2026-09-10 · Iowa · Legislation · Did not pass

Iowa Code chapter 562B governs manufactured home communities and mobile home parks. Seven bills in the 91st General Assembly tried to change it. Every one of them is dead. The General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 3, 2026, and Iowa bills do not carry over.

Why this belongs in an association column

Because chapter 562B produces association-shaped problems without association-law remedies.

A manufactured-home resident owns the home and rents the land. That structure generates the same pressures a badly run association does — escalating mandatory monthly payments, deteriorating shared infrastructure, no effective owner voice — with no board to elect, no covenant to enforce, and no fiduciary duty to sue on. The only lever is the legislature.

The six resident-protection bills

SF 2225 (Sen. Zach Wahls and six co-sponsors) was the substantial one — twenty pages, and the fullest statement of what residents are asking for. Just-cause termination, limiting cancellation to material noncompliance, material rule violation, another chapter 562B ground, a “legitimate and material business reason, the impact of which is not specific to one tenant,” or a land-use change the agreement makes grounds for termination. A consumer-fraud hook making any landlord violation of chapter 562B an unlawful practice under § 714.16, carrying injunctive relief, disgorgement and civil penalties up to $40,000 per violation. And on rent: repeal of the 2022 change to the definition of “rent,” 180 days' written notice of any increase (up from 90), no increase taking effect less than one year after the last, and a cap on increases above the 36-month average Midwest CPI-U unless specified conditions were met. Introduced February 10, 2026; subcommittee named; no meeting ever held; dead at the first funnel, February 20, 2026.¹

HF 481 (Reps. Josh Judge and Sean James) came closest of any 2025 bill. It would have barred more than one rent increase per calendar year, excepting increases reasonably necessary because of insurance premium rises or infrastructure expenses the tenant pays under the agreement. Its subcommittee recommended passage on March 5, 2025. The full Judiciary committee never voted before the March 7 funnel.²

SSB 1011 is the one that complicates the partisan reading: a Local Government committee bill from Republican chairman Scott Webster, on water service. It would have let residents hold direct accounts with the water system rather than being billed through a master meter, with the landlord paying for submeters, retaining responsibility for the community's private water infrastructure, and notifying existing tenants. Subcommittee recommended passage January 30, 2025. The full committee never reported it.

HF 482 (Judge and James) was the one-sentence just-cause bill. Re-referred to Judiciary March 3, 2025; no subcommittee was ever appointed after the re-referral. HF 2551 (Rep. Larry McBurney) would have capped increases at the greater of the 12-month Midwest CPI-U or the assessor's valuation increase, and extended the 90-day notice rule to conventional dwelling units. HF 740 (Rep. Tracy Turek and eight others) used the same structure but at three times CPI. Both were introduced and referred and received no further action at all.

1. SF 2225 bill history, Iowa General Assembly (died at first funnel, Feb. 20, 2026) ↩
2. HF 481 bill history, Iowa General Assembly (subcommittee recommended passage Mar. 5, 2025) ↩
3. SF 412 bill history, Iowa General Assembly (passed Senate 34-16; last action Apr. 22, 2026) ↩
4. SSB 1011 bill history, Iowa General Assembly (water service in manufactured home communities) ↩