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Reopen a Default Judgment — and Nobody May Downgrade Your Credit for Asking

A default judgment entered against a service member during military service, or within thirty days after it ends, may be set aside where service prejudiced the defence. Proceedings may be stayed on request. And the act of asking for a stay or a postponement may not be used by any lender to deny credit, change existing terms, or file an adverse credit report.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A default judgment entered against a service member during military service, or within thirty days after it ends, may be set aside where service prejudiced the defence. Proceedings may be stayed on request. And the act of asking for a stay or a postponement may not be used by any lender to deny credit, change existing terms, or file an adverse credit report.

What it's worth: A default judgment set aside, proceedings stayed, and no adverse credit report for asking

  • What is at stake is the judgment itself, so no single figure applies. A default judgment can carry a wage garnishment and a lien that outlive the deployment that caused it.
  • The credit protection at §29A.95 has no dollar value at all and may be the most useful part of the subchapter: it removes the reason people do not ask.
  • No fee is charged by the statute for making the application. Court filing costs are set elsewhere and were not read this session.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served, which is where this subchapter starts.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Not later than thirty days after military service ends
  1. 1Watch the clock, because it is short and it is hard: the application to set aside a default judgment must reach the court that rendered it not later than THIRTY DAYS after the termination of military service.
  2. 2Three things must appear together under §29A.92: that service prejudiced the making of a defence, that the application is inside the thirty days, and that the application states enough facts to show a meritorious or legal defence to the action or some part of it.
  3. 3A stay is easier than a set-aside. Under §29A.93 the court MAY stay on its own motion, and SHALL stay on a written request by the member or someone acting for them, unless it determines on the record that the ability to sue or defend is not materially affected by service.
  4. 4Ask in writing. The mandatory limb of §29A.93 turns on a request in writing to the court; an oral mention leaves the court in its discretionary limb.
  5. 5While a stay runs, no fine or penalty accrues for failing to comply with the contract that was stayed (§29A.94(1)). Where no stay was obtained, a court may still relieve enforcement of a penalty if the member was in service when it was incurred and their ability to pay or perform was materially impaired.
  6. 6If a lender reacts to the application, quote §29A.95 at them. Applying for or receiving a stay, postponement or suspension may not be the basis for a finding that you cannot pay, for denial or revocation of credit, for a change in the terms of an existing arrangement, for a refusal to lend substantially what you asked for, or for an adverse report to a credit reporting agency.
  7. 7Setting a judgment aside does not unwind everything: §29A.92(2) preserves any right or title a bona fide purchaser for value acquired under the judgment. Move before the property changes hands.
Form
Application or motion to the court that rendered the judgment
File with
The Iowa district court that entered the judgment
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis subchapter is habitually described as "Iowa’s version of the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act", which invites a federally activated veteran to rely on it and a state-status Guard member to ignore it. Read the definitions: §29A.90(3) defines "military service" as full-time national guard duty or STATE ACTIVE DUTY of at least thirty consecutive days beginning on or after 12 April 2012, §29A.90(4) defines "service member" as a member of the military forces of the STATE, and §29A.91(2) says in terms that the subchapter does not apply to duty performed under orders issued pursuant to 10 U.S.C. It is the state-status counterpart to the federal act, not a copy of it — and it fills the exact gap the federal act leaves open.
CorrectionThe thirty-day figure is widely quoted as a grace period after discharge during which creditors must leave you alone. It is not. §29A.91(3) suspends or postpones action until thirty days after discharge only on PROPER APPLICATION, and §29A.92 makes thirty days after service ends the DEADLINE for moving against a default judgment. Nothing happens automatically; the clock runs against you, not for you.
Worth knowing§29A.95 is the sleeper. Members frequently decline to ask for a stay because they fear the credit consequence — and the section forbids exactly that consequence, including the adverse report to a credit reporting agency. It is worth quoting to a lender in writing before the report is filed rather than disputing it afterwards.
Worth knowingThe subchapter overrides ordinary state law. §29A.105 provides that §§29A.90 through 29A.104 apply notwithstanding any contrary provision of state law, naming Titles XIII, XIV and XV, which is what lets a stay defeat a creditor’s otherwise valid remedy.
Known gapNo filing fee, form number or self-help packet is named in the Code, and the judicial branch’s own forms were not read this session. Whether a member can move without counsel and on what paper is therefore unverified.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.