Iowa Surplus Funds Laws
How mortgage foreclosure surplus, tax sale surplus and unclaimed funds work in Iowa.
Mortgage foreclosure surplus
Iowa Code § 654.7 expressly directs a mortgage-foreclosure overplus, after the mortgage and costs, to the mortgagor when no other lien exists. Section 626.82 governs overplus from an execution sale when competing executions or liens exist. Chapter 628 concerns redemption, not distribution. Neither § 654.7 nor § 626.82 sets a special overplus-claim filing deadline. Ask the sheriff or district court clerk for the sale accounting and seek release under the court’s order. Chapter 628 property-redemption periods must not be described as surplus deadlines.
Tax sale surplus
Iowa Code chs. 446–448 govern a tax-lien certificate sale and later tax deed. Section 446.7 sells the parcel for the total taxes, interest, fees, and costs due; it is not an ordinary overbid auction that creates a county-held equity surplus. There is no statewide cash-surplus filing period for the routine ch. 446 certificate sale. Chapter 447 sets property-redemption rights and notice before deed, which are separate. Any proceeds from a different judicial or county resale require the particular sale authority and order.
Unclaimed funds
Iowa Code ch. 556 (Disposition of Unclaimed Property), especially § 556.20 (owner claims to the Treasurer of State). Section 556.20 does not impose a fixed initial owner-claim deadline. An adverse decision or failure to act has separate judicial-review periods under § 556.21.
Statute text
Links to the statutes referenced in our research. These may be third-party copies of older code editions, so check the current official code before relying on them.
