Iowa Code § 626.96
When any person, firm, or corporation to whom a sheriff's certificate of sale has been issued or an assignee thereof shall file in the office of the clerk of the district court in which the certificate was issued and in said action, a verified application signed by the purchaser or assignee, the purchaser's or assignee's agent, legal representative or attorney that the outstanding sheriff's certificate of sale in said action has been lost or destroyed, the court shall fix a time for hearing thereon and prescribe the notice therefor and the manner of service thereof on the parties to said action or their successors in interest, and on said hearing if the court finds that the sheriff's certificate of sale issued in said cause has been lost or destroyed, shall order the sheriff of said county to issue a duplicate certificate of sale as of the date of the original certificate which shall have the same force and effect as the original, and any deed executed thereunder shall have the same force and effect as if executed under the original certificate of sale.
Iowa Code § 626.96