USA – IOWA Law and Practice Contributed by: David M. Erickson, Christopher S. Talcott, Amy S. Montgomery and Shannon M.H. Hasse, Dentons Davis Brown PC
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
the full purchase price within two to three years in an improved interest rate environment. 1.3 Proposals for Reform Senate File 2204, signed into law in 2024, cre - ated additional reporting requirements for for - eign entities owning Iowa agricultural land. In light of multiple bills aimed at state tax credit and incentive programmes introduced during the 2025 legislative session, which remained pending at the time of writing, as well as budget pressures faced by local governments due to limits on property tax increases, it is expected that general state and local development incen - tives previously enjoyed by large land develop - ers (particularly data centre developers) will be significantly more limited in the near-term. Iowa law is consistent with common law prin - ciples of property rights as “bundle of sticks” , meaning that a wide range of real property inter - ests may be acquired and held. These include fee simple ownership, leasehold rights, ease - ment rights and 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 -
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. Multiple new Iowa data centre projects have been announced in the past year. As with many jurisdictions, big technology companies such as Meta and Microsoft completed the earliest projects and continue to expand their footprints, while data centre development companies have shown increasing interest in the state, follow - ing in their path. The capacity for energy and development incentive support will be tested as the market absorbs the increased development. 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
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