USA - IOWA Law and Practice Contributed by: David M Erickson, Robert J Douglas, Jr, Christopher S Talcott and Amy S Montgomery, Dentons Davis Brown
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
1.3 Proposals for Reform Opposition to the use of eminent domain power in the development of carbon capture pipelines has resulted in the introduction of multiple itera - tions of bills restricting such power in the state legislature. It is unclear if any version will achieve ultimate passage. Senate File 2204, signed into law in 2024, will create additional reporting requirements for foreign entities owning Iowa agricultural land. Iowa law is consistent with common law princi - ples of property rights as a “bundle of sticks”, meaning a wide range of real property interests may be acquired and held. These include fee simple ownership, leasehold rights, easement rights, as well as other traditional common law forms of full or partial real property interests. 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title Basic common law and statutory recording laws apply to all transfers of Iowa real estate, without regard to the use or other classification of the particular real estate involved. 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title 2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights Iowa is a notice state. Lawful and proper trans - fer of title to real estate is effectuated primarily through the execution and recordation of deeds. Subject to certain exceptions, a deed convey - ing title to real estate will only be recorded by the local county recorder’s office if accompanied by a declaration of value setting forth the con - sideration paid for the real estate, together with a groundwater hazard statement setting forth certain known hazards related to the property or a statement on the deed explicitly stating that
Iowa real estate law mainly consists of a mixture of common law and state statute. Certain spe - cialised areas, such as environmental, lending, and brokerage laws, are subject to federal law or state agency regulations. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals Iowa continues to see strong interest in the development and expansion of data centres and renewable energy, including wind and solar pro - jects. This is despite the prevalence of increas - ingly organised resistance at the local level for necessary permits and approvals, typically from non-participating landowners in the vicinity of a project. Legal challenges to such projects have been largely unsuccessful on the merits, but nevertheless result in delays and increased costs to the projects. Higher interest rates have reduced the volume of residential real estate transactions and led to an increase in the use of seller financing in commer - cial real estate transactions, such as assumption of existing loans, subordinated seller promissory notes for a portion of the purchase price, and outright instalment sales. Typically, these are intended as short-term financing mechanisms with an expectation that the buyer will refinance the full purchase price within two-to-three years in an improved interest rate environment. Another trend in commercial real estate transac - tions is the repurposing of vacant commercial real estate, primarily caused by the increase of remote work, into governmental or multi-family uses. Such transactions typically involve agree - ments with public entities and utilisation of vari - ous tax credit programmes.
1181 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook