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2013 Biennial Reports Filing Reminder

Just a reminder that 2013 Biennial Reports for limited liability companies, limited partnerships and non-profit corporations were to be filed with the Iowa Secretary of State by April 1, 2013. The registered agent of the company should have received a Biennial Report filing notice reminder from the Iowa Secretary of State in January of this year 2013. That notice includes the company number and PIN to use in filing the report electronically. These filings are due in odd-numbered years.

You still have time to file your Biennial Report if you have not yet done so. The Secretary of State allows a grace period up to approximately August 1, 2013 before entities are administratively dissolved for not filing their Biennial Reports. You may contact the Iowa Secretary of State at (515) 281-5204 or search the website at sos.iowa.gov to verify your report has been filed or determine if you still need to file your 2013 Biennial Report. You may also contact Kelley DeSousa at Bradley & Riley for assistance.

The Biennial Reports for all other corporations are due in even-numbered years. Notices to the registered agents of for profit corporations will be sent by the Secretary of State next January and will be due by April 1, 2014.

Association Law - Calculating Reserve Funds

April, 2013 -- Most commercial and residential condominium documents require a board of directors to determine a budget each year by aggregating the estimated funds required to defray common expenses in the following areas: current expenses and deferred maintenance and replacement reserves. It is a fairly simple process to calculate estimated current expenses. The more difficult task is accurately estimating the level of funding necessary to meet future expenses. Failing to do so, an association may be overfunding, or worse yet, under collecting, requiring hefty special assessments to cover shortfalls. [read more]

Health Care Self-Compliance Tools - Abridged Versions of U.S. Department of Labor Tools

On March 1, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor released two Self-Compliance Tools to aid employers in complying with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (together, the “Affordable Care Act”).

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To assist our clients in complying with the Affordable Care Act, Bradley & Riley PC has extracted the many questions from the Self-Compliance Tools. [read more]

Possible Changes to Iowa's Recently-Amended Mechanic's Lien Laws

March 2013 -- In 2012, Governor Branstad signed into law broad-ranging amendments to Iowa's mechanic's lien laws that went into effect on January 2, 2013. House File 258 and Senate File 360, recently introduced in the Iowa Legislature, seek additional changes that, if approved by the Iowa Legislature and signed by the Governor, could go into effect by July 1, 2013. (House Study Bill 215, also recently introduced, proposes less-comprehensive changes.) [read more]

Health Law in the Workplace

March 2013 -- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, (collectively "ACA") has introduced several concepts, opportunities, costs, and taxes. In recent weeks and months, proposed rules, technical releases and notices have been filed by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service to implement ACA. [read more]

Who's Afraid of the Affordable Care Act? Employer Mandates, Part I: Is Your Firm Subject to the Act, and Does it Qualify for Tax Credits?

July 2012 -- The Supreme Court's historic decision last month upholding the Affordable Care Act focused on the constitutionality of the so-called "individual mandate". The "employer mandate" provision of the Act, while it has grabbed fewer headlines, has proven to be a source of confusion. [read more]

Request for Corporate Information - Fraud Alert

July 2012 -- Beware of forms, letters, or other solictations you receive that attempt to gather information or money from your business entity. Schemers have recently started soliciting information or funds from unsuspecting businesses with requests for information that appears to come from a governement agency. [read more]

Changes to Iowa's Mechanic's Lien Laws: A Brief Overview

July 2012 -- On April 27, 2012, Governor Branstad signed into law House File 675, which implements sweeping changes to Iowa’s mechanic’s lien laws. Those changes, which go into effect on January 1, 2013, are summarized below, and apply to all materials furnished (including equipment rentals) and labor performed on or after that date. [read more]

Iowa Legislative Update

April 2012 -- As the 100th calendar day of this year's legislative session nears, the Iowa Legislature is feverishly working to wrap up unfinished business. During the past couple of weeks, Governor Branstad has signed several bills into Iowa law which may affect our clients, including: [read more]

Social Media and the NLRB

April 2012 -- In the last few years, the use of social media by Americans has skyrocketed. Social media includes, but is not limited to, the following: Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo! Groups, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, wikis (Wikipedia and any other similar site where comments can be posted), and any other online venue that currently exists or becomes available that allows user-generated and/or shared content. [read more]

2012 Linn County Reappraisal

February 2012 -- Recently the Linn County Assessor completed a reappraisal for the January 1, 2012 assessment of commercial and industrial property (click here to view a copy of the letter). The reappraisal was accomplished by an outside vendor under contract with the Assessor. The reappraisal involves property in Linn County that is not within the City of Cedar Rapids. The Cedar Rapids Assessor is independent from the Linn County Assessor. [read more]

FMLA Protections Extended...

