Breaking a lease in Indiana

A lease for a set period ends at its end without notice, and Indiana gives tenants no general right to end it early. A tenant may end the lease by written notice given at least 30 days before the termination date if they are a victim or alleged victim of a crime involving domestic or family violence, a sex offense or stalking, and have a civil protection order or a criminal no contact order restraining the perpetrator (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8; Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12).

• The notice must include a copy of the order and, for a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, a safety plan from an accredited domestic violence or sexual assault program that is dated within 30 days before the notice and recommends relocation (Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12(c)).
• The tenant owes rent and other expenses prorated to the termination date, payable when rent would have been due, and no rent or fee owed only because of the early termination. Notice given at least 14 days before the tenant could first move in ends the lease with no damages or penalties (Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12(d)).
• Other adult tenants stay bound by the lease (Ind. Code § 32-31-9-13).
• Outside the protected-individual rule, a security deposit may be applied to rent due because a tenant ended the lease early. A protected individual who ends the lease under the domestic violence law owes no rent or fee that is due only because of the early termination, and gets deposits and refunds as if the lease had expired (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13(2); Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12(d), (e)).
• Under federal law, a servicemember may end a residential lease after entering military service, or after receiving permanent change of station or deployment orders for 90 days or more, by written notice with a copy of the orders (50 U.S.C. § 3955).
• If both sides agree to an early release, put the arrangement in writing before relying on it. Identify the tenants being released, the agreed end date, key return, any rent or settlement amount and how the deposit will be accounted for. State whether a replacement tenant or approved sublet changes the original tenant's obligations; do not assume that finding someone new releases everyone named on the lease. Keep the signed agreement, move-out condition record, final ledger and receipts together. This practical agreement checklist does not replace the separate statutory protections above (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8; Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12).

If a tenant who was the sole occupant dies, or you believe a sole occupant is incapacitated and absent, you must notify the tenant's representative, give the representative access at a reasonable time to remove the tenant's belongings, and pay the representative the security deposit and unearned rent the tenant would have been owed. You may require a signed inventory of what is removed (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-23(a), (b)).

• The representative is, in order of priority, a person the tenant named in a written document delivered to you, a person named in the written lease, an attorney in fact, a guardian, an heir, or a person the probate court appoints (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-23(c)).
• A landlord who follows the section is not liable to the tenant, the estate or anyone else claiming the belongings, rent or deposit; one who willfully violates it is liable for actual damages (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-23(f), (g)).

A tenant may sue you to enforce your repair duties only after giving you notice of the problem and a reasonable time to repair it, and only if you fail or refuse to fix it. The tenant may not block your access to make the repair. Indiana's landlord-tenant law gives no right to repair and deduct or to withhold rent (Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(a), (b)).

• A tenant who wins may recover actual and consequential damages, attorney's fees and court costs, an injunction or any other remedy the court finds appropriate (Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(d)).
• Your liability for damages begins when you have notice or actual knowledge of the problem and have refused to fix it or failed to fix it within a reasonable time, whichever occurs first (Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(e)).
• A tenant's written complaint to you about a repair, entry or lockout violation is a protected activity (Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-2(2)).See Retaliation on the Indiana page
• Keep a repair log with the date and description of each problem, photos, the request and its delivery, replies, offered access times and the work completed. For an urgent loss of heat, water or another essential service, state the immediate effect clearly and use the emergency contact provided. Follow up in writing after a phone call or visit, and keep receipts for any expenses. This record helps show notice, opportunity to repair and the remaining problem if legal help or a court action becomes necessary; it does not itself authorize withholding rent or deducting a repair bill (Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(a), (b)).

Indiana has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (Ind. Code art. 32-31).

• A subtenant has the same remedy under the original lease against you as against the tenant who sublet to them (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-12).

A month-to-month tenancy ends with one month's written notice. For any period-to-period tenancy with a rental period of three months or less, notice equal to the rental period is enough. A year-to-year tenancy ends with notice given at least three months before the end of the year (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-3).

• A tenancy where someone occupies the premises with your express or implied consent, without other terms, is a month-to-month tenancy (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-2).
• A tenancy at will can only be created by an express contract (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1(b)).
• Serve the notice on the tenant. If the tenant cannot be found, serve a person residing at the premises and explain its contents. Only if no such person is found may you post it on a conspicuous part of the premises (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-9(a) to (c)).
• A lease for a set period ends at its end without notice (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8(1), (2)).See Ending a fixed-term lease early on the Indiana page

When the rental agreement ends and you get possession back, you have 45 days to deliver a written notice that itemizes what you kept, with the amount due to the tenant. You may deduct accrued rent, damages caused by the tenant's failure to follow the law or the lease, and unpaid utility or sewer charges the tenant owed under the lease. You are not liable under the deposit law until the tenant gives you, in writing, a mailing address for the notice (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12; Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14).

• A deduction for damage must be for actual damage to the unit or a related facility that is not ordinary wear and tear. The deposit may also cover rent in arrears, rent due because the tenant ended the lease early, the last rent payment if a written agreement says the deposit will serve as it, and utility or sewer charges the tenant owed and you paid (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13).
• Within 45 days after the tenant's occupancy ends, mail the tenant an itemized list of damages with the estimated cost of repair for each damaged item, and include a check or money order for the rest of the deposit (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14).
• If you do not send the itemized notice of damages, the law treats that as your agreement that no damages are due, and you must return the full deposit immediately (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-15).
• A landlord who does not comply owes the tenant the part of the deposit withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(b); Ind. Code § 32-31-3-16).
• Unless you agree otherwise, the tenant may not apply the deposit to rent (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(a)).
• If you sell the property, you remain liable for the deposit for one year after giving the tenant written notice of the sale, unless the buyer notifies the tenant that it has taken on that liability and you transfer the deposit to the buyer (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-19).
• A protected individual who ends a lease under the domestic violence law is entitled to deposits, returns and other refunds as if the tenancy had expired under the lease. This applies even though the law otherwise lets you hold a deposit tied to a lease that other adult tenants continue until 45 days after all of their tenancies end (Ind. Code § 32-31-9-12(e); Ind. Code § 32-31-9-13).
• A waiver of the deposit law by a landlord or tenant is void (Ind. Code § 32-31-3-17).