1. The annual tax is due and payable to the county treasurer on or after July 1 in each fiscal year and is collectible in the same manner and at the same time as ordinary taxes as provided in sections 445.36, 445.37, and 445.39. Interest at the rate prescribed by law shall accrue on unpaid taxes. Both installments of taxes may be paid at one time. The September installment represents a tax period beginning July 1 and ending December 31. The March installment represents a tax period beginning January 1 and ending June 30. A mobile home, manufactured home, or modular home* coming into this state from outside the state, put in use from a dealer's inventory, or put in use at any time after July 1 or January 1, and located in a mobile home park, is subject to the taxes prorated for the remaining unexpired months of the tax period, but the purchaser is not required to pay the tax at the time of purchase. Interest attaches the following April 1 for taxes prorated on or after October 1. Interest attaches the following October 1 for taxes prorated on or after April 1. If the taxes are not paid, the county treasurer shall send a statement of delinquent taxes as part of the notice of tax sale as provided in section 446.9. The owner of a home who sells the home between July 1 and December 31 and obtains a tax clearance statement is responsible only for the September tax payment and is not required to pay taxes for subsequent tax periods. If the owner of a home located in a mobile home park sells the home, obtains a tax clearance statement, and obtains a replacement home to be located in a mobile home park, the owner shall not pay taxes under this chapter for the newly acquired home for the same tax period that the owner has paid taxes on the home sold. Interest for delinquent taxes shall be calculated to the nearest whole dollar. In calculating interest each fraction of a month shall be counted as an entire month.
2. The home owners upon issuance of a certificate of title or upon transporting to a new site shall file the address, township, and school district, of the location where the home is parked with the county treasurer's office. Failure to comply is punishable as set out in section 435.18. When the new location is outside of a mobile home park, the county treasurer shall provide to the assessor a copy of the tax clearance statement for purposes of assessment as real estate on the following January 1.
3. Each mobile home park owner shall notify monthly the county treasurer concerning any home arriving in or departing from the park without a tax clearance statement. The records of the owner shall be open to inspection by a duly authorized representative of any law enforcement agency. Any property owner, manager or tenant shall report to the county treasurer homes parked upon any property owned, managed, or rented by that person.
4. The tax is a lien on the vehicle senior to any other lien upon it except a judgment obtained in an action to dispose of an abandoned home under section 555B.8. The home bearing a current registration issued by any other state and remaining within this state for an accumulated period not to exceed ninety days in any twelve-month period is not subject to Iowa tax. However, when one or more persons occupying a home bearing a foreign registration are employed in this state, there is no exemption from the Iowa tax. This tax is in lieu of all other taxes general or local on a home.
5. Before a home may be moved from its present site by any person, a tax clearance statement in the name of the owner must be obtained from the county treasurer of the county where the present site is located certifying that taxes are not owing under this section for previous years and that the taxes have been paid for the current tax period. When the home is moved to another county in this state, the county treasurer shall forward a copy of the tax clearance statement to the county treasurer of the county in which the home is being relocated. However, a tax clearance statement is not required for a home in a manufacturer's or dealer's stock which is not used as a place for human habitation. A tax clearance form is not required to move an abandoned home. A tax clearance form is not required in eviction cases provided the mobile home park owner or manager advises the county treasurer that the tenant is being evicted. If a dealer acquires a home from a person other than a manufacturer, the person shall provide a tax clearance statement in the name of the owner of record to the dealer. The tax clearance statement shall be provided by the county treasurer in a method prescribed by the department of transportation.
6. a. As an alternative to the semiannual or annual payment of taxes, the county treasurer may accept partial payments of current year home taxes. A minimum payment amount shall be established by the treasurer. The treasurer shall transfer amounts from each taxpayer's account to be applied to each semiannual tax installment prior to the delinquency dates specified in section 445.37 and the amounts collected shall be apportioned by the tenth of the month following transfer. If, prior to the due date of each semiannual installment, the account balance is insufficient to fully satisfy the installment, the treasurer shall transfer and apply the entire account balance, leaving an unpaid balance of the installment. Interest shall attach on the unpaid balance in accordance with section 445.39. Unless funds sufficient to fully satisfy the delinquency are received, the treasurer shall collect the unpaid balance as provided in sections 445.3 and 445.4 and chapter 446. Any remaining balance in a taxpayer's account in excess of the amount needed to fully satisfy an installment shall remain in the account to be applied toward the next semiannual installment. Any interest income derived from the account shall be deposited in the county's general fund to cover administrative costs. The treasurer shall send a notice with the tax statement or by separate mail to each taxpayer stating that, upon request to the treasurer, the taxpayer may make partial payments of current year home taxes.
b. Partial payment of taxes which are delinquent may be made to the county treasurer. A minimum payment amount shall be established by the treasurer. The minimum payment must be equal to or exceed the interest, fees, and costs attributed to the oldest delinquent installment of the tax and shall be apportioned in accordance with section 445.57. If the payment does not include the whole of any installment of the delinquent tax, the unpaid tax shall continue to accrue interest pursuant to section 445.39. Partial payment shall not be permitted in lieu of redemption if the property has been sold for taxes under chapter 446 and under any circumstances shall not constitute an extension of the time period for a sale under chapter 446.
7. Current year taxes may be paid at any time regardless of any outstanding prior year delinquent taxes.
[C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 135D.24; 82 Acts, ch 1251, § 2]
83 Acts, ch 5, § 1, 2, 4, 5; 85 Acts, ch 70, §1; 86 Acts, ch 1139, § 1; 86 Acts, ch 1245, § 1115; 87 Acts, ch 210, §3-5; 88 Acts, ch 1138, §11, 18; 90 Acts, ch 1080, § 2; 91 Acts, ch 191, §2, 3; 92 Acts, ch 1016, §1
C93, § 435.24
94 Acts, ch 1110, §11, 12, 24
Referred to in § 331.559, 331.653, 435.25, 435.27, 435.29, 445.5, 445.57
Tax provisions of 1994 amendments take effect January 1, 1995; 94 Acts, ch 1110, §24
*Modular homes were removed from scope of chapter by 98 Acts, ch 1107, § 17 et seq.; corrective legislation is pending
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