Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 447.9 (2026)

Notice of expiration of right of redemption — county right of redemption

✓ current as of July 2026
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1. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, or after nine months from the date of a sale made under section 446.18, or after three months from the date of a sale made under section 446.19A or 446.19B, the holder of the certificate of purchase may cause to be served upon the person in possession of the parcel, and also upon the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, a notice signed by the certificate holder or the certificate holder’s agent or attorney, stating the date of sale, the description of the parcel sold, the name of the\n\nTue Dec 09 22:11:14 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 447 (27, 0) 5 TAX REDEMPTION, §447.10\n\npurchaser, and that the right of redemption will expire and a deed for the parcel be made unless redemption is made within ninety days from the completed service of the notice. The notice shall be served by both regular mail and certified mail to the person’s last known address and such service is deemed completed when the notice is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery. The ninety-day redemption period begins as provided in section 447.12. When the notice is given by a county as a holder of a certificate of purchase the notice shall be signed by the county treasurer or the county attorney, and when given by a city, it shall be signed by the city officer designated by resolution of the council. When the notice is given by the Iowa finance authority or a city or county agency holding the parcel as part of an Iowa homesteading project, it shall be signed on behalf of the agency or authority by one of its officers, as authorized in rules of the agency or authority.

2. Service of the notice shall be made by both regular mail and certified mail on any mortgagee having a lien upon the parcel, a vendor of the parcel under a recorded contract of sale, a lessor who has a recorded lease or recorded memorandum of a lease, and any other person who has an interest of record, at the person’s last known address. The notice shall be served on any city where the parcel is situated. Notice shall not be served after the filing of the affidavit required by section 447.12. Only those persons who are required to be served the notice of expiration as provided in this section or who have acquired an interest in or possession of the parcel subsequent to the filing of the notice of expiration of the right of redemption are eligible to redeem a parcel from tax sale. Service of the notice is deemed completed when the notice is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery.

3. The county in which the parcel is located has the right of redemption for owner-occupied residential parcels as provided in this subsection. If a person is unable to contribute to the public revenue, the person may file a petition, duly sworn to, with the board of supervisors, stating that fact and giving a statement of parcels, as defined in section 445.1, owned or possessed by the petitioner, and other information as the board may require. The board of supervisors may order the county auditor to redeem a parcel owned or possessed by the petitioner from the holder of a certificate of purchase upon payment by the county to the certificate holder of the amount necessary to redeem under section 447.1. Each of the tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies having any interest in the taxes shall be charged with the total amount due the tax-levying or tax-certifying body as its just share of the purchase price, and that amount shall be deducted from the next month’s disbursement made by the county to the tax-levying or tax-certifying body. Interest paid by the county to the certificate holder pursuant to section 447.1 shall be paid solely by the county and shall not be charged against the other tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies. Taxes charged and paid by the tax-levying or tax-certifying body in this manner shall be treated as suspended taxes pursuant to sections 427.8 through 427.12. Notwithstanding section 447.14, a county may redeem pursuant to this subsection for tax sales held before, on, or after July 1, 1998. A county may limit the number of times a taxpayer may file a petition for assistance under this subsection. [R60, §781; C73, §894; C97, §1441; S13, §1441; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §7279; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §447.9; 81 Acts, ch 117, §1236] 83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159; 86 Acts, ch 1139, §7; 86 Acts, ch 1241, §43; 89 Acts, ch 66, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1203, §3; 91 Acts, ch 191, §96; 95 Acts, ch 57, §21; 95 Acts, ch 67, §34; 97 Acts, ch 121, §22; 98 Acts, ch 1107, §30; 98 Acts, ch 1153, §2; 99 Acts, ch 29, §2, 3; 99 Acts, ch 83, §8, 10, 12; 2004 Acts, ch 1165, §8, 11, 12; 2006 Acts, ch 1070, §29; 2007 Acts, ch 54, §39; 2012 Acts, ch 1006, §1 Referred to in §420.207, 420.240, 420.241, 447.8, 447.10, 448.3 Acquisition of title by municipal corporations, chapter 569 Service of original notice, R.C.P. 1.302 – 1.315 \n

