Iowa Lien Release

The Lien You Are Releasing

Pull your stamped copy of the lien — everything on this page is on it. If the details here do not match the instrument on record, the release does not release it, and no one at the counter will catch that for you.

Which county is the property in?Property addressTax parcel ID — if it is on the lienRecord owner of the property

File or case number the office gave your lien

Date the lien was recorded

This instrument says the debt is paid.

Iowa Code § 572.23 discharges the lien on satisfaction of the debt. Signing it while money is still owed puts a false statement on the public record and gives away the security you filed to protect. If you have been paid part of it, this is not the document you want — talk to a construction attorney about what is.

The debt secured by this lien has been paid in full.

Where this gets filed: Mechanics' Notice and Lien Registry (Secretary of State). POSTED TO THE REGISTRY, NOT RECORDED ANYWHERE. The lien exists only on the MNLR — § 572.8 perfects it by posting to the registry internet site, § 572.1 defines the administrator as the Secretary of State, and § 572.34 establishes the registry with no county-recorder role. Recording a paper release in a county accomplishes nothing at all. One honest caveat: NO SECTION OF CHAPTER 572 SAYS WHERE THE CLAIMANT POSTS THE SATISFACTION. § 572.23(1) says only "shall acknowledge satisfaction thereof." (We used to cite § 572.23(2) for the filing destination; that subsection directs the party who SERVED THE DEMAND to file it with the administrator, which is the owner's forfeiture route, not the claimant's.) The registry is the only place a posting can go, but it is our inference from the architecture rather than a sentence in the code.

Thirty days after a written demand served on you. Failure forfeits $25 — payable to the owner, general contractor or owner-builder — and makes you liable to any person injured to the extent of the injury (§ 572.23(1)); under § 572.23(2) the posting is constructive notice of the forfeiture and cancellation of the lien, so ignoring a served demand loses the lien outright. Do not rely on never having been handed anything: § 572.23(2) contemplates SERVICE BY PUBLICATION where the demanding party files an affidavit that personal service could not be made within the state.