HF266 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to application fees charged by landlords to prospective tenants.

Housing

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: WICHTENDAHL, CROKEN, MADISON, R. JOHNSON, WILBURN, AMOS JR., BROWN-POWERS, KURTH, MATSON, JUDGE, LEVIN, B. MEYER, KRESSIG and BAGNIEWSKI
Last action: 2025-02-06
Official status: Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 261 .
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to application fees charged by landlords to prospective tenants.

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to application fees charged by landlords to prospective tenants.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2025-02-06 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 261 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to application fees charged by landlords to prospective tenants.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

266

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

266

BY

WICHTENDAHL

,

CROKEN

,

MADISON

,

R.

JOHNSON

,

WILBURN

,

AMOS

JR.

,

BROWN-POWERS

,

KURTH

,

MATSON

,

JUDGE

,

LEVIN

,

B.

MEYER

,

KRESSIG

,

and

BAGNIEWSKI

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

application

fees

charged

by

landlords

to

1

prospective

tenants.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1719YH

(6)

91

ll/jh

H.F.

266

Section

1.

Section

562A.9,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsection:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

6.

If

a

person

is

required

to

pay

an

3

application

fee

to

a

landlord

prior

to

entering

into

a

rental

4

agreement,

the

landlord

shall

refund

fifty

percent

of

the

5

application

fee

to

the

person

if

the

applicant

is

not

selected

6

as

a

tenant

by

the

landlord

to

rent

the

dwelling

unit.

7

EXPLANATION

8

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

9

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

10

This

bill

provides

that

if

a

person

pays

an

application

fee

11

to

a

landlord

and

is

not

selected

as

a

tenant,

the

landlord

12

must

refund

the

person

50

percent

of

the

application

fee.

13

-1-

LSB

1719YH

(6)

91

ll/jh

1/

1