State lawmakers give renters new tools to fight bad landlords
Two bills offer tenants the ability to force quicker repairs and take landlords to court, among other protections.
Two bills were passed by the House and the Senate in the past month to give the tenants several new tools to help them fight landlords. House Bill 1075 and house bill 1148 were the two bills that were passed. Giving tenants more power to have help and have a safe living environment is something that has been an issue for several years, but now it's all over. Tenants can now live in a safe environment at home.
On March 13, Indiana lawmakers passed House Bill 1075 and the tenants that rallied in support of the bill say they are happy they have new tools to hold landlords accountable for unsafe housing.
House Bill 1075 provides that the contents of investigative demands issued by the attorney general are confidential. It's a code that would be concerning a business or property for health issues.
Indianapolis resident Rhonda Cook was one of the dozens of tenants that protested in favor of the bill at the Statehouse on March 13. She said she was living in Cheswick Village Apartments on the east side of Indianapolis when the complex caught on fire. She was only one unit away from the flames.
Cook said the complex managers moved her to a mouse-infested apartment with a busted-out patio decking, damaged from previous break-ins. The boarded-up windows awaited repairs for eight months. She described her landlord as “not in any hurry” to fix the issues. The new apartment was in a different neighborhood where gunshots were common.
Derris Dee Ross, an Indianapolis community leader and member of an interim housing study committee in the House, told lawmakers the bill is about bringing dignity to renters in disputes with landlords.
“We are demanding today, as Hoosiers, to be treated as human beings, not as a piece of property,” Ross said.
H.B. 1075, called Expanding Eligibility for Working Families, is a victory for tenants. Another bill that aims to empower renters in Indiana is House Bill 1148, introduced by State Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie.
Errington’s Enforcement of Habitability Standards bill would require that landlords fix or replace essential services within 24 hours of notification, allow renters to bring noncompliant landlords to court, and allow courts to order tenants to pay rent into escrow until the issue is resolved. The bill would also make it easier for local governments to crack down on “nuisance” landlords and renters.
But the bill hasn’t yet gotten a committee hearing and will die unless it’s heard by March 22nd. After the committee hearing the bill was passed and approved statewide. House Bill 1148 now gives tenants more power to go after the landlords. The landlords are now required to fix any issues within 24 hours of the problem being reported.
“The House Judiciary Committee meets Wednesday morning. That’s the last day for my bill to be heard,” Errington told the crowd. “I know that the committee chairman is not thinking that he’s going to hear it but I think it’s important for all of you if you can, to go visit him.”