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 35 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1947–2023 · leading case: Pendergast v. Davenport, 375 N.W.2d 684 (Iowa 1985).
Pendergast v. Davenport, 375 N.W.2d 684 (Iowa 1985). · cites it 30× “The language of the statute clearly indicates that the purpose of the notice is to provide information to the proper parties concerning the facts of the sale, the description of the property, the name of the purchaser, and that the right of redemption will expire without further…”
Dohrn v. Mooring Tax Asset Grp., L.L.C., 743 N.W.2d 857 (Iowa 2008). · cites it 9× “” Iowa Code § 447.9 . We disagree this amendment excuses a tax certificate holder’s failure to identify the persons in possession.”
City of Waterloo v. Bainbridge, 749 N.W.2d 245 (Iowa 2008). · cites it 2× “§ 447.9. If the holder of the certificate has not filed an affidavit within three years from the time of the tax sale stating that it served the *250 notice, the treasurer shall cancel the sale.”
Butler v. Hoover Nature Trail, Inc., 530 N.W.2d 85 (Iowa Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “” We believe owners of property adjacent to an abandoned railroad right-of-way are persons who have an “interest of record.” It is undisputed in this case that Larry Lihs did not give notice of redemption to the Butler’s or their predecessors in interest.”
Burks v. Hedinger, 167 N.W.2d 650 (Iowa 1969). · cites it 6× “Sole question presented here is largely factual — whether, as the trial court found, one Lorenzo Duke was in possession of the real estate within the meaning of section 447.9, Code 1966 and therefore notice upon him of expiration of the right of redemption from the tax sale was…”
Nelson v. Forbes, 545 N.W.2d 576 (Iowa Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 4× “16 be relied upon as a cure or remedy for imperfections in a tax deed? STANDARD: These sections constitute valid marketable title legislation and bar all claims based upon defects in a tax deed, excepting (1) claims owned by the United States, (2) those barred on inadequate…”
Strong v. Jarvis, 524 N.W.2d 675 (Iowa Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 4× “The district court found these substitute services were proper in light of section 447.9. The district court found the tax sale deeds to be valid.”
Tax 58 v. Froehle (In Re Froehle), 286 B.R. 94 (8th Cir. BAP 2002). “See Iowa Code § 447.9 . Notice of the expiration of the redemption must be given to the titleholder, a mortgagee, and parties in actual possession of the real estate.”
Modern Heat & Power Co. v. Bishop Steamotor Corp., 34 N.W.2d 581 (Iowa 1948). · cites it 2× “We need not determine whether, as the trial court held, the failure of the Traub affidavit to show service “upon the person in possession of such real estate” (see Code section 447.9) is also a fatal defect therein.”
Adams v. Thorp Credit, Inc., 452 N.W.2d 435 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 447.9 . Under this statutory scheme, the tax sale purchaser must give parties holding a right to redemption notice that their rights will be cut off ninety days after completed notice.”
Moffitt v. Future Assurance Assocs., Inc., 140 N.W.2d 108 (Iowa 1966). · cites it 2× “The court held the notice of expiration of period of redemption and affidavits of service did not conform to the requirements *1169 of Code section 447.9 in that the notice was not served on the person in possession of such real estate, plaintiff and his tenants were in…”
Patterson v. May, 29 N.W.2d 547 (Iowa 1947). · cites it 2× “1063 ; section 447.9, Code, 1946; Hall v. Guthridge, 52 Iowa 408 , 3 N.”
— Iowa Code § 447.9(1) — 3 cases
Luana Sav. Bank v. John Eveland (Iowa Ct. App. 2022).
In Re Thompson, 309 B.R. 1 (Bankr. D. Iowa 2004).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.