Iowa Code
Iowa Code § 656.4 (2026)
Compliance with notice
✓ current as of July 2026
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If the vendee or a mortgagee of the real estate performs, within thirty days of completed service of notice, the breached terms specified in the notice and pays the vendor the reasonable cost of serving the notice, then the right to forfeit for the breach is terminated. The payment of attorney fees pursuant to section 656.7 is not necessary to comply with the notice and prevent forfeiture. [C97, §4300; S13, §4300; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12392; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §656.4] 84 Acts, ch 1203, §3 Referred to in §656.8
\nNotes of Decisions
Cited in 9
cases, 1974–2019 · leading case: Miller v. Am. Wonderlands, Inc., 275 N.W.2d 399 (Iowa 1979).
Miller v. Am. Wonderlands, Inc., 275 N.W.2d 399 (Iowa 1979). “” § 656.4, The Code. In this case $35 was claimed for those services and we have no reason to question the reasonableness of that amount.”
Brown v. Nevins, 499 N.W.2d 736 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993). “Iowa Code § 656.4 (1991). In this case, however, Nev-ins failed to inform Sandra of the specific amount she claimed to be the reasonable costs of service until January 6 at which time Nevins sent a letter to Sandra by certified mail.”
Slade v. M.L.E. Inv. Co., 566 N.W.2d 503 (Iowa 1997). “Slade failed to cure the default within the thirty-day period provided by Iowa Code section 656.4; thus, the real estate contract was forfeited and M.”
Graham v. Henry, 456 N.W.2d 364 (Iowa 1990). “The default in the contract was not remedied within the statutory thirty days, see Iowa Code § 656.4 , and the Henrys were divested of their interest in the property in early October 1988.”
Keokuk State Bank v. Eckley, 354 N.W.2d 785 (Iowa Ct. App. 1984). “The cost of attorney fees, even if established as reasonable and necessary, are not included as part of the reasonable costs of serving notice under section 656.4. The statute makes no mention of attorney fees, and the court assumes the omission was deliberate.”
Warren v. Yocum, 223 N.W.2d 258 (Iowa 1974). “” And § 656.4 provides: “The right to forfeit for breach occurring before said notice was served shall terminate if, prior to the expiration of the day for performance as specified in the notice, the party in default performs the terms and conditions as to which he is in…”
Wilson Close, Ltd. v. Crane, 499 N.W.2d 732 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993). “The district court, which had the advantage of examining the witnesses firsthand, concluded that the alleged title problem was not the real reason for Wilson’s failure to pay the balance under the contract.”
Jorge Oscar Sanchez & Eligio Sanchez Estrella v. RR&A Holdings, LLC (Iowa Ct. App. 2019). “Iowa Code section 656.4 provides a vendee thirty days after completed service of the notice of forfeiture to perform the breached terms identified in the forfeiture notice.”
Erick Skogman & Jennifer Skogman v. Rick Emerson & Paula Emerson (Iowa Ct. App. 2019). “Pursuant to the notice and Iowa Code section 656.4 (2017), Rick had thirty days 3 to either make the owed payments or forfeit the property, the payments he had made, and any improvements he had made to the property.”
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