Code Chapter 562A, governs the tenancy but caps no rent.
Iowa is landlord-friendly and has no just-cause eviction law, so no Johnson County city can add one. But the security deposit is capped at two months' rent under Iowa Code section 562A.12, returned within 30 days, and retaliation against a complaining tenant is barred.
Iowa Code §562A.12(1)
A landlord shall not demand or receive as a security deposit an amount or value in excess of two months' rent.
Rental permits are a city job, not a county one. Iowa City runs a mandatory rental-permit program with a two-year inspection cycle through its Housing Inspection Services, and Coralville and North Liberty require permits too. State law now limits how far a city can push occupancy and permit caps.
Iowa Code §414.1(1)(b)
A city shall not, after January 1, 2018, adopt or enforce any regulation or restriction related to the occupancy of residential rental property that is based upon the existence of familial or nonfamilial relationships between the occupants of such rental property.
1 cities in Johnson County have their own rental property rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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