House Tightens Foreign Ownership of Farmland Law

Feb. 29, 2024 - This week the House of Representatives passed a bill to strengthen Iowa’s laws on ownership of Iowa’s agricultural land by nonresident aliens. Senate File 2204 easily passed with bipartisan support with a vote of 95-0. SF 2204 amends the current law to increase reporting requirements, increase enforcement of current laws, and authorizes the Attorney General’s office to investigate reports of potential violations of Iowa’s laws concerning foreign ownership.

SF 2204 expands the registration requirements for nonresident ownership to include intermediaries and parent corporations. The reports shall now also include the legal name, birthplace, nationality of the owner, and the supervisor of the daily operations on the land. Additionally, the reports require a statement of the purpose for conducting business in the state. The bill gives the Attorney General the authority to conduct investigations regarding violations of land ownership, including subpoena powers.

The bill also increases the civil penalties for failing to file a report on time by increasing the penalty up to 25% the assessed value of the land. The bill also requires the Secretary of State to prepare an annual report compiling the information included in the foreign land ownership registrations to be provided to the General Assembly and the Governor.

Forum Schedule

Senator Sinclair and Representative Fry will be hosting Legislative Forums in the District during the 2024 Legislative Session.

March 22, 2024

8:00 am - Corydon, IA at the Wayne County Farm Bureau

10:00 am - Chariton, IA at the Lucas County Farm Bureau

12:00 pm - Osceola, IA at Revelton Distilling Company

2:00 pm - Leon, IA at the Leon Community Center

We look forward to meeting with everyone.

Stay in touch -

Rep. Joel Fry

House District 27

joel.fry@legis.iowa.gov

515.281.3221