How to stop a foreclosure in Iowa

You have a legal right to cure the default within 30 days after the lender gives you a notice of right to cure, by paying the missed installments or the amount in the notice, whichever is less. Curing puts the loan back in good standing. You do not get a new right to cure if the lender already gave you a proper notice for an earlier default in the past 365 days. This right covers one and two family homes you live in, and does not apply if your lender is an individual. After the cure period, the statute only lets you stop the case by paying the full amount claimed before judgment, or the full judgment before the sale, unless your servicer agrees to a reinstatement.

Iowa Code §§ 654.2D, 654.21

Iowa has no court-ordered mediation for home foreclosures, but there is a free voluntary route. State law makes the lender send you a notice about counseling and mediation before it files and again with the court papers. That notice points to Iowa Mortgage Help, a hotline run with the Iowa Finance Authority, the Attorney General and Iowa Legal Aid, which says it offers free counseling plus negotiation and mediation with your servicer. Call 877-622-4866 or use the request form on its site. The lender is not required to agree to anything. For farmland, mediation is mandatory: a creditor must file a mediation request with the farm mediation service and get a release before it can sue.

The lender cannot call the whole loan due, take the property, or file a foreclosure until 30 days after it gives you a proper written notice of right to cure. The notice must state the exact amount needed and the exact date by which you must pay.

Iowa Code §§ 654.2B, 654.2D

When the lender elects foreclosure without redemption, you can file a written demand before judgment that pushes the sale of your one or two family home back 6 months, or 3 months if the lender waived a deficiency. Your mortgage cannot sign this right away in advance.

Iowa Code §§ 654.20A, 654.21

The lender must tell you about free counseling and mediation before filing. If the notice was not served and you want counseling or mediation, the court must delay the sheriff's sale for up to 60 days, but you have to ask before the sale.

Iowa Code § 654.4B(2)

Iowa's nonjudicial foreclosure chapter does not apply to a one or two family home occupied by its owner. A voluntary out-of-court foreclosure needs your written agreement, the lender must waive any deficiency, and you can cancel within 5 business days.

Iowa Code §§ 655A.9, 654.18

For these homeowner protections, the home still counts as your residence if you left because of a natural disaster, damage you did not cause on purpose, or National Guard or federal active duty.

Iowa Code § 654.1A