Lead paint disclosure in Iowa

If the home was built before 1978, the federal rule most likely covers it, and it applies to both home purchases and rentals.

Under the federal rule, your seller or landlord must:

• share any known lead-based paint or lead hazards
• pass along any lead records they hold for the home
• give you the EPA lead pamphlet
• put a Lead Warning Statement into the contract or lease

This statement is standard language that cautions about lead dangers in older homes. Buyers get a 10 day window to have the home checked for lead, too.

Iowa requires anyone selling a home with 1 to 4 units to provide a written disclosure statement. It has to be in your hands before any written offer is made or accepted.

On the state form, Question 11 asks whether the seller knows of any lead-based paint in the building. The seller answers from their own knowledge, not from any test.

If the statement reaches you after the offer stage, you can back out without penalty. The clock runs 3 days when it's delivered in person, and 5 days when it arrives by mail or electronically.

Iowa exempts certain transfers from the state disclosure statement:

• transfers ordered by a court
• homes lost through foreclosure or a deed in lieu
• most transfers that come from an estate, a guardianship, a conservatorship, or a trust

The lead service line is the pipe running from the street main into your house. A 2025 change to Iowa law, effective January 1, 2026, adds these lines to the seller's statement. Question 13 on the state form asks if the property has, or has ever had, a lead service line.

In a pre-1978 home, a contractor or landlord who plans to disturb paint across an area of at least 1 square foot must first make sure the owner and every adult occupant receives a lead pamphlet. Under Iowa's prerenovation rule, the pamphlet is either the Renovate Right guide or the one titled Lead Poisoning: How to Protect Iowa Families.

Landlords doing work in tenant-occupied homes need certification from Iowa's Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing. A landlord who breaks these rules can be fined up to $5,000 for each violation, so it's worth asking whether the person doing the work is certified. You can check renovator certification with Iowa DIAL.

It does, before kindergarten. Schools ask parents to prove their child was tested for lead in the blood before turning 6. Waivers go only to very low risk children or to families who sign a sworn statement of religious objection.

Iowa HHS suggests testing at ages 1 and 2, then each year up to age 6 based on risk. If cost is a worry, call Iowa HHS. They can help families who can't pay get their child tested.

Any result of 20 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dL) or more in a child younger than 6, or in someone who is pregnant, must go to Iowa HHS immediately. Every other result is reported at least weekly.

A venous test draws blood from a vein instead of a finger prick. Under Iowa rules, one venous result of 20 ug/dL or more, or two venous results between 15 and 19 ug/dL, marks a child as elevated. An inspection of the child's home follows.

Plenty of Iowa homes are old enough to contain lead paint. The US Census supplies these figures.

Of all homes in the state, 868,540 were built before 1980, out of 1,458,471 total, a 60% share. For rented homes, the count is 209,855 out of 385,209, or 54%.