§ 558.5 — Contract for deed — presumption of abandonment

Iowa § 558.5

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title XIV: PROPERTY
• Ch. 558: CONVEYANCES

Text

1. When the record shows that a contract or bond for a deed was executed more than ten
years earlier, the contract or bond shall be deemed abandoned by the vendee and void and
the land shall be freed from any lien or defect on account of the contract or bond in any of
the following situations:
a. The record does not indicate the contract or bond has been performed and more than
ten years have elapsed since the contract or bond by its terms was to be performed.
b. A performance date for the contract or bond is not stated in the contract or bond or
any extensions thereof and more than twenty years have elapsed from the date the contract
or bond was executed.
2. This section shall apply to a contract or bond described in this section if the contract
or bond is not filed of record but is referred to in another instrument which is filed of record.
The contract or bond shall be deemed abandoned by the vendee ten years from the date that
the contract or bond is to be performed according to the recorded instrument. However, if
the recorded instrument does not refer to a performance date for the contract or bond, the
contract or bond shall be deemed abandoned twenty years after the date that the instrument
containing the reference is recorded.
3. This section shall not apply to a vendee or a vendee’s successor in interest if the

vendee or the vendee’s successor in interest is in possession of the property or has been
continuously paying the total amount due, as defined in section 445.1, of the taxes levied
against the property for the preceding five years.

Legislative History

[S13, §2963-j; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §10070; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §558.5]