1. A transfer made or obligation incurred by a debtor is voidable as to a creditor, whether the creditor’s claim arose before or after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred, if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation under any of the following circumstances:

 a. With actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the debtor.
 b. Without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer or obligation, if either of the following applies:

 (1) The debtor was engaged or was about to engage in a business or a transaction for which the remaining assets of the debtor were unreasonably small in relation to the business or transaction.
 (2) The debtor intended to incur, or believed or reasonably should have believed that the debtor would incur, debts beyond the debtor’s ability to pay as they became due.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 684.4

  • Asset: means property of a debtor, but does not include any of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • claim for relief: means a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Creditor: means a person that has a claim. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Debt: means liability on a claim. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Debtor: means a person that is liable on a claim. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Insider: includes all of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Iowa Code 684.1
  • Transfer: means every mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with an asset or an interest in an asset, and includes payment of money, release, lease, license, and creation of a lien or other encumbrance. See Iowa Code 684.1
 2. In determining actual intent under subsection 1, paragraph “a”, consideration may be given, among other factors, to whether any or all of the following apply:

 a. The transfer or obligation was to an insider.
 b. The debtor retained possession or control of the property transferred after the transfer.
 c. The transfer or obligation was disclosed or concealed.
 d. Before the transfer was made or obligation was incurred, the debtor had been sued or threatened with suit.
 e. The transfer was of substantially all the debtor’s assets.
 f. The debtor absconded.
 g. The debtor removed or concealed assets.
 h. The value of the consideration received by the debtor was reasonably equivalent to the value of the asset transferred or the amount of the obligation incurred.
 i. The debtor was insolvent or became insolvent shortly after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred.
 j. The transfer occurred shortly before or shortly after a substantial debt was incurred.
 k. The debtor transferred the essential assets of the business to a lienor that transferred the assets to an insider of the debtor.
 3. A creditor making a claim for relief under subsection 1 has the burden of proving the elements of the claim for relief by a preponderance of the evidence.
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