USA - IOWA Law and Practice Contributed by: David M Erickson, Robert J Douglas, Jr, Christopher S Talcott and Amy S Montgomery, Dentons Davis Brown
3.10 Taxes on Loans No recording fees or similar taxes are charged in connection with mezzanine loans affecting Iowa real estate. 4. Planning and Zoning 4.1 Legislative and Governmental Controls Applicable to Strategic Planning and Zoning Both urban (city government) and rural (coun - ty government) areas may be subject to local zoning ordinances adopted pursuant to zoning statutes, subdivision ordinances adopted pur - suant to the subdivision statute, and site plan ordinances adopted through home rule author - ity. See the balance of 4. Planning and Zonin g for further details. 4.2 Legislative and Governmental Controls Applicable to Design, Appearance and Method of Construction The design, appearance and method of con - struction of new buildings or refurbishment of existing buildings are controlled by multiple lay - ers of governmental regulations under Iowa law. The applicability and nature vary by municipal - ity and county, but may include state and local building codes, zoning ordinances, subdivision ordinances and site plan ordinances. Build - ing codes address construction requirements designed to address safety concerns. Zoning law involves the division of land within a city or county into districts and regulates uses and developments according to district. Subdivision ordinances govern the landowner’s ability to divide a larger parcel of land into one or more smaller parcels, with the goal of promoting orderly development of the land as a whole. Site plan ordinances generally work to ensure that
ordinate the priority of the first mortgage to the second mortgage. 3.8 Lenders’ Liability Under Environmental Laws If the lender has not acted as an owner or opera - tor of the contaminated property prior to becom - ing the owner by enforcing its mortgage, the lender will not have personal liability for pollution of the real estate by the borrower or previous owners. However, upon foreclosing on the real estate the lender will be faced with a problem in that the contaminated real estate may be difficult if not impossible to sell, except at a substantially reduced value. 3.9 Effects of a Borrower Becoming Insolvent The insolvency of a borrower will not of itself affect the validity or priority of a lender’s record - ed mortgage lien under Iowa state law, unless the mortgage itself was created as part of a fraudulent conveyance. In the event that a bor - rower files for protection under federal bank - ruptcy laws, whether before or during an event of default under the mortgage, the lender should appear in and protect its interests in the bank - ruptcy proceedings. In general, the filing of a bankruptcy petition will effect an automatic stay of any proceedings to enforce a mortgage or other security interest while the bankruptcy action is pending. However, a lender may often successfully request a lifting of the stay with respect to a recorded mortgage, and once this is granted, the lender may proceed to foreclose its mortgage during the pendency of the bankruptcy proceedings.
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