Tools · Security Deposit

Iowa Security Deposit Calculator (2026)

Enter your rent and move-out date to see the most a Iowa landlord can charge and the exact date your deposit is due back — up to 2 months of rent, returned 30 days after the tenancy ends and the landlord receives the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions.

Cited to Iowa Code §562A.12Source: Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code §562A.12 (Rental deposits).

Iowa security deposit calculator

Security deposit · Iowa

State

Monthly rent

Move-out date

Iowa rule applied to your numbers

Maximum deposit

$4,000

Up to 2 months’ rent under Iowa law. Iowa Code 562A.12(1) says a landlord cannot demand or receive a security deposit worth more than two months' rent. This applies to residential rentals under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law. Manufactured and mobile home lots follow a separate chapter (562B).

Return deadline

30 days

30 days after the tenancy ends and the landlord receives the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions. Enter your move-out date for the exact deadline.

These are the Iowa figures applied to what you entered: a plain summary of the rule and the dates, not a determination that anyone did or did not comply.

If a deposit is wrongly kept

If a landlord retains a deposit in bad faith, the court can award punitive damages of up to twice the monthly rent, on top of the tenant's actual damages (Iowa Code 562A.12(7)). Missing the 30-day written-statement deadline forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit. The court may also award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in a case on the rental agreement (Iowa Code 562A.12(8)).

Interest on the deposit

Iowa law does not force a landlord to put your deposit in an interest-bearing account, but it may be one. Here is the part that surprises people: any interest earned during the first five years of the tenancy belongs to the landlord (Iowa Code 562A.12(2)). Interest earned after five years belongs to the tenant.

PlainStatute

Security deposit — Iowa

Maximum deposit: $4,000 · 2 months’ rent
Monthly rent: $2,000
Move-out date: Not entered
Return deadline: 30 days after the tenancy ends and the landlord receives the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions

Source: Iowa Code §562A.12

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/562A.12.pdf

Printed from plainstatute.com
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.

Informational only, not legal advice. Security-deposit rules carry exceptions (lease type, small landlords, city ordinances) this summary cannot weigh. See the full statute and exceptions on the Iowa security deposit reference, cited to Iowa Code §562A.12.

How Iowa security deposits work

Iowa caps a residential security deposit at two months' rent under Iowa Code 562A.12. The rule most tenants miss is about interest: your landlord must hold the deposit in a federally insured bank, savings and loan, or credit union and keep it separate from personal funds, and while that account may earn interest, any interest earned during the first five years of the tenancy belongs to the landlord. Interest earned after five years belongs to you. After you move out, the landlord has 30 days from the end of the tenancy and receipt of your mailing address to either return the deposit or send a written statement listing the specific reasons for any deductions. Miss that deadline, and the landlord forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit. If a landlord holds your money back in bad faith, a court can add punitive damages of up to twice the monthly rent plus your actual damages, and may award attorney fees to whoever wins.

This calculator shows the Iowa figures applied to your own rent and dates. It is informational only and not legal advice — exceptions this summary cannot weigh may apply. For the full rules, penalties, and citations, see the Iowa security deposit reference.

Security deposit calculators for other states

Same tool, each with its own cap and return deadline.