Housing · Warranty of habitability

Warranty of Habitability in Iowa

What a landlord in Iowa must keep livable, and your remedy when they do not: whether you can withhold or escrow rent, or must use another route. This is the landlord duty behind the repair-and-deduct remedy. Cited to the statute.

Confirmedagainst Iowa Code § 562A.15Reviewed by Cholilurrohman · July 2026

Warranty of habitability · Iowa

Iowa Code § 562A.15 lists what a landlord must maintain, including running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat. After written notice and a reasonable time to fix the problem, a tenant may use the repair-and-deduct remedy in Iowa Code § 562A.23, which the statute does not cap in dollars.

Enumerated duty, repair-and-deduct

Withhold rent?Enumerated duty, repair-and-deduct

Iowa notice standardReasonable time to cure after notice

StatuteIowa Code § 562A.15

What the warranty of habitability covers in Iowa

What the landlord must maintain, whether you can withhold or escrow rent, and the limits on the remedy.

What the law says	What it means
An enumerated statutory duty	Iowa Code § 562A.15 requires the landlord to comply with building and housing codes affecting health and safety, make all repairs to keep the unit fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems and elevators, provide trash receptacles, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat.
Two Iowa-specific additions	Iowa adds wording the model act does not have. The common-areas item includes a carve-out that the landlord is not liable for injury caused by objects a tenant placed in the common areas, and the trash item requires receptacles accessible to all tenants for central collection.
Repair-and-deduct is available	Iowa Code § 562A.23 supplies a repair-and-deduct remedy, and the statute sets no dollar cap on it. It applies after the tenant gives notice and allows a reasonable time for the landlord to fix the problem.

Where it does not apply	What it means
Notice and a reasonable time first	The remedy applies after the tenant tells the landlord about the defect and allows a reasonable time to fix it. What is reasonable depends on the problem, and a serious hazard such as no heat or water calls for a shorter wait.
Some duties shift for a single-family home	The trash-removal and the water, hot water, and heat duties may be shifted to the tenant of a single-family residence only in writing and in good faith. The code-compliance, general-repair, common-areas, and facilities duties cannot be shifted. Under § 562A.15(4) the landlord may not treat that separate agreement as a condition of the rental agreement.
Tenant-caused conditions	The duty is about the landlord’s failure to maintain. It does not cover damage the tenant or a guest caused, and it does not shift the tenant’s own responsibility to keep the unit clean and undamaged.

No federal habitability law

There is no national warranty of habitability. Whether a landlord must keep a rental livable, and what a tenant can do about a breach, is decided state by state. Iowa settles the duty with the statutory list in Iowa Code § 562A.15.

Heat and cooling

Iowa requires reasonable heat but sets no temperature and no dates. Air-conditioning is on the maintain-if-supplied list, so a landlord must keep working any cooling equipment supplied, but there is no duty to install or supply cooling.

The remedy is not capped in dollars

Iowa Code § 562A.23 does not put a dollar limit on repair-and-deduct, unlike some states that cap it at part of a month’s rent. Follow the notice and reasonable-time steps first. See our repair-and-deduct page for how Iowa compares.

What you can do right now

Concrete, neutral steps when a rental in Iowa is not being kept livable. This is legal information, not legal advice.

Put the problem in writing
Describe the defect in writing to the landlord, date it, and keep a copy. Notice and a reasonable chance to fix the problem are the starting point for the Iowa remedy.
Document the condition
Take photos or video, keep any city inspection reports, and save your messages with the landlord. This record shows the breach if you later repair and deduct or go to court.
Use repair-and-deduct after the wait
If the landlord does not fix the problem in a reasonable time, Iowa Code § 562A.23 lets you arrange a repair and subtract the cost from rent. The statute does not cap the amount, but keep it reasonable and keep receipts.
Get Iowa tenant help
If you are unsure whether the wait was long enough or how far you can deduct, a local legal-aid office or Iowa Legal Aid can walk you through the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law before you act.

Tenant help in Iowa

Withholding rent the wrong way can risk eviction, so a legal aid office can confirm the exact notice and escrow steps before you stop paying.

→ Iowa Legal Aid

This is general legal information, not legal advice. The notice, the escrow account, and what counts as uninhabitable all matter, so confirm your situation against the statute before withholding rent.

What renters in Iowa get wrong about habitability

Iowa follows the familiar uniform-act pattern in Iowa Code § 562A.15, listing the landlord’s duties from code compliance and a fit and habitable unit to working plumbing, heat, and trash removal. Two touches are Iowa’s own. The common-areas item carries a carve-out saying the landlord is not liable for injury caused by objects a tenant placed in the common areas, and the trash item asks for receptacles accessible to all tenants for central collection. Neither phrase appears in the sibling states that share the same skeleton. On the questions renters actually ask, Iowa requires reasonable heat with no set temperature or dates, and treats air-conditioning as maintain-if-supplied, so a landlord must keep supplied cooling working but need not install it. The enforcement side is a clean repair-and-deduct under § 562A.23 with no dollar cap in the statute, available after the tenant gives notice and allows a reasonable time to fix the problem. The core duties cannot be waived, though the trash and water and heat duties can be shifted to the tenant of a single-family home in writing and in good faith. The wording here comes from the official Iowa Code.

Common questions

Does Iowa have a warranty of habitability?

Yes. Iowa Code § 562A.15 sets an enumerated duty to keep a rental fit and habitable, with working plumbing, heat, hot water, and other systems. A landlord who does not meet it, after notice and a reasonable time, can face a repair-and-deduct or other remedy.

Can I repair and deduct in Iowa?

Yes. After written notice and a reasonable time to cure, Iowa Code § 562A.23 lets you arrange a repair and subtract the cost from rent. The statute does not set a dollar cap, but keep the cost reasonable and save receipts. See our repair-and-deduct page for more.

How much notice do I give my Iowa landlord?

Iowa uses a reasonable-time standard rather than a fixed number of days. Tell the landlord about the defect in writing and allow a reasonable time to fix it. A serious hazard such as no heat or water calls for a shorter wait.

What must an Iowa landlord maintain?

Under Iowa Code § 562A.15 the landlord must comply with health-and-safety building codes, keep the unit fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, provide trash receptacles, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat.

Primary source

→ Iowa Code § 562A.15; Iowa Code § 562A.23

Iowa Code § 562A.15 (Iowa Legislature) · legis.iowa.gov

Cholilurrohman
Every figure on this page is checked line-by-line against the current statute. Editorial standards →

Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.

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