How long does the other side have to sue us on this Iowa contract, and can the contract shorten it?
Ten years on a written contract, five on an unwritten one. Actions founded on written contracts, on judgments of courts other than courts of record, and for the recovery of real property must be brought within ten years, except claims for rent, which go within five (Iowa Code § 614.1(5)); actions founded on unwritten contracts, for injuries to property, for relief on the ground of fraud, and all other actions not otherwise provided for go within five years, except as subsections 8 and 10 provide (§ 614.1(4)). For a sale of goods, Iowa's § 554.2725(1) as published says only that by the original agreement the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it; the Supreme Court supplied the period in Fell v. Kewanee Farm Equipment Co., stating that "A five-year statute of limitations governs actions for breach of implied warranty." Fell reached that by choosing among three views and saying so: "The majority rule is that the UCC limitations period applies to all actions for breach of warranties, regardless of whether the plaintiff seeks personal injury damages or economic and contractual damages", and "We think the majority view is the better one and adopt it." That choice matters, because § 614.1(2) otherwise allows only two years for actions founded on "injuries to the person or reputation, including injuries to relative rights, whether based on contract or tort", and Fell keeps a warranty claim on the article 2 clock even where the damages are personal injury. Accrual for a sale of goods is fixed by § 554.2725(2): the cause of action accrues when the breach occurs regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge, and a breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, unless a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await that performance. A judgment is on a different clock again: an action founded on a judgment of a court of record, of this or any other state or of the federal courts, goes within twenty years, with no time limitation on an action to recover a judgment for child support, spousal support or distribution of marital assets (§ 614.1(6)).
The trap
A shortening clause works for a sale of goods and is capped: § 554.2725(1) permits reduction to not less than one year, by the ORIGINAL agreement, and forbids extension. Article 13 gives a LEASE of goods the same power on the same terms: "An action for default under a lease contract, including breach of warranty or indemnity, must be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrued. By the original lease contract the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year." (§ 554.13506(1)). Nothing else read here authorises shortening the § 614.1 periods for a contract outside articles 2 and 13. The accrual rule is the harsher trap: for goods the clock starts at tender of delivery whether or not the buyer knew of the defect, and the discovery rule applies only where the warranty explicitly extends to future performance. Separately, § 614.1(11) is a period of repose for an action arising out of the unsafe or defective condition of an improvement to real property, running from the defendant's act or omission rather than from injury: eight years for improvements generally, ten for residential construction as defined in § 572.1, and fifteen for a nuclear power plant or an interstate pipeline. Fell shows that accrual rule doing its work: the implied-warranty claim accrued on delivery in 1969, and "The statute of limitations expired in 1974, some thirteen years before Anne filed suit." Two more periods the quoted text points at without stating. Section 614.1(4)'s five years runs "except as provided by subsections 8 and 10": a claim founded on wages or on a liability or penalty for failure to pay wages goes "within two years", and so does one "founded on a secured interest in farm products, within two years from the date of sale of the farm products against the secured interest of the creditor." And § 554.2725(3) gives a second chance the one-year floor in subsection 1 does not mention: where an action begun in time is terminated so as to leave another action available for the same breach, that other action "may be commenced after the expiration of the time limited and within six months after the termination of the first action unless the termination resulted from voluntary discontinuance or from dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute." The ten-year repose for residential construction also turns on a defined term: § 572.1 means "construction on single-family or two-family dwellings occupied or used, or intended to be occupied or used, primarily for residential purposes", including real property under chapter 499B.
16 authorities
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Actions may be brought within the times limited as follows, respectively, after their causes accrue, and not afterwards, except when otherwise specially declared:
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
a. Except as provided in paragraph “b”, those founded on written contracts, or on judgments of any courts except those provided for in subsection 6, and those brought for the recovery of real property, within ten years. b. Those founded on claims for rent, within five years.
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Those founded on unwritten contracts, those brought for injuries to property, or for relief on the ground of fraud in cases heretofore solely cognizable in a court of chancery, and all other actions not otherwise provided for in this respect, within five years, except as provided by subsections 8 and 10.
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
In addition to limitations contained elsewhere in this section, an action arising out of the unsafe or defective condition of an improvement to real property based on tort and implied warranty and for contribution and indemnity, and founded on injury to property, real or personal, or injury to the person or wrongful death, shall not be brought more than the number of years specified below after the date on which occurred the act or omission of the defendant alleged in the action to have been the cause of the injury or death: (1) For an action arising from or related to a nuclear power plant licensed by the United States nuclear regulatory commission or an interstate pipeline licensed by the federal energy regulatory commission, fifteen years. (2) For an action arising from or related to residential construction, as defined in section 572.1, ten years. (3) For an action arising from or related to any other kind of improvement to real property, eight years.
- statuteIowa Code § 554.2725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
By the original agreement the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it.
- statuteIowa Code § 554.2725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party’s lack of knowledge of the breach. A breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered.
The words that state the rule
A five-year statute of limitations governs actions for breach of implied warranty. See City of Carlisle v. Fetzer, 381 N.W.2d 627, 628-29 (Iowa 1986).
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Those founded on a judgment of a court of record, whether of this or of any other of the United States, or of the federal courts of the United States, within twenty years, except that a time period limitation shall not apply to an action to recover a judgment for child support, spousal support, or a judgment of distribution of marital assets.
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Those founded on injuries to the person or reputation, including injuries to relative rights, whether based on contract or tort, or for a statute penalty, within two years.
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Those founded on claims for wages or for a liability or penalty for failure to pay wages, within two years.
- statuteIowa Code § 614.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Those founded on a secured interest in farm products, within two years from the date of sale of the farm products against the secured interest of the creditor.
- statuteIowa Code § 554.2725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Where an action commenced within the time limited by law or by agreement as provided in subsection 1 is so terminated as to leave available a remedy by another action for the same breach such other action may be commenced after the expiration of the time limited and within six months after the termination of the first action unless the termination resulted from voluntary discontinuance or from dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute.
- statuteIowa Code § 554.13506enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
An action for default under a lease contract, including breach of warranty or indemnity, must be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrued. By the original lease contract the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year.
The words that state the rule
The majority rule is that the UCC limitations period applies to all actions for breach of warranties, regardless of whether the plaintiff seeks personal injury damages or economic and contractual damages. A second approach distinguishes actions for personal injury damages, which are governed by general tort limitation periods, from actions seeking economic and contractual damages, which are governed by the UCC limitations period. A third view is that the UCC period governs breach of warranty actions unless there is no privity between the parties, in which case a tort limitations period applies. 596 F.Supp. 1473, 1475 (D.C.Colo.1984) (citations omitted). We think the majority view is the better one and adopt it.
The words that state the rule
Applying section 554.2725, we think the alleged breach of implied warranty here occurred in 1969 when the elevator' was delivered to Lewis Fell. So Anne’s cause of action for the alleged breach of implied warranty began to run in 1969. The statute of limitations expired in 1974, some thirteen years before Anne filed suit.
- statuteIowa Code § 572.1enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
“Residential construction” means construction on single-family or two-family dwellings occupied or used, or intended to be occupied or used, primarily for residential purposes, and includes real property pursuant to chapter 499B.
“Defective” means that reading found something to correct. What you are reading is the rule as it stands after that reading.