New Law Affects Indiana Landlords
On July 1, 2021, a new law went into effect in Indiana that provides a landlord a safe harbor from liability for actual damages when dealing with a deceased or potentially incapacitated tenant. Upon the death or incapacity of a tenant, a landlord will not be liable for actual damages to the tenant, the tenant’s estate, or any person with a claim or interest in the tenant’s personal property if the landlord:
notifies a tenant’s representative of the tenant’s death or possible incapacity,
allows the tenant’s representative reasonