Iowa Code § 809A.5 - Exemptions

1. All property, including all interests in property, described in section 809A.4 is subject to forfeiture, except that property is exempt from forfeiture if either of the following occurs: a. The owner or interest holder acquired the property before or during the conduct giving rise to its forfeiture, and did not know and could not reasonably have known of the conduct or that the conduct was likely to occur, or acted reasonably to prevent the conduct giving rise to forfeiture. b. The owner or interest holder acquired the property, including acquisition of proceeds of conduct giving rise to forfeiture, after the conduct giving rise to its forfeiture and acquired the property in good faith, for value and did not knowingly take part in an illegal transaction. 2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, property is not exempt from forfeiture, even though the owner or interest holder lacked knowledge or reason to know that the conduct giving rise to its forfeiture had occurred or was likely to occur, if any of the following exists: a. The person whose conduct gave rise to its forfeiture had the authority to convey the property of the person claiming the exemption to a good faith purchaser for value at the time of the conduct. b. The owner or interest holder is criminally responsible for the conduct giving rise to its forfeiture. If the forfeiture is for property valued at less than the minimum civil forfeiture amount, the owner or interest holder must also be convicted of the criminal offense for the conduct giving rise to forfeiture. c. The owner or interest holder acquired the property with notice of its actual or constructive seizure for forfeiture under section 809A.6, or with reason to believe that it was subject to forfeiture. 96 Acts, ch 1133, §5; 2017 Acts, ch 114, §2, 15 Referred to in §809A.12, 809A.14 2017 amendment to subsection 2, paragraph b, applies to forfeiture proceedings that begin on or after July 1, 2017; 2017 Acts, ch 114, §15