Iowa Mobile Home Park Lease Law: What Operators Need to Include

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Iowa?

If you rent lot space in a manufactured home community or mobile home park in Iowa, your lease is governed by Iowa Code Chapter 562B, the Manufactured Home Communities or Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Law. It applies when the tenant owns the home and rents the lot beneath it, which is a different relationship than a standard apartment tenancy.

The starting point is a written lease. Section 562B.14(1) requires you to offer the tenant the opportunity to sign a written agreement for the space, and Section 562B.10(1) lets you and the tenant include any terms not prohibited by the chapter, including rent, term, and the parties' rights and obligations. Absent a signed agreement, Section 562B.10(2) says the tenant owes the fair rental value of the space.

Chapter 562B also fixes several defaults and hard limits you cannot draft around: a one-year default term with ninety days' notice to cancel, capped late fees, a written disclosure of who manages and owns the park, up-front utility disclosure, a list of clauses that are void if you include them, and standards every park rule must meet. The sections below break these down with the exact statutory language.

The written lease, term, and required disclosures (562B.10 and 562B.14)

Section 562B.10(5) sets the default term at one year unless the lease specifies otherwise, and requires that the agreement be canceled by at least ninety days' written notice given by either party. It also bars you from canceling a lease solely to free up the space for a different mobile home. Note the ninety-day figure: it was raised from sixty days in the 2022 amendment, so older forms may be out of date.

On money terms, Section 562B.10(4) caps late fees. Where rent does not exceed 700 dollars per month, the lease cannot charge a late fee over 12 dollars per day or 60 dollars per month total; where rent is over 700 dollars per month, the cap is 20 dollars per day or 100 dollars per month total. Any late fee in your lease must sit at or below these limits.

Section 562B.14 drives the disclosures. Subsection (2) requires you to disclose to the tenant in writing, at or before entering the agreement, the name and address of the person authorized to manage the park and the owner (or a person authorized to act for the owner for service of process and for receiving notices and demands). Subsection (3) says that information must be kept current and refurnished on request and binds any successor owner or manager, and subsection (4) makes a non-complying person the landlord's agent for service and for performing landlord obligations. Subsection (6) requires a written explanation of utility rates, charges, and services before the lease is signed unless the tenant pays the utility directly, and subsection (7) requires at least ninety days' written notice of any rent increase. Finally, subsection (5) requires you to tender a signed copy of a written lease and have the tenant sign and return one fully executed copy within ten days, or it is deemed a material noncompliance.

Clauses you cannot put in the lease (562B.11)

Section 562B.11(1) lists provisions a lease shall not contain. A lease cannot make the tenant or landlord: (a) waive or forego rights or remedies under the chapter; (b) pay the other party's attorney fees; (c) agree to the exculpation or limitation of the other party's liability arising under law, or indemnify the other party for that liability or costs; or (d) agree to a designated agent for the sale of the tenant's mobile home. Subsection (1)(e) also bars requiring the tenant to modify the home in a way that would substantially impair the ability to move it from the space, unless the modification is required by federal, state, or local law, the manufacturer's installation instructions, landlord financing terms, or safe and proper installation.

Be precise here: unlike Iowa's general residential statute (562A.11), Section 562B.11 does not list a confession-of-judgment clause, so the accurate prohibited set for lot leases is items (a) through (e) above. Section 562B.11(2) separately bars a lease provision or rule that, as a condition of tenancy, restricts a tenant's lawful firearm ownership, use, or possession within the rental unit where the landlord receives specified USDA or HUD rental assistance.

Enforcement has teeth. Section 562B.11(3) makes any prohibited provision unenforceable and lets the other party recover actual damages if a party knowingly uses a lease containing provisions known to be prohibited. Section 562B.11(4) confirms you may still require the tenant to carry liability insurance naming the landlord as an insured for the rented space.

Park rules and regulations (562B.19)

Park rules are only enforceable if they meet the standards in Section 562B.19(1). A rule binds a tenant only if it is written and if: its purpose is to promote tenant convenience, safety or welfare, preserve the landlord's property from abuse, fairly distribute services and facilities, or facilitate park management; it is reasonably related to that purpose; it applies to all tenants in a fair manner; it is explicit enough to fairly inform the tenant of what must or must not be done; it is not a device to evade the landlord's obligations; and the prospective tenant is given a copy before entering the lease.

