Indiana rent increase law

Indiana's rule is about changing the rental agreement: unless a written rental agreement between you and the tenant provides otherwise, you must give the tenant at least 30 days' written notice before modifying it. Indiana has no rent control, and cities and counties may not regulate rental rates for privately owned property unless the General Assembly authorizes it (property given government funds or benefits for reduced rents is outside this rule).

Ind. Code § 32-31-5-4 Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(b) Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(a)

• You may not raise rent in response to a tenant's protected activity, but you may raise it to the rent charged for comparable market rentals. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-4 Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(b) See Retaliation on the Indiana page
• A waiver of the chapter that holds the 30-day rule (it also covers entry, lockouts and tenant property) by contract or otherwise is void. The 30-day rule itself still lets a written rental agreement set a different notice period. Ind. Code § 32-31-5-1(c) Ind. Code § 32-31-5-4
• Make a renewal or rent-change proposal easy to compare with the current agreement: identify the home and tenants, show the present rent, proposed rent, dollar change and proposed start date, and explain any proposed term or reply date. Keep the dated notice and delivery record with the lease. Record any negotiated change before updating recurring charges. A tenant declining the proposal is not itself a substitute for the notice needed to end a tenancy; handle acceptance, negotiation and termination as separate steps. This is a practical checklist, not a required statutory form. Ind. Code § 32-31-5-4 Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1

Indiana has no rent control. Unless the General Assembly authorizes it, cities and counties may not regulate rental rates for privately owned property, or regulate screening, security deposits, lease applications, lease terms, disclosures, the parties' rights or landlord fees; an ordinance that does is void.

Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20

• The rule does not cover privately owned property with government funds or benefits allocated to provide reduced rents for low or moderate income tenants. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(a)
• Cities and counties may not adopt or enforce rules on landlord retaliation. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6
• A city or county may not penalize a tenant, owner or landlord, including by eviction, for a call for police or emergency help made by or for a victim of abuse or crime or a person in an emergency, subject to exceptions in the statute. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-22
• Cities and counties may adopt smoke detector rules for dwellings that are stricter than state law and do not conflict with it. Ind. Code § 22-11-18-3.5(g) See Smoke alarms on the Indiana page
• The ban does not cover privately owned property given government funds or benefits for the express purpose of providing reduced rents to low or moderate income tenants. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(a)

You may not raise rent, cut or interfere with services, or bring or threaten a possession, eviction or early termination action because the tenant complained to a code enforcement agency about a violation that materially affects health or safety, complained to you in writing about a lockout, utility, entry or repair violation, sued you under the emergency possession or repair chapters, organized or joined a tenants' organization, or testified against you.

Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-2 Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-4 Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(a)

• You may still decline to renew at the end of the term, raise rent to the level of comparable market rentals, and reduce or end a service for all tenants equally. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(b)
• You may still bring a possession action if the code violation was caused mainly by the tenant or the tenant's household or guests, the tenant has not cured a rent default in time, code compliance requires work that displaces the tenant, the tenant's breach materially affects health or safety, the tenant holds over after a fixed term, you acted in good faith before the protected activity, or you in good faith want the unit back at the end of the term to live in, to remodel or demolish, or to take it off the rental market for at least six months. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(c)
• A waiver of the retaliation chapter is void, and cities and counties may not adopt their own retaliation rules. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-0.5 Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6
• You may not end, refuse to renew or refuse to enter into a lease, or retaliate, solely because a tenant, applicant or household member is a protected victim with a protection or no contact order. Ind. Code § 32-31-9-8