2023 Iowa Code › Title XIII - COMMERCE › Chapter 543C - SALES OF SUBDIVIDED LAND OUTSIDE OF IOWA › Section 543C.2 - Provisions governing sale or lease of subdivided lands.

543C.2 Provisions governing sale or lease of subdivided lands.
1. No subdivider shall sell or lease subdivided land, or offer such land for sale or lease, or advertise such land for sale or lease to the public within this state unless the subdivider has filed with the commission an application which shall include an offering statement. No subdivider shall engage in business in this state until the application and the offering statement have been accepted and the subdivider has been registered as a subdivider with the commission. In addition to the offering statement, the application shall contain the following:
a. The name of the owner and of the subdivider.
b. The address of the principal office of the owner and of the subdivider, wherever situated, and the addresses of the principal office and all branch offices of the owner and of the subdivider within this state.
c. The name of the person, firm, partnership, company, corporation, or association holding legal or equitable title to the land for sale or lease for the purpose of offering such land or part thereof to the general public.
d. A statement as to whether the owner or the subdivider, or if such owner or subdivider be other than an individual, the name of any partner, principal, officer, director, or branch manager thereof or any owner of more than a five percent interest in the business, has been convicted of any criminal offense in connection with any transaction involving the sale or lease, or offer for sale or lease, of subdivided land, or has been enjoined or restrained by order of any court from selling or leasing, or offering for sale or lease, any subdivided land in any state or county, or has been enjoined or restrained by any court from continuing any practices in connection therewith.
e. The complete description of the land offered for subdivision by lots, plots, blocks, or sales, with or without streets, together with plats certified to by a duly licensed professional land surveyor accompanied by a certificate attached thereto showing the date of the completion of the survey and of the making of the plat and the name of the subdivision for the purpose of identification of the subdivided land or any part thereof.
f. Copies of plats of all of the land being filed by the subdivider which plats must have already been recorded by the proper recording office in the state in which the land is located.
g. An opinion of an attorney admitted to practice law in this state, a policy of title insurance issued by a title insurer licensed to do business in the state where the subdivided land is located, or an opinion of an attorney admitted or licensed to practice law in the state wherein the lands are situated, reciting in detail all of the liens, encumbrances, and clouds upon the title to such land, and any other defects of title, which may render the title to such land unmarketable.
h. The provisions, covenants, terms, and conditions upon which it is the intention of the owner and the subdivider to sell or lease such subdivided land, accompanied by proposed forms of contracts contemplated for execution and delivery upon the consummation of sales or leases.
i. If the subdivided land sought to be filed comes within the purview of the federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. §1701 et seq., the subdivider must furnish a copy of the accepted report filed with the department of housing and urban development. If the subdivision comes under the regulation of the real estate laws of the state where the land is located and that state requires a state offering statement or public report, the subdivider must also include a copy of said state report.
j. The subdivider, if a corporation, must register to do business in the state of Iowa as a foreign corporation with the secretary of state and furnish a copy of the certificate of authority to do business in the state of Iowa. If not a corporation, the subdivider must comply with the provisions of chapter 547, by filing a proper trade name with the Polk county recorder. The provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to any person, partnership, firm, company, corporation, or association, other than the subdivider, which is engaged by or through the subdivider for the purpose of advertising or selling the land involved in the filing.
k. Such other information as the commission may require, which shall be filed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
2. The offering statement must contain all of the following:
a. The names, addresses, and business background of the subdivider as required in subsection 1, paragraphs “a” through “d”. If such subdivider is a partnership or corporation, the names, addresses, and business background of each of the partners, officers, and principal stockholders, the nature of their fiduciary relationship and their past, present, or anticipated financial relationship to the subdivider.
b. A complete description of the land and copies of the plat in which the land is located as required in subsection 1, paragraphs “e” and “f”, and a certified financial statement by a certified public accountant of the assets and liabilities of the subdivider as of a date not more than six months prior to the date of the filing, in such detail as the board may require.
c. Information concerning public improvements, including without limitation, streets, storm sewers, street lighting, water supply, and sewage treatment and disposal facilities in existence or planned on the subdivision, and the estimated cost, date of completion, and responsibility for construction of improvements to be made which are referred to in connection with the sale or lease, or offering for sale or lease, of the subdivision or any unit or lot thereon.
d. Each of the terms and conditions under which each such unit or lot is offered for sale and such opinion or certificates as required in subsection 1, paragraphs “g” and “h”.
e. A statement as to the exact terms of any guaranties or promises of refund or exchange which are to be used by the subdivider. The guaranty or promise of refund or exchange, if any, must be contained in the body of any contracts used by the subdivider and cannot be in any separate document. Said guaranty or promise of refund or exchange must appear in boldface type in the contract.
f. If the refund privilege, pursuant to paragraph “e”, is predicated in any way upon the requiring by the subdivider of an inspection by the purchaser prior to requesting a refund or exchange pursuant to the guaranty provisions, the offering statement and the sale contract itself must set out in detail all pertinent information in regard to the inspection trip and in regard to claiming a refund or exchange pursuant to the guaranty after the inspection trip.
g. A vicinity sketch of sufficient scale to show the entire tract of land, surrounding property ownership, and road access.
h. Such additional information as the commission may require as being necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of purchasers or lessees.
[C75, 77, 79, 81, §117A.2]
C93, §543C.2
2010 Acts, ch 1061, §71; 2012 Acts, ch 1009, §25; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §167; 2013 Acts, ch 140, §75; 2021 Acts, ch 80, §343
Referred to in §543C.3, 543C.4, 543C.8