February 2012 -- Gone are the days when employers needn’t fear potential claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act until an employee met the FMLA’s measureable requirements for eligibility. In a January 2012 decision, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FMLA eligibility might not be necessary to state an FMLA claim. [read more]

New Labor Posting Required For Employers

September 2011 -- Effective November 14, 2011, employers with gross annual revenues or purchases of $50,000 or more will be required to post a notice informing their employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, including their rights to organize and collectively bargain. [read more]

Employment Law Updates

September 2011

The Summary Judgment Standard in Employment Discrimination Cases

Businesses and employers involved in litigation often have one primary question: how do we get out of this? One common method is called a summary judgment motion, which is a court filing submitted to judges asking to have a case dismissed or decided prior to trial. In submitting such a motion, a party claims that the absence of disputes of fact eliminates the need for trying the case to a jury. [read more]

SF 396: Broad Form Indemnity Prohibition Signed into Law

July 2011 -- This legislative session saw Iowa join the majority of states in outlawing broad form indemnification provisions in (most) construction contracts. Generally speaking, broad form indemnification is a practice in which one party to a construction contract (typically one with more bargaining power) requires another party to indemnify, or hold harmless, the first party from liability, even for the first party’s own negligence. Such provisions routinely appear in owner-general contractor agreements (where they protect the owner against the owner’s own negligence) and general contractor-subcontractor agreements (where they protect the general contractor against the general contractor’s own negligence). [read more]

Inheritance Rights of Omitted Children

July 2011 -- If you sign a Last Will and Testament, that document generally determines whether and to what extent your children will inherit your estate. But what happens if you die without a Last Will and Testament or what happens if your Last Will and Testament is not current and some of your children are omitted? [read more]

Property Tax Appeals

April 2011 -- April 15, 2011 through May 5, 2011 is the only time when you can appeal the assessed value for real property in 2011. This applies to industrial, commercial, residential and agricultural property. [read more]

Taxation Without Representation: Lenders Should be Wary of Accepting an LLC Membership Interest as Collateral

April 2011 -- Banks and other lenders will often accept a pledge of corporate stock or LLC membership interest as collateral to secure a debt. The adoption of Iowa's new LLC statute and the associated new charging order provisions that are a part of the modified law make it more challenging (and even risky) to accept a pledge of an LLC membership interest as collateral. [read more]

Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds Still Available

April 2011 -- Midwestern Disaster Area ("MDA") bonds are available through December 31, 2012. At the end of 2010, approximatley $2.3 Billion of MDA Bond capacity remained available in Iowa. [read more]

Iowa Mandates Veterans Day Off for Veterans

September 2010 -- Iowa law now provides that an employer must, in most cases, provide each employee who is a veteran with Veterans Day (November 11) as time off work without pay. [read more]

Technology Bytes - or Bites?

September 2010 -- Businesses of all sizes rely heavily on the use of electronically stored information. Transactions and communications that used to be conducted in person, via phone or on paper, are now almost exclusively conducted through email and other electronic media. The resulting information, records and documents related to these transactions/communications are stored (whether intentionally or unintentionally) on various electronic devices. This increase in the use of electronic information is positive in many respects (increased business efficiency, reduced costs, etc.), but in the world of litigation, electronic information leaves litigants vulnerable to the time-consuming and costly electronic discovery rules and repercussions. [read more]

Changes for Unincorporated Associations

In March 2010, the Iowa legislature adopted the "Revised Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act", codified as Chapter 501B of the Iowa Code. The Act is effective as of July 1, 2010. [read more]

Definition of Accredited Investor Changed

August 2010 -- Many companies raise funds from "accredited investors" to permit them to expend their businesses. Likewise, accredited investors often provide the early capital to get a promising new business idea launched. The passage of the Wall Street Corporate Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Act”) imposed several changes on the accredited investor standard. The most important change involves the net worth test. [read more]

Case Update: Residential Cooperatives

August 2010 -- Apartment owners across the state have "converted" their properties to residential cooperatives to qualify the properties as residential for property tax classification purposes. The move enables the properties to qualify for the residential rollback and can save the owners significant sums in property taxes. But cities and counties are beginning to fight back. [read more]

Condominium Association Board Meetings

July 2010 -- The Iowa legislature adopted an amendment to Iowa's condominium statute effective July 1, 2010, relating to board meetings (Senate File 2224). This law applies only to owners associations governing condominiums, not all owners associations. [read more]

