Iowa Code 364.3(12) restricts how cities may regulate rental property. Cities cannot impose registration, licensing, or inspection requirements on rental manufactured or mobile homes unless the same standards apply to other rental housing. Cities may still inspect rental units, but state law constrains the scope of registration programs.
Iowa Code Section 364.3(12) provides that a city shall not adopt or enforce any ordinance imposing any registration or licensing system, registration or license fees, or safety or sanitary standards for rental manufactured or mobile homes unless the same requirements apply to other rental properties intended for human habitation. The same paragraph permits inspection fees and nuisance abatement. Iowa Code 562A.27A also limits how cities can use municipal infraction citations to evict tenants based on tenant conduct. The Iowa Supreme Court has invalidated several rental inspection and registration ordinances that reached beyond the limits of state law.
Discriminatory registration ordinances that single out manufactured homes or that exceed state law are unenforceable. Affected landlords may seek declaratory or injunctive relief. Cities may still issue notices for legitimate code violations.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Polk County allows backyard composting but regulates it through the Health Nuisance Regulation: a compost pile that harbors vermin, produces offensive odors,...
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Polk County has no ordinance for or against artificial turf on residential lots. Installation on unincorporated land is generally unrestricted; cities and HO...
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Polk County has no ordinance banning native or prairie landscaping, and the county promotes native roadside vegetation. The one legal limit: your planting ca...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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...
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See how West Des Moines's rental registration rules stack up against other locations.
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