The city-county council finds that many tenants in Indianapolis live in rental housing units that fail to comply with their right to safe and habitable housing under state law and the Marion County health and housing code. Tenants are often unaware of their rights and lack the resources and legal assistance necessary to exercise those rights. The purpose of this chapter is to require landlords to give tenants notice of their rights and responsibilities, connect tenants to legal assistance where necessary to vindicate their rights and avoid eviction, protect tenants from retaliation for exercising their rights, and prohibit discrimination against applicants for housing based on expunged or sealed criminal convictions.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)

For purposes of this chapter:

Landlord has the meaning set forth in IC 32-31-3-3. If multiple persons or entities satisfy the definition of landlord as to a rental unit, then the person who is primarily responsible for receiving rent shall be considered the landlord for the purposes of section 582-103 of this chapter.

Rental unit has the meaning set forth in IC 32-31-3-8, except that an owner-occupied structure that:

(1)

Has no portion of the area thereof promised for the use of a residential tenant, or

(2)

Has a single sleeping unit being rented to a tenant,

Shall not be considered a "rental unit."

In addition, a property that is booked for rental to the public or rented to the public only for a rental period of less than thirty (30) consecutive days at any one time through a "short term rental platform," as that term is defined by IC 36-1-24-7, shall not be considered a "rental unit."

Tenant has the meaning set forth in IC 32-31-3-10, except that references to a singular tenant in this chapter refer collectively to all individuals within a household who satisfy the definition of IC 32-31-3-10. All requirements pertaining to a "tenant" may be satisfied by fulfilling the requirement with respect to at least one (1) adult individual in a household of multiple tenants.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)

(a)

After July 1, 2020, the landlord of a rental unit shall provide to each tenant, no later than ten (10) days after the commencement of tenancy, a notice of tenant rights and responsibilities (for purposes of this chapter, the "notice"). The notice must conform substantially to the form found in the appendix, must contain at least the information set forth in the form found in the appendix, and must provide the toll-free telephone number for the tenant information hotline established pursuant to section 582-104 of this chapter and accurate information concerning its operating hours. The tenant must review, sign, and date the notice, return the original signed copy to the landlord, and be provided a copy of the signed and dated notice for the tenant's records.

(b)

After July 1, 2020, a new notice must be provided to a tenant within ten (10) days before or after the renewal date of a tenant's lease. The tenant must review, sign, and date the notice, return the original signed copy to the landlord, and be provided a copy of the signed and dated notice for the tenant's records.

(c)

The landlord of a residential unit must maintain on file the tenant's signed and dated copy of the most recent notice provided to each tenant until at least sixty (60) days after the end of the tenant's tenancy or until the notice is superseded by a lease renewal.

(d)

The department of business and neighborhood services may require any landlord, upon registering with the city's landlord registration program or making an annual registration renewal pursuant to Revised Code section 851-104, to furnish to the department signed copies of a notice for each current tenant. The department of business and neighborhood services may also demand of any landlord, at any time, proof that the landlord has complied with the requirements of subsections (a) through (c) as to each tenant.

(e)

A landlord who fails to comply with subsection (d) is subject to a penalty of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each rental unit as to which the landlord is unable to furnish a notice signed by the rental unit's current tenant.

(f)

The office of public health and safety shall publish, on or before May 1, 2020, a form notice on its website that may be downloaded and printed for distribution by landlords. The office of public health and safety shall also make available paper copies of the form notice upon request from any landlord, free of charge. The form notice shall conform to the contents found in the appendix, and shall include the toll-free telephone number for the tenant information hotline established pursuant to section 582-104 of this chapter and accurate information concerning its operating hours. Use of the form notice itself is not mandatory but will satisfy the requirements of subsections (a) and (b).

(g)

After May 1, 2020, the office of public health and safety may publish a revised or updated version of the form notice. Beginning ninety (90) days after such publication, all new notices provided to tenants pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) must conform substantially to the additional or revised contents of such a revised form notice.