Increased HIPAA Privacy Rules

In February 2010, Congress began enforcing heightened security breach notification laws. The HIPAA Privacy Rule amendments require businesses and organizations to report all security breaches to both the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the individuals whose protected health information was put at risk of breach. In some cases, businesses must also notify local media outlets. Any business or organization that uses, stores, or has access to protected health information should carefully review its current HIPAA compliance procedures.... [read more]

Changes Affecting Iowa LLCs

April 2010 - A new state law governing LLCs in Iowa – Iowa Code Chapter 489 – took effect on January 1, 2009. This change in law means the members and managers of every Iowa LLC formed under the prior statute (before 1/1/09) must carefully review their operating agreements for potential amendment prior to January 1, 2011, when the prior statute will no longer apply. [read more]

Tax Changes Affecting Individuals in the 2010 Health Reform Legislation

April 2010 - With the passing of the recent health reform legislation, you may be wondering about the effects it will have on you personally. Here is a brief overview of the key tax changes affecting individuals. [read more]

Likely Impacts of Healthcare Reform on Employers

On March 23, 2010, healthcare reform, through the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act ("the Act"), became a reality in the United States. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the impacts that the reform measures will have on employers. [read more]

Act Soon to Fully Use Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds

February 2010 - A tremendous opportunity exists for the area as a result of the opportunity to fund a project at tax-exempt interest rates with Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds. But you may need to act soon to fully use these bonds. [read more]

A Detailed Look Into Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds

February 2010 - Tax-exempt bonds enable a business to make certain capital investments at a lower rate of interest. The tax-exempt interest rate may be only 70 percent of the taxable interest rate. This information on tax-exempt bonds will address the opportunity for flood impacted businesses AND other businesses to use tax-exempt bond financing for certain capital investments. [read more or view a slide show with more information]

Federal Estate Tax Repealed - Temporarily?

January 2010 - After a lot of discussion and speculation, the 2009 legislative year ended without any legislative changes to the federal estate tax, generation skipping tax and gift tax. As a result, as the law currently stands, the federal estate tax and the generation skipping tax have been repealed for all deaths occurring in the calendar year 2010. [read more]

COBRA Subsidy Further Extended

January 2010 - The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, signed by President Obama on December 19, 2009, extends the period to qualify for the COBRA premium reduction until February 28, 2010, and also extends the maximum period for receiving the reduction to 15 months. [read more]

Disaster Area Bonds

December 2009 - The IRS released very good news regarding Midwestern Disaster Area Tax-Exempt Bonds ("MDA Bonds"). [read more]

Service of Original Notice in Eviction Cases

November 2009 -- The Iowa Supreme Court issued a significant opinion regarding the proper procedure for serving a residential tenant with the Original Notice and Petition in a forcible entry and detainer ("FED" or "eviction") action. In War Eagle Village Apartments v. Plummer, the Court ruled that landlords cannot serve an Original Notice and Petition in an eviction action by certified mail.... [read more]

New Requirements Regarding Private Sewage Disposal Systems

October 2009 -- If you are contemplating a real estate transaction involving property serviced by a private sewage disposal system (e.g., septic system), you should know that Iowa law now requires the inspection of such systems prior to the transfer of the property. [read more]

Charitable Trust Registration

October 2009 -- If you have created or intend to create any trust that has a charitable component (wholly charitable trust, charitable remainder trust, charitable lead trust), you should be aware of a new Iowa law that imposes new registration and reporting requirements on the Trustee. [read more]

Firm Launches Green Initiatives

August 2009 -- The reputation that law firms have as paper mongers has been well-deserved over the years. But our firm is teaming up with the American Bar Association and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help change that image. [read more]

Same-Sex Marriage and Employment-Related Issues

On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2007 Iowa district court ruling that determined it is unconstitutional to bar same-sex couples from the institution of marriage. This overturned Iowa legislation...[read more]

Economic Recovery Stimulated by Tax-Exempt Bonds

June 2009 -- In February of this year, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. This Act creates a new category of bonds intended to stimulate economic recovery in specific zones of our country by achieving tax-exempt interest...[read more]

Fraud Alert

June 2009 -- Among all the mail, email, faxes, advertisements, Twitters, blogs, and more we are bombarded with each day, it can be difficult to know what information is important and what isn't. It can also be tricky to decipher whether official-looking business forms you receive in the mail are legitimate....[read more]

Bradley & Riley PC - Attorneys & Counselors in Cedar Rapids - Iowa City