What do I have to disclose when selling a house in Iowa?
What Iowa Code chapter 558A requires in a seller disclosure statement, when it has to reach the buyer, which sales are exempt, the new lead service line question, and what happens if you deliver it late.
If you are selling a home with one to four dwelling units, Iowa Code chapter 558A requires you to give the buyer a written disclosure statement about the condition and important characteristics of the property, including significant structural defects and any lead service line. It has to reach the buyer before you make or accept a written offer. You answer in good faith from what you know, and you amend it if something changes before closing.
## What the statement covers
Section 558A.4 says the statement covers the condition and important characteristics of the property and its structures, as set by rules of the Iowa Real Estate Commission. The statute names significant structural defects and the presence of lead service lines, and lets the commission's rules add items such as zoning, plumbing, heating and electrical systems, and pests. If you list with a broker, ask which disclosure form they use and fill in every line.
The lead service line item is worth checking now. The 2026 code defines a lead service line as one made of lead, and counts a galvanized line as one too if it was ever downstream of a lead line or a line of unknown material. The service line is the pipe from the water main to your interior plumbing, up to and including the part that reaches the meter. If you do not know what yours is made of, your water utility may have records.
## When it has to be delivered
Under section 558A.2 the statement goes to the buyer before you make or accept a written offer. It can be handed over in person, sent by certified or registered mail, or delivered electronically, and it can go to the buyer's agent. Your listing broker delivers it unless you or the buyer say otherwise in writing.
If it arrives late, the buyer can walk away without liability: within three days after personal delivery, or five days after mail or electronic delivery. A late form gives a buyer an easy exit at the worst possible time.
## Good faith, approximations and amendments
You disclose in good faith. If a fact is unknown and reasonable effort does not turn it up, you may give an approximation, labeled as an approximation. If information becomes inaccurate or misleading before closing, you amend the statement and deliver the amendment the same way.
Section 558A.6 says a seller or agent is liable for actual damages, and is not liable for an error or omission unless they actually knew it was wrong or failed to use ordinary care in getting the information. Leaving out a known leak or a cracked foundation is where sellers get into trouble.
## Sales that are exempt
Section 558A.1(7) leaves out transfers made under a court order or foreclosure, transfers between joint tenants or tenants in common, transfers to a spouse or a close relative, transfers between spouses in a divorce, quitclaim deeds, transfers by power of attorney, and most estate and trust transfers. Section 558A.7 adds that the chapter does not limit any other disclosure duty you have under other law or your contract.
This is general information about the statute. For a hard question about what to disclose, ask a real estate lawyer.
## What it means for your bottom line
A defect you disclose often turns into a repair request or a price cut. The proceeds calculator on this site lets you test a lower price or a repair credit against commission, payoff and Iowa's transfer tax before you list.