Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 554.3403 (2026)

Unauthorized signature

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. Unless otherwise provided in this Article or Article 4, an unauthorized signature is ineffective except as the signature of the unauthorized signer in favor of a person who in good faith pays the instrument or takes it for value. An unauthorized signature may be ratified for all purposes of this Article.

2. If the signature of more than one person is required to constitute the authorized signature of an organization, the signature of the organization is unauthorized if one of the required signatures is lacking.

3. The civil or criminal liability of a person who makes an unauthorized signature is not affected by any provision of this Article which makes the unauthorized signature effective for the purposes of this Article. 94 Acts, ch 1167, §50, 121, 122 Referred to in §554.4104 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1983–2017 · leading case: Life Investors Ins. Co. of Am. v. Est. of John M. Corrado & Fed. City Region, Inc., 838 N.W.2d 640 (Iowa 2013).

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Life Investors Ins. Co. of Am. v. Est. of John M. Corrado & Fed. City Region, Inc., 838 N.W.2d 640 (Iowa 2013). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 554.3403 (1). We conclude Iowa law should abandon the “purported to act” rule contained in the Restatement (Second) of Agency and our prior caselaw in favor of the rule contained in the Restatement (Third) of Agency, that an undisclosed principal may ratify an…”

Dow City Cemetery Ass'n v. Defiance State Bank, 596 N.W.2d 77 (Iowa 1999). · cites it 11× “3403 (West 1995) (discussing UCC § 3-403(b), the equivalent of Iowa Code § 554.3403 (2)). Subsection (2) essentially codified the majority rule which held that a signature was unauthorized under Iowa Code section 554.”

Colonial Baking Co. of Des Moines v. Dowie, 330 N.W.2d 279 (Iowa 1983). · cites it 2× “Although we have not previously interpreted the language of section 554.3403(2)(b), we now hold that this section provides liability against the drawer of a check if there is no evidence that the check was signed in a representative capacity.”

Stine Seed Co. v. A & W Agribusiness, LLC, 862 F.3d 1094 (8th Cir. 2017). “See Iowa Code § 554.3403 & cmt. 3. According to Stine Seed, Williams ratified the Note in two ways: expressly, by signing the July Adjustment, and by “his words and deeds after the Note was delivered to Stine.”

Fort Dodge Creamery Co. v. Com. State Bank, 417 N.W.2d 245 (Iowa Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code section 554.3403(1) (1985) provides that an agent’s authority to sign for another “may be established as in other cases of representation.”

Hyman v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co., 415 N.W.2d 638 (Iowa 1987). · cites it 8× “The Effect of Iowa Code § 554.3403 (3) (1983). As a general rule an action on a contract of a representative which is based *640 on new and independent consideration must be brought against the representative in his individual capacity, although the contract was made in the…”

— Iowa Code § 554.3403(1) — 1 case

Fort Dodge Creamery Co. v. Com. State Bank, 417 N.W.2d 245 (Iowa Ct. App. 1987). “Iowa Code section 554.3403(1) (1985) provides that an agent’s authority to sign for another “may be established as in other cases of representation.”

— Iowa Code § 554.3403(2) — 1 case

Dow City Cemetery Ass'n v. Defiance State Bank, 596 N.W.2d 77 (Iowa 1999). “3403 (West 1995) (discussing UCC § 3-403(b), the equivalent of Iowa Code § 554.3403 (2)). Subsection (2) essentially codified the majority rule which held that a signature was unauthorized under Iowa Code section 554.”

— Iowa Code § 554.3403(2)(b) — 1 case

Colonial Baking Co. of Des Moines v. Dowie, 330 N.W.2d 279 (Iowa 1983). “Although we have not previously interpreted the language of section 554.3403(2)(b), we now hold that this section provides liability against the drawer of a check if there is no evidence that the check was signed in a representative capacity.”

— Iowa Code § 554.3403(3) — 1 case

Hyman v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co., 415 N.W.2d 638 (Iowa 1987). “The Effect of Iowa Code § 554.3403 (3) (1983). As a general rule an action on a contract of a representative which is based *640 on new and independent consideration must be brought against the representative in his individual capacity, although the contract was made in the…”

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