Important Dates for Motor Vehicle
Vehicles may be renewed one month prior to your registration renewal month, your renewal month, or the month following without penalty, unless the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Holiday, then penalty applies the second business day of the delinquent month. Penalty is assessed at the rate of 5% of the fee due, per vehicle, per month, rounded to the nearest dollar with a MINIMUM PENALTY OF $5.00 PER VEHICLE.
A reminder will be sent to you by your county treasurer; however failure to receive a notice shall not have an effect upon the accrual of penalty on the appropriate date.
Iowa law requires the validation sticker to be affixed to the rear license plate on or before the “enforcement date”. The date that law enforcement uses to determine compliance is the first day of the second month following the registration month. Please note that there is a difference between “enforcement date” and “penalty date” when the renewal deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. We recommend that renewal and affixing the sticker to the license plate occur on or before “enforcement date”.
Any County Transactions & Fee Increases
December 23, 2024
HF 674 from the Iowa 2024 legislative session has changes to Iowa code 321 effective January 1, 2025:
- Authorizes many vehicle ownership transactions to be processed by any county
- Increase fees related to vehicle titling
Any county transactions include:
- title and registration
- replacement titles
- dealer titles
- security interest notation and discharge
- salvage titles
- junking certificates
Please note that changes have been made to Iowa Department of Transportation forms, make sure to update documents for processing January 1, 2025. New fillable forms are located on the Iowa DOT website, www.iowadot.gov and under the forms tabs.
The following fees have increased by $10. Enclosed is a VRT Fee Increase Table for reference.
- Initial title fee currently $25.00 = new fee $35.00
- SI notation currently $10.00 = new fee $20.00
- Fee for new registration currently 5% purchase/lease = new fee 5% purchase/lease + $10.00
You can read the full house file 674 at www.legis.iowa.gov or contact our office should you have any questions.