Iowa Code Sec. 562A.9(4) caps late fees by rent amount. If monthly rent is $700 or less, a lease may not charge over $12 per day or $60 per month total. If rent is more than $700, the cap is $20 per day or $100 per month total. A lease term exceeding these limits is unenforceable.
Iowa Code Sec. 562A.9(4) sets a two-tier limit on late fees. 'For rental agreements in which the rent does not exceed seven hundred dollars per month, a rental agreement shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds twelve dollars per day or a total amount of sixty dollars per month.' For rent greater than $700 per month, a lease 'shall not provide for a late fee that exceeds twenty dollars per day or a total amount of one hundred dollars per month.' Iowa law sets no separate statutory grace period; rent is 'payable without demand or notice at the time and place agreed upon' under Sec. 562A.9(3), so the lease controls the due date and any grace period.
A late fee charged above the Sec. 562A.9(4) daily or monthly cap is not enforceable; a tenant cannot be required to pay the excess, and an eviction or claim premised on the unlawful fee can be challenged.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
polk-county-ia
Polk County allows backyard composting but regulates it through the Health Nuisance Regulation: a compost pile that harbors vermin, produces offensive odors,...
polk-county-ia
Polk County has no ordinance for or against artificial turf on residential lots. Installation on unincorporated land is generally unrestricted; cities and HO...
polk-county-ia
Polk County has no ordinance banning native or prairie landscaping, and the county promotes native roadside vegetation. The one legal limit: your planting ca...
polk-county-ia
Iowa has no state ban on collecting rainwater, and Polk County sets no rain-barrel ordinance. Residents may capture roof runoff in barrels or cisterns; only ...
polk-county-ia
Polk County sets no lawn-watering schedule. Central Iowa's water is managed by Central Iowa Water Works / Des Moines Water Works, which can impose voluntary ...
polk-county-ia
Iowa Code 317.10 requires every landowner to destroy all noxious weeds on their land as directed by the county board of supervisors. Polk County's Weed Commi...
See how West Des Moines's late fees & grace periods rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.