Hogsett Signs Tenant’s Rights Ordinance
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHousing renters in Indianapolis now have additional legal protection against unscrupulous landlords. But the city may run into problems as the Indiana General Assembly considers an amendment to a bill that prevents any city from instituting ordinances to oversee landlord-tenant relations without approval by the state legislature.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett on Wednesday signed an ordinance which creates a tenant’s bill of rights. The Indianapolis City-Council Council this week approved proposals 40 and 41, a multi-faceted tenant protection and legal assistance initiative.
The effort intends to increase resources for renters who are dealing with housing challenges, such as eviction, substandard housing conditions and retaliatory actions by what the city calls “bad-actor” landlords.
The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana says Senate Bill 340 would undermine not only Indianapolis’ efforts, but any community trying to regulate landlords who treat renters poorly.
FHCCI Executive Director Amy Nelson says the legislature’s action would “dramatically take away the rights of Hoosier tenants in our state and reshapes how Indiana cities can effectively address housing problems within their borders. “
The Indianapolis protections require landlords to provide tenants with a “Notice of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities” in order to ensure renters are better informed of the laws that affect tenants and landlords.
The action also creates a tenant information hotline to serve as a point of contact for tenants seeking information or advice.
It also creates a program to connect tenants with pro bono legal representation for claims against landlords.
Nelson said the bill would prevent cities from demanding that “tenants be informed of their most basic housing rights under law.”