(h)

Notwithstanding subsection (a), a notice mandated by the Indianapolis Housing Agency (IHA) for landlord distribution to tenants will satisfy the requirements of this Section, provided that the IHA-mandated notice's contents are substantially similar to the published form notice and the IHA-mandated notice provides the toll-free telephone number for the tenant information hotline established pursuant to section 582-104 of this chapter and accurate information concerning its operating hours.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)

The city, acting through the office of public health and safety, is directed to establish, or contract with a third party to establish, a tenant information hotline, and to publicly post its phone number and hours of availability. The tenant information hotline will not provide legal advice to any caller, but hotline staff may refer callers to any legal assistance program that the city, acting through the office of public health and safety, may establish in partnership with community legal organizations. The telephone number for the tenant information hotline shall be included in the notice provided to tenants pursuant to section 582-103 of this chapter. The city shall fund the tenant information hotline for a pilot period of at least one (1) year and shall collect all data necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)

(a)

It is prohibited for any landlord to take any adverse action against a tenant in retaliation for:

(1)

The tenant's use of the tenant information hotline;

(2)

The tenant's seeking or obtaining legal or non-legal assistance in connection with the tenant's legal rights under Indiana law, including but not limited to IC 32-31-7 and 32-31-8;

(3)

The tenant's communication with the department of business and neighborhood services to report a landlord's violation of the requirements of section 582-103 of this chapter;

(4)

The tenant's request for inspection or other communication, or an attorney's request for inspection or other communication on the tenant's behalf, with the Marion County Public Health Department concerning the conditions of the tenant's rental unit; or

(5)

The tenant's communication with the department of business and neighborhood services in connection with the Indianapolis Landlord Registry established under chapter 851 of the Revised Code.

(b)

For purposes of this section, a landlord engages in an "adverse action" when the landlord brings or threatens to bring an action for possession of the tenant's residential rental unit, brings or threatens to bring an emergency possessory order action, raises or threatens to raise the tenant's rent, adversely alters the living conditions of the tenant's rental unit, or otherwise treats the tenant in a materially different manner from other tenants who are similarly situated.

(c)

For purposes of this section, a landlord's adverse action against a tenant shall be considered to be retaliation for any of the protected tenant activities listed in subsection (a) if there is a causal link between the protected tenant activity and the adverse action, regardless of whether the protected tenant activity is the sole cause of the adverse action.

(d)

There shall be a rebuttable presumption that an adverse action is retaliatory if:

(1)

It occurs within sixty (60) days after tenant engages in any of the protected activities listed in subsection (a); or

(2)

No other material change in the landlord-tenant relationship has occurred in the time between the tenant's engaging in any of the protected activities listed in subsection (a) and the landlord's adverse action.

(e)

A landlord who retaliates against a tenant in violation of this section shall be assessed a penalty of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) for a first violation as to each tenant, and seven thousand five hundred ($7,500.00) for any subsequent violation as to the same tenant.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)

(a)

It shall be a discriminatory practice under the Indianapolis Equal Opportunity Ordinance, Revised Code section 581-103, for any owner, landlord, real estate broker, or real estate salesperson or agent, acting in such a capacity in the ordinary course of his or her business or occupation, to deny any application for housing in a rental unit, to bring or threaten to bring an action for possession of an existing tenant's residential rental unit, or otherwise to deny equal treatment to any existing tenant or applicant for housing, on the basis of any criminal conviction that has been expunged or sealed pursuant to IC 35-38-9.

(b)

The office of equal opportunity is empowered to receive, investigate, and adjudicate complaints of discriminatory practices prohibited by this section in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 581, article IV of the Revised Code.

(c)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to conflict with the protections for tenants who are victims of family violence, sexual violence, and stalking set forth in IC 32-31-9.

(G.O. 1, 2020, § 1)