Iowa Closing Timeline Builder

1. Your fixed dates

Nothing you type here is stored or sent anywhere. The timeline is built in your browser, so it works offline.

2. Three facts about this deal

Each one switches a statutory item on or off. Leave a question blank and the item is listed as unplaced rather than guessed.

3. Deadlines from your purchase agreement

Type the date your contract states, or the number of calendar days after acceptance if that is how your form reads. A date wins if you enter both. If your form counts business days, or runs from a date other than acceptance, type the date. Rows you leave blank stay off the timeline. Two spare rows take anything your form adds.

4. The timeline, dated

Where each statutory date comes from

Every timeline item tagged Iowa or Federal rests on one of these passages, read on the date shown. The passages are quoted whole so you can check our placement against the words.

Seller disclosure: due before the seller makes or accepts a written offer

The timing rule is on the transferor. The remedy for a late statement is the buyer's, and it has its own short clock.

“1. A person interested in transferring real property, or a broker or salesperson acting on behalf of the person, shall deliver a written disclosure statement to a person interested in being transferred the real property. The disclosure statement must be delivered prior to either the transferor making a written offer for the transfer of the real property, or accepting a written offer for the transfer of the real property.”

“… If the disclosure statement is not timely delivered, the transferee may withdraw the offer or revoke the acceptance without liability, within three days following personal delivery of the statement or five days following electronic delivery or delivery by mail.”

Iowa Code 2026, §558A.2(1) and the last sentence of §558A.2(2). Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

The chapter's own definition of a covered transfer, then the 2026 addition to what the statement has to address:

“‘Transfer’ means the transfer or conveyance by sale, exchange, real estate contract, or any other method by which real estate and improvements are purchased, if the property includes at least one but not more than four dwelling units.”

Iowa Code 2026, §558A.1(7), first sentence; paragraphs “a” through “i” then list nine exclusions, among them a transfer by quitclaim deed. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

“The disclosure statement shall include information relating to the condition and important characteristics of the property and structures located on the property, including significant defects in the structural integrity of the structure and the presence of lead service lines, as provided in rules which shall be adopted by the real estate commission pursuant to section 543B.9.”

Iowa Code 2026, §558A.4(1)“a”, first sentence. The lead service line language was added by 2025 Acts, ch 144, §2, effective 2026-01-01. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

Septic: the time-of-transfer inspection, and what the recorder does without it

The recorder checks for the report when the deed is presented, so a missing inspection surfaces at the last step unless it is booked early. The inspector has to be certified by the Department of Natural Resources, the tank gets pumped unless it was pumped in the last three years, and a report is good for two years.

“If a building where a person resides, congregates, or is employed is served by a private sewage disposal system, the sewage disposal system serving the building shall be inspected prior to any transfer of ownership of the building. The requirements of this subsection shall be applied to all types of ownership transfer including at the time a seller-financed real estate contract is signed. The county recorder shall not record a deed or any other property transfer or conveyance document until either a certified inspector’s report is provided which documents the condition of the private sewage disposal system and whether any modifications are required to conform to standards adopted by the department or, in the event that weather or other temporary physical conditions prevent the certified inspection from being conducted, the buyer has executed and submitted a binding acknowledgment with the county board of health to conduct a certified inspection of the private sewage disposal system at the earliest practicable time and to be responsible for any required modifications to the private sewage disposal system as identified by the certified inspection.”

Iowa Code 2026, §455B.172(11)“a”, opening sentences. The same paragraph defines “transfer” as one to four dwelling units and lists twelve exclusions, including a system installed not more than two years before the transfer. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

“b. At the time of inspection, any septic tank existing as part of the sewage disposal system shall be opened and have the contents pumped out and disposed of as provided for by rule. In the alternative, the owner may provide evidence of the septic tank being properly pumped out within three years prior to the inspection by a commercial septic tank cleaner licensed by the department which shall include documentation of the size and condition of the tank and its components at the time of such occurrence.”

“h. An inspection is valid for a period of two years for any ownership transfers during that period.”

Iowa Code 2026, §455B.172(11)“b” and “h”. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

At recording: the Declaration of Value and the Groundwater Hazard Statement

“When each deed, instrument, or writing by which any real property in this state is granted, assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed is presented for recording to the county recorder, a declaration of value signed by at least one of the sellers or one of the buyers or their agents shall be submitted to the county recorder.”

Iowa Code 2026, §428A.1(2), first sentence. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

“f. That no known private sewage disposal system exists on the property or, if such private sewage disposal system exists, that the system has been inspected pursuant to section 455B.172, subsection 11, or that the property is not subject to inspection due to its exclusion from a regulated transfer pursuant to section 455B.172, subsection 11, paragraph ‘a’.”

