Indiana Landlord-Tenant Laws
Local rent regulation in Indiana
Indiana law bars counties, cities, and towns from regulating rental rates for privately owned property unless the General Assembly authorizes it, with an exception for housing already subsidized by government funds to provide reduced rents to lower-income tenants.
Cited to Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20 · Verified August 12, 2026 · Full Indiana rent-increase rules →
Indiana landlord-tenant laws by topic
Indiana security deposits
Indiana sets no cap on residential security deposits, but a landlord must deliver an itemized written accounting — with any refund — within 45 days after the tenancy ends and possession is returned, and owes nothing under the statute until the tenant supplies a forwarding address in writing.
Indiana rent increase notice
Indiana landlords must give at least 30 days' written notice before raising rent on a month-to-month tenancy — the default rule of IC 32-31-5-4, which requires 30 days' written notice before 'modifying the rental agreement' unless the written lease itself sets different terms.
Indiana late fees
Indiana has no statutory cap on residential late fees and no mandated grace period — a lease-based late fee can start accruing the day after rent is due, and the only statewide limit is the contract-law rule that a late fee must be a reasonable estimate of the landlord's loss rather than a penalty.
Indiana entry notice
Indiana requires 'reasonable' written or oral notice before a landlord enters a rental — no fixed number of hours — and entry may occur only at reasonable times, for reasons the tenant cannot unreasonably refuse: inspections, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, supplying services, or showing the unit to buyers, lenders, contractors, or prospective tenants.
Indiana eviction process
Indiana requires a 10-day notice to pay or quit before a landlord can evict for unpaid rent, and the tenancy survives if the tenant pays in full before the notice period expires — but a written lease can waive the notice entirely, and no notice at all is required for a fixed-term lease that has ended, a tenant at sufferance, or the other situations listed in IC 32-31-1-8.
Indiana application & screening fees
Indiana does not regulate residential rental application or tenant-screening charges at any point: no statute caps them, ties them to the cost of screening, requires a receipt or a refund, requires anything to be disclosed before an applicant pays, or sets a denial-notice duty.
Indiana deposit interest
Indiana requires no interest on a residential security deposit, and imposes no rule about where the deposit is kept.
Indiana habitability & repairs
Indiana law requires a landlord to deliver a rented home in a safe, clean and habitable condition, to comply with all applicable health and housing codes, and to keep the electrical, plumbing, sanitary and heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, elevators and any appliances supplied as an inducement in good and safe working condition — but only for items that were on the premises when the lease was signed.
Indiana lease termination
Indiana ends a month-to-month tenancy on one month's written notice, not thirty days, and the difference matters on a thirty-one-day month.
Indiana mobile home park laws
Indiana has no separate act for manufactured-home lot tenancies.
Indiana Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every Indiana metro area and county.
How this record was verified: Official-host verbatim reads on the iga.in.gov 2025 code viewer, completed 2026-07-10: IC 32-31-1-20 in full (subsections (a)-(c), the seven-item enumerated list in (c), the void-and-unenforceable clause, and the history line 'As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.16. Amended by P.L.266-2017, SEC.1; P.L.168-2020, SEC.17; P.L.215-2021, SEC.1'), IC 32-31-1-6, and IC 32-31-1-7 — all matching the previously recorded mirror-verified text with no substantive differences. SEA 148-2020's designation was pinned from the official iga.in.gov bill record: vetoed 2020-03-25, veto overridden Senate 2021-02-08 (Roll Call 64: 30-17) and House 2021-02-17 (Roll Call 159: 67-33), 'Public Law 168' entered 2021-02-17; the code viewer cites it as P.L.168-2020. Original verification basis (2026-07-09): Indiana's official code viewer requires interactive access, so text was verified on two independent code mirrors and reconciled verbatim: FindLaw (codes.findlaw.com, 'current as of January 01, 2026') and Justia's archived official-text PDFs of IC 32-31 chapters 1, 3, and 5 (statecodesfiles.justia.com, 2013 edition, carrying the official 'As added by P.L.' history lines). Sections double-read across both hosts with figures matching verbatim: IC 32-31-3-12, 32-31-3-14, 32-31-3-15, 32-31-3-16 (45-day deadline, forfeiture rule, attorney fees), 32-31-5-4 (30-day modification notice), 32-31-5-6 (entry, all subsections), 32-31-1-1, 32-31-1-2, and 32-31-1-4 (termination-notice periods); 32-31-3-12/-14/-15/-16 were additionally read on law.onecle.com. IC 32-31-1-20 (preemption) was read verbatim on FindLaw (current through Jan. 1, 2026) and in the pre-amendment 2013 official text; the current-text official-host read was completed 2026-07-10 (see above). Scope sections IC 32-31-2.9-1/-3/-4, 32-31-5-1, and 32-31-5-3 read on FindLaw/2013 PDF. 2025-2026 session sweeps (IGA subject list 'Landlords and Tenants', LegiScan) on 2026-07-09 found no enacted change to any answer in this record; 2026 bills SB 127 and HB 1435 died at the session's March 2026 sine die adjournment, and HEA 1001-2026 (signed) addresses zoning/permitting only. September 5, 2026 addendum: the decisive figures touched by the 2025-2026 enactments reviewed that day were re-read on the official host — IC 32-31-11-3 on iga.in.gov; the earlier reads stand as recorded.