Indiana tenant screening laws

Indiana's landlord-tenant law sets no limit on application or screening fees and no refund rule for them. Cities and counties may not regulate your tenant screening process, lease applications or any fees you charge unless the General Assembly authorizes it (Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c)).

• The local rule does not cover privately owned property that receives 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)).

Use a written, lawful set of rental criteria and check the information behind a screening result. A report can contain mistaken identities, duplicate entries or incomplete court records; a score or risk label is not the whole application (FTC: tenant background checks and rights).

• Match the applicant’s identifying information to the report. For any record you may lawfully consider, check its date and final outcome rather than treating a filing as a completed eviction or a charge as a conviction. Keep the applicant’s correction information with the screening file and direct report errors to the reporting company’s dispute process. Apply the fair-housing and accommodation requirements above (FTC: tenant background checks and rights).See Fair housing on the Indiana page
• Federal consumer-report notice duties are separate from Indiana’s limits on local screening regulation. If a report contributes to a denial or less favorable rent, deposit or cosigner terms, give the required adverse-action notice. Identify the reporting company by name, address and phone number, explain that it did not make the decision and cannot explain your reasons, and state the rights to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information and request a free report from that company within sixty days of the notice. Additional duties can apply to credit scores and investigative reports (FTC: landlord consumer-report guidance; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c)).
• Save the criteria, report date, decision reasons, relevant applicant communications and notice delivery record. Limit access to consumer reports and dispose of them securely when retention duties allow. A provider’s screening result does not transfer responsibility for your rental decision to the reporting company (FTC: landlord consumer-report guidance).

You may not refuse to rent, refuse to negotiate, make a unit unavailable, or set different terms, conditions, services or facilities because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability or national origin. The Indiana Civil Rights Law also makes denying equal opportunity to rent housing because of ancestry a discriminatory practice (Ind. Code § 22-9.5-5-1; Ind. Code § 22-9-1-2(a), (b); Ind. Code § 22-9-1-3(l)).

• State fair housing law does not bar refusing a person convicted of illegally manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance (Ind. Code § 22-9.5-5-1(c)).
• The Indiana Fair Housing Act's discrimination rules do not apply to renting a single-family house by an owner of no more than three such houses who uses no broker and no discriminatory advertising, or to rooms or units in a building for up to four families where the owner lives in one of them. The Indiana Civil Rights Law has no matching exemption. An owner who was not the most recent resident of the house may use the house exemption for only one sale or rental in 24 months (Ind. Code § 22-9.5-3-1; Ind. Code § 22-9-1-2).
• Housing for older persons that meets the statute's tests may limit occupancy by age (Ind. Code § 22-9.5-3-4).
• The landlord-tenant statutes do not stop you from refusing to rent on a reasonable occupancy standard; one that permits two people per bedroom, does not count infants under one year, and counts dens, lofts or finished basements usable for sleeping is presumed reasonable (Ind. Code § 32-31-8-7).
• The Indiana Civil Rights Commission explains that housing assistance animals can include emotional support animals without task training. A necessary accommodation may require an exception to a no-pets rule, breed restriction or pet charge. The resident still has responsibility for damage and health or safety concerns. Review the individual request, including any actual threat, significant damage, undue burden or fundamental alteration, rather than automatically applying ordinary pet rules (ICRC: assistance animals in housing).
• An applicant or resident may request an accommodation when applying, after moving in, or when a disability-related need arises. The commission says the request need not use legal terminology, and a family member, caregiver or other representative may make it. Consider the communicated need individually; policy adjustments can include an assistance animal, accessible communication, a live-in aide or reserved parking (ICRC: requesting an accommodation).
• If the disability or related accommodation need is not obvious, the commission permits reliable documentation of the disability and the connection to the request. A knowledgeable health care professional or another reliable source may provide it. Its guidance generally bars demands for detailed medical records, a specific diagnosis or excessive information. Keep verification proportionate to the request (ICRC: accommodation documentation).