Iowa · Iowa Code ch. 9IIowa foreign ownership of agricultural land: the ban, the exceptions and the 60-day registration

Iowa Code chapter 9I separates farmland from everything else. A nonresident alien – someone who is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident, including a conditional one – a foreign business (incorporated abroad, or majority-owned by nonresident aliens, looking through trusts and holding companies) or a foreign government may acquire, own and sell real property other than agricultural land on the same terms as a U.S. citizen and resident (Iowa Code §§9I.1, 9I.2). But they, or an agent, trustee or fiduciary for them, may not purchase or otherwise acquire agricultural land – land suitable for farming – in Iowa (§9I.3(1)). The exceptions include land acquired by devise or descent (to be divested within two years, §9I.5), a bona fide security interest, land acquired in collecting a debt or enforcing a lien (to be sold within two years), certain research land, and up to 320 acres acquired for an immediate or pending nonfarm use, which must be converted within five years (§§9I.3(3), 9I.4). A buyer whose status changes so that it becomes covered must divest within two years (§9I.6). A covered owner of an interest in Iowa farmland must register it with the secretary of state within 60 days after acquiring it (§9I.7); late registration carries a civil penalty of up to 25% of the land's assessed value for each offense (§9I.12). Land held in violation can be declared escheated to the state after an attorney general action recorded in the county (§§9I.10, 9I.11).