Iowa Fence Law Between Neighbors: What Chapter 359A Says, and What It Doesn't

The core rule: partition fences

Iowa Code § 359A.1A is one sentence: the owners of adjoining tracts of land "shall upon written request of either owner be compelled to erect and maintain partition fences, or contribute thereto, and keep the same in good repair throughout the year." Section 359A.17 extends the same rules to a fence standing wholly on one side of the line.

How a dispute is decided: fence viewers

• Who decides. The trustees of the township where the controversy arises serve as fence viewers (§ 359A.2A), with conflict-of-interest rules for trustees related to either owner.
• Notice. The fence viewers give all parties five days' written notice of the hearing (§ 359A.3).
• The order. After the hearing they issue a written order assigning each owner the part they must build, maintain, repair or pay for, fixing its value and the deadline (§ 359A.4). If a fence isn't feasible on the true line — slope, water, easements, utilities — they can evaluate the site and, if the owners don't agree within 60 days, order it built at the most feasible spot on the requesting owner's land, as close to the line as possible.
• If someone doesn't pay. If the work isn't done within 30 days of the deadline, the fence viewers can have it done, and an unpaid share can be certified to the county treasurer, collected like property taxes and become a lien on the parcel (§ 359A.6).

Agreeing instead of fighting

Neighbors can settle it themselves. Section 359A.12 allows a written agreement describing the land and which part of the fence each owner builds and maintains; signed, acknowledged and recorded with the county recorder, it binds both owners, their heirs and later buyers (§ 359A.13). For a Des Moines yard, a simple written agreement on cost split and maintenance — recorded or not — avoids most of the arguments this chapter exists to settle.

Fences on the line, and fences on the wrong side of it

• On the line. A person building a fence may place it on the line, partly on each side, and keeps the right to remove it as if it were wholly on their own land (§ 359A.16).
• On a neighbor's land by mistake. The builder may enter and remove it after paying, or offering to pay, for damage to the soil and any timber taken; if they can't agree, the fence viewers decide the damages, and the removal can't be done in a way that exposes the neighbor's crops (§ 359A.15).

Why this chapter reads like a farm law

Its definition of a "lawful fence" (§ 359A.18) is three rails or boards on posts no more than eight to ten feet apart, or barbed or smooth wire with the top strand between 48 and 54 inches — livestock fencing. Section 359A.2 regulates trimming hedge fences twice a year. The disputes go to township trustees. None of that maps cleanly onto a 6-foot cedar privacy fence between two houses in Beaverdale.

What we can't tell you: the text of chapter 359A doesn't say whether it can be used to make a city neighbor pay for half of a privacy fence, and we have not reviewed the court decisions on that question. If you're considering a written demand under § 359A.1A for a Des Moines lot, talk to an Iowa attorney first — or call the township clerk for the township your property is in and ask how they handle city-lot requests.

What applies inside Des Moines regardless

Whatever the neighbor arrangement, the City's own rules still apply: you may build up to the property line, not in the right-of-way; the decorative side faces out; height and front-yard limits apply; and most fences need a permit. The Des Moines permit and height rules page has the details.

A practical sequence for a shared fence

1. Find the line — pins or a survey — before anyone talks money.
2. Agree in writing on height, material, which side faces out, who pays what, and who maintains it.
3. Get the City permit (or your suburb's) and any HOA approval.
4. Get written quotes and check each contractor's Iowa registration.