“9. a. If a required declaration of value is not accompanied by a groundwater hazard statement, if required under this section, or if the first page of the deed, instrument, or writing by which any real property in this state shall be granted, assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed does not include the statement provided in subsection 8, paragraph ‘a’, if required under this section, the county recorder shall refuse to record the deed, instrument, or writing.”

Iowa Code 2026, §558.69(1)“f” and §558.69(9)“a”. Subsection 8 carries the exact first-page statement a clean property uses instead of filing the form. Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

Why the deed goes to the recorder promptly

“An instrument affecting real estate is of no validity against subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration, without notice, or against the state or any of its political subdivisions during and after condemnation proceedings against the real estate, unless the instrument is filed and recorded in the county in which the real estate is located, as provided in this chapter.”

Iowa Code 2026, §558.41(1). Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

After closing: the homestead credit does not travel with the house

The buyer files. The seller gives notice. Both are in the same subsection, and the statute assigns each one to a party to the sale.

“The claim shall be filed not later than July 1 of the year for which the person is claiming the credit. A claim filed after July 1 of the year for which the person is claiming the credit shall be considered as a claim filed for the following year.”

“When the property is sold or transferred, the buyer or transferee who wishes to qualify shall refile for the credit.”

“A person who sells or transfers a homestead or the personal representative of a deceased person who had a homestead at the time of death, shall provide written notice to the assessor that the property is no longer the homestead of the former claimant.”

Iowa Code 2026, §425.2(1) and two sentences of §425.2(2). Read 2026-10-02. legis.iowa.gov

Financed deals: the federal Closing Disclosure window

This one counts business days under its own narrow definition (every day except Sundays and federal holidays), which is why the date on the timeline can land on a Saturday. The receipt rule is the reason the mail date sits three more business days back.

“(A) In general. Except as provided in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(B), (f)(2)(i), (f)(2)(iii), (f)(2)(iv), and (f)(2)(v) of this section, the creditor shall ensure that the consumer receives the disclosures required under paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section no later than three business days before consummation.”

“(iii) Receipt of disclosures. If any disclosures required under paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section are not provided to the consumer in person, the consumer is considered to have received the disclosures three business days after they are delivered or placed in the mail.”

12 CFR §1026.19(f)(1)(ii)(A) and (f)(1)(iii). eCFR, title 12 up to date as of 2026-10-01. Read 2026-10-02. ecfr.gov

Which loans the rule reaches, and the three changes that restart the count:

“(i) Creditor. In a closed-end consumer credit transaction secured by real property or a cooperative unit, other than a reverse mortgage subject to § 1026.33, the creditor shall provide the consumer with good faith estimates of the disclosures in § 1026.37.”

“(ii) Changes before consummation requiring a new waiting period. If one of the following disclosures provided under paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section becomes inaccurate in the following manner before consummation, the creditor shall ensure that the consumer receives corrected disclosures containing all changed terms in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(A) of this section: (A) The annual percentage rate disclosed under § 1026.38(o)(4) becomes inaccurate, as defined in § 1026.22. (B) The loan product is changed, causing the information disclosed under § 1026.38(a)(5)(iii) to become inaccurate. (C) A prepayment penalty is added, causing the statement regarding a prepayment penalty required under § 1026.38(b) to become inaccurate.”

12 CFR §1026.19(e)(1)(i), which §1026.19(f)(1)(i) adopts as the scope of the Closing Disclosure rule, and §1026.19(f)(2)(ii). eCFR, title 12 up to date as of 2026-10-01. Read 2026-10-03. ecfr.gov

The business-day definition and holiday table behind the count are the ones in our Closing Disclosure deadline calculator, which also shows every day it skipped and why.

What this page does not tell you

• What your contract requires. It reads the dates you typed and nothing else. Some forms count business days for the inspection period. Some run a deadline from a date other than acceptance. Work those out from the form and type the resulting date.
• Whether a given transfer is covered. Chapter 558A and section 455B.172(11) each carry a list of excluded transfers (estates, foreclosures, transfers between spouses, a quitclaim deed under 558A). The questions above are a coarse switch, not that list.
• Anything about the abstract. The continuation, the attorney's preliminary opinion and the Iowa Title Guaranty certificate run on lead times your abstractor and attorney set. We built a separate tracker for that chain. Type its dates into the contract rows here if you want them on the same page.
• Whether a county recorder is open on a given day. The timeline notes when a date falls on a Sunday. It does not know county hours or holidays.
• The transfer tax figure. That is a function of price, and the seller net proceeds calculator computes it under Iowa Code chapter 428A.