Surplus funds in Iowa: the rules, straight.
We recover foreclosure surplus, tax sale overages, and vehicle/boat/RV repossession surplus here.
Foreclosure / mortgage surplus
Yes — we recover this here.
Sheriff pays overplus to mortgagor; competing liens → clerk holds for court order (654.7, 654.9, 626.82).
Deadline: No short surplus statute; clerk-held funds presumed abandoned after 2 years (556.8).
Judicial-only. No pre-escheat fee cap or CA-style bar found. Ch.714E covers foreclosure consultants (stop-foreclosure), not post-sale surplus. UPL: corps need counsel (A-1 Associates).
Tax sale overages
Yes — we recover this here.
Tax-lien certificate sale (ch.446); no cash overbid surplus. Unredeemed parcels get treasurer deed vesting all title (448.3).
Deadline: No owner surplus-claim path under current ch.446–448.
Tyler gap: certificate holder keeps equity. SF 2313 (sheriff sale + overplus) still in committee as of Apr 2026, not law. Do not paper tax surplus until reform enacts.
Courtroom requirement: Claims here move by court motion. Licensed local attorneys on our bench handle the courtroom work inside the same contingency deal — you never pay hourly legal bills.
If nobody claims it: Clerk/court funds abandon after 2 yrs (556.8); then 24-mo wait + 15% cap (556.11(10)). Storage leftover after 90 days → county, county keeps after 2 yrs (578A.7).
Cars, boats & RVs in Iowa: Vehicle/boat/RV repo surplus: UCC § 9-615(d) obliges the LENDER to return the surplus; § 9-616 explanation on request; § 9-625(c)(2) statutory damages for noncompliance. Demand-letter work against the secured party — no county, no state surplus-fee cap in this table.
This page summarizes public statutes for general information — it is not legal advice, rules change, and unverified items are confirmed by our desk (and counsel where needed) before any agreement is papered. Primary source: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2026/654.pdf · https://law.justia.com/codes/iowa/title-xv/chapter-626/section-626-82/
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