Section 562B.19(2) governs changes: you must give all tenants thirty days' notice before an addition, change, deletion, or amendment takes effect; a rule that is unfair and deceptive or that does not conform to the chapter is unenforceable; and a rule adopted after the tenant signs is enforceable only if it does not work a substantial modification of that tenant's agreement.

Section 562B.19(3) adds prohibitions that shape what your rules can do. You cannot require entrance or exit fees except for services actually rendered or per a written agreement, cannot deny a resident the right to sell the home at a price of the tenant's choosing (though you may reasonably approve the buyer as a tenant and require removal of a rundown home within sixty days), cannot exact a sales commission unless you acted as agent under a written agreement, and cannot prohibit tenant meetings on park affairs held at reasonable hours.

Lease requirements at a glance in Iowa

• Offer a written lease
  Section 562B.14(1) requires you to offer the tenant the opportunity to sign a written agreement for the mobile home space.
• One-year default term, ninety-day cancellation
  Section 562B.10(5) sets a one-year default term unless specified otherwise and requires at least ninety days' written notice to cancel by either party.
• Cap late fees
  Under Section 562B.10(4), late fees cannot exceed 12 dollars per day or 60 dollars per month when rent is 700 dollars or less, or 20 dollars per day or 100 dollars per month when rent is over 700 dollars.
• Disclose manager and owner in writing
  Section 562B.14(2) requires written disclosure, at or before signing, of the name and address of the park manager and the owner or agent authorized to receive service of process, notices, and demands.
• Explain utilities before signing
  Section 562B.14(6) requires a written explanation of utility rates, charges, and services before the lease is signed unless the tenant pays the utility company directly.
• Ninety days' notice for rent increases
  Section 562B.14(7) requires at least ninety days' written notice of any rent increase, effective no sooner than the expiration of the current term.
• Deliver executed copies within ten days
  Section 562B.14(5) requires tendering a signed copy and obtaining the tenant's fully executed copy within ten days; failure is deemed a material noncompliance.
• Omit prohibited clauses
  Section 562B.11(1) voids waivers of chapter rights, attorney-fee shifting, exculpation or indemnity, a designated sales agent, and move-impairing modification requirements.
• Make rules meet the six-part test
  Section 562B.19(1) makes rules enforceable only if written, purpose-driven, reasonably related, uniformly applied, explicit, non-evasive, and given to the tenant before signing, with thirty days' notice for changes under 562B.19(2).

Operator best practices in Iowa

• Build a relationship with an Iowa MHP attorney
  Chapter 562B is a specialized statute with move-impairment, sale-of-home, and abandonment rules unique to lot tenancies; have Iowa counsel review your lease and rule packet and confirm current section text before you roll out changes.
• Refresh forms to the ninety-day figures
  The 2022 amendments raised both the cancellation notice in 562B.10(5) and the rent-increase notice in 562B.14(7) to ninety days; audit any legacy lease that still says sixty days.
• Bundle disclosures into the signing packet
  Attach the 562B.14(2) manager and owner disclosure and the 562B.14(6) utility explanation to the lease so they are demonstrably delivered at or before signing, and keep them current for successors under 562B.14(3).
• Scrub prohibited clauses from templates
  Remove any waiver, attorney-fee, exculpation, indemnity, designated-sales-agent, or move-impairing modification language, since 562B.11(3) makes them unenforceable and exposes you to actual damages if used knowingly.
• Document rule adoption and changes
  Keep the written rule set that each prospective tenant received before signing, and log the thirty-day notice for any rule change under 562B.19(2) so you can prove enforceability.
• Protect the tenant's right to sell
  Do not draft rules that block a resident from selling the home at their chosen price or charge unearned entrance, exit, or sales fees, which 562B.19(3) forbids.
• Track late-fee math against the caps
  Configure your ledger so daily and monthly late-fee totals never exceed the 562B.10(4) limits for the applicable rent tier.