1. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, or after nine months from the date of a sale made under section 446.18, or after three months from the date of a sale made under section 446.19A or 446.19B, the holder of the certificate of purchase may cause to be served upon the person in possession of the parcel, and also upon the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, a notice signed by the certificate holder or the certificate holder’s agent or attorney, stating the date of sale, the description of the parcel sold, the name of the purchaser, and that the right of redemption will expire and a deed for the parcel be made unless redemption is made within ninety days from the completed service of the notice. The notice shall be served by both regular mail and certified mail to the person’s last known address and such service is deemed completed when the notice is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery. The ninety-day redemption period begins as provided in section 447.12. When the notice is given by a county as a holder of a certificate of purchase the notice shall be signed by the county treasurer or the county attorney, and when given by a city, it shall be signed by the city officer designated by resolution of the council. When the notice is given by the Iowa finance authority or a city or county agency holding the parcel as part of an Iowa homesteading project, it shall be signed on behalf of the agency or authority by one of its officers, as authorized in rules of the agency or authority.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 447.9

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" and the abbreviation "A. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Person: means any individual, firm, association, partnership, joint stock company, joint adventure, corporation, trustee, agency, or receiver, or any legal representative of any of the foregoing. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Sale: means any transfer, exchange, or barter, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for a consideration, and includes and means all sales made by any person. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Service of the notice shall be made by both regular mail and certified mail on any mortgagee having a lien upon the parcel, a vendor of the parcel under a recorded contract of sale, a lessor who has a recorded lease or recorded memorandum of a lease, and any other person who has an interest of record, at the person’s last known address. The notice shall be served on any city where the parcel is situated. Notice shall not be served after the filing of the affidavit required by section 447.12. Only those persons who are required to be served the notice of expiration as provided in this section or who have acquired an interest in or possession of the parcel subsequent to the filing of the notice of expiration of the right of redemption are eligible to redeem a parcel from tax sale. Service of the notice is deemed completed when the notice is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery.
 3. The county in which the parcel is located has the right of redemption for owner-occupied residential parcels as provided in this subsection. If a person is unable to contribute to the public revenue, the person may file a petition, duly sworn to, with the board of supervisors, stating that fact and giving a statement of parcels, as defined in section 445.1, owned or possessed by the petitioner, and other information as the board may require. The board of supervisors may order the county auditor to redeem a parcel owned or possessed by the petitioner from the holder of a certificate of purchase upon payment by the county to the certificate holder of the amount necessary to redeem under section 447.1. Each of the tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies having any interest in the taxes shall be charged with the total amount due the tax-levying or tax-certifying body as its just share of the purchase price, and that amount shall be deducted from the next month‘s disbursement made by the county to the tax-levying or tax-certifying body. Interest paid by the county to the certificate holder pursuant to section 447.1 shall be paid solely by the county and shall not be charged against the other tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies. Taxes charged and paid by the tax-levying or tax-certifying body in this manner shall be treated as suspended taxes pursuant to sections 427.8 through 427.12. Notwithstanding section 447.14, a county may redeem pursuant to this subsection for tax sales held before, on, or after July 1, 1998. A county may limit the number of times a taxpayer may file a petition for assistance under this subsection.