Official Websites

National Association of Legal Assistants/Paralegals (NALA)

County Property Taxes:  Need to prorate taxes, but do not have the annual net amount?  Don't have the parcel number either? This site allows you to access any property in Iowa.  It is searchable by name.  It gives you the annual taxes, if they are paid, when they were paid, as well as a reference (parcel no.) to put with your file.  It will show a brief legal description as well as the record titleholders.

Iowa Assessors:  This link takes you to a site which, IF THE COUNTY PARTICIPATES, will allow you to get detailed information about any property in that county.  Including photos of property, titleholders, full legal descriptions, taxes, assessments (if any), and "summary appraisal" information (when available).

ICIS - Iowa Courts Online:  This site is for search for any case filed in the 99 counties of Iowa.  It is searchable by almost any type of information you have.  Name, County, Case Number, etc.

Secretary of State of Iowa & Corporation Search on SOS website:  This site allows you to do quite a lot of things.  Some of those are checking status of corporations, doing a corporate name search to see if a name is available for a new corporation, looking at and printing corporate files, UCC statements, filing reports and retrieving report information.  Of course, it offers more than just a corporate short cut, check it out and see.

IRS Tax Forms:  Scroll down a bit on this page and you can highlight forms you need to review and print.  All of these forms are in PDF format, so make sure you have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Some of these forms may also be found in PDF FILLABLE format.  Which allows you to fill in information right on the screen, print, and the mail.

Iowa Code:  This link will take you to the Iowa Legislature's website where you can search and print Iowa Code sections.  If you don't have a library handy, this is an excellent source to search, click, and print a clean copy of your code section you need.  It is searchable by Code, Section, or even specific text.

Helpful Websites

Date Calculator:  This site helps you calculate the days between two dates.  i.e. figuring dates for proration of taxes, or a statute deadline.  If you don't have a program that does this for you, this is an easy click.

Amortization Helper:  you need a quick amortization of a monthly payment on any note.  Have the amount, term, rate ready and enter it here.  Get an instant payment amount to fill into your note or contract.  Scroll down a little farther to add in extra information such as extra payments each month, to calculate a "what if" scenario for your client.  What if you paid $XXX.00 extra per year.  You would pay off your note "XX" many years sooner.  Scroll down a little farther on this site and you can have an amortization schedule displayed for you to print.

Information Finding Websites

Blue Book: This site allows you to search for an attorney or firm like you were looking in the the legal assistant's "Blue Book".  If you don't have a current Blue Book, give this site a try.  It is limited in its search capabilities if you are not an online member, but if you are searching for simple things, it will do the job for you.

Martindale-Hubbell:  Find information about attorneys and firms all over the United States.  Use this site rather than the Blue Book, or in conjunction with it.  This site allows you to search by last name, first name, county, city, state to find the attorney or firm you are looking for.  College where they received their under-graduate work, the university where they acquired the law degree, the year they were admitted to the bar, and any areas of practice they specialize in.  This site does not always have the most current information though, but a good place to start.

Colleges in Iowa That Offer Paralegal Studies in Their Curriculum

• Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)

• Hamilton College

• Iowa Lakes Community College

• Iowa Western Community College

• ITT Technical Institute

• Kaplan University

• Kirkwood Community College

• Northeast Iowa Community College

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