Derek Wulf was facing three lawsuits over unpaid debts, as well as a criminal investigation into whether some of the collateral to secure a loan had been illegally disposed of, when Zach Lahn chose him as his running mate in June. The following month, the candidate for lieutenant governor of Iowa was able to settle two of the lawsuits after he received a $540,000 loan from a newly created limited liability corporation based in Illinois.
The lawsuit filed by WCF Financial Bank is still ongoing. The Webster City-based bank is seeking to foreclose on Wulf’s farm, saying in court filings that it had provided Wulf with 19 lines of credit, and most of the loans on those lines of credit were supposed to be repaid by the end of 2024.
“Principal and interest on the lines of credit amounted to $3.1 million as of early May, with the debt increasing by about $1,100 every day,” Tyler Jett of the Des Moines Register reported on Sept. 4. “… The bank also closed Wulf’s checking account in November [2025], when he was $584,000 in arrears, according to court documents.”
On Thursday, Jett reported on a new development in the lawsuit: Wulf’s parents filed a petition in the case on Tuesday, joining it as creditors seeking repayment. In their filing, Duane and Judy Wulf said their son owes them $275,000. According to his parents, Wulf owes that amount for unpaid rent on a piece of farmland. They state that Wulf stopped making payments in 2024.
In July, the couple sent Wulf a letter, informing him they were terminating the lease agreement. In August, they filed a lien against Wulf.
“Duane and Jackie Wulf also disputed their son’s claim of outright ownership of some cows, calves and farm equipment listed among his assets in the bank’s case,” Jett reported. “The couple said in their filing that their son made ‘misrepresentations’ about the assets, which were listed on financial documents he allegedly supplied to a lender.”
Wulf has not commented on this latest development in the lawsuit, but a spokesperson for the Lahn campaign claimed that the filing by Wulf’s parents was baseless.
According to the statement the Lahn campaign’s Dan Capodilupo gave the Register, Wulf “has made every payment to date” on the land rented from his parents, and paid “three times the market rental value.” Capodilupo contended Wulf’s parents, both of whom are octogenarians, don’t understand what they are doing.
“Sadly, Derek’s father has experienced serious health and memory issues in recent years,” Capodilupo said. “It’s painful for Derek to admit, but his father’s understanding of the situation is simply incorrect.”
In an email to Jett, the attorney for Duane and Jackie Wulf said they “are incredibly hurt by those categorically false statements concerning Duane’s health.”
When news of Derek Wulf’s financial and legal problems was first reported in July, Lahn’s campaign manager told the Register that “all of [Wulf’s] debts to creditors have been paid in full,” and that Wulf expected to finish refinancing his farm “in the near future.”
On Sept. 1, the judge in WCF Financial’s lawsuit granted its motion to put Wulf’s farm into receivership, after Wulf failed to provide the bank with any documents showing a refinancing commitment from any financial institution.
The $540,000 loan that allowed him to settle two of the lawsuits against him, was provided by University Relocation. According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, the Moline-based LLC was incorporated on June 26, two weeks after Zach Lahn announced he’d picked Wulf as his running mate.
The LLC was created on behalf of a lender who wanted to provide Wulf — who, in addition to being the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, is a two-term member of the Iowa House of Representatives and was chair of the House Agricultural Committee during the most recent legislative session — with more than half a million dollars to settle some of the outstanding debts he was being sued over. The loan was secured with a promissory note, and Wulf agreed to repay it within a year.
The identity of the lender who provided Wulf with the $540,000 has never been disclosed.
Lahn and his company, Shallow Creek Land & Livestock, have been sued by eight plaintiffs since 2023 over unpaid debts. Zach Lahn has maintained that there is nothing unusual about a farmer like Wulf facing multiple lawsuits, blaming the vagaries of Iowa’s agricultural economy for Wulf’s problems. The Lahn campaign has also claimed it was unaware the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office was investigating Wulf when he was selected as Lahn’s running mate, and has suggested without evidence that the investigation is motivated by partisan politics since the sheriff is a Democrat.
Wulf has not said publicly what he will do if WCF Financial Bank forecloses on his farm, but according to what his parents’ attorney told Tyler Jett, he should not plan on using any of their acres.
“Duane and Jackie are unsure what land Derek expects to farm going forward,” he said. “… He will not be farming any of the family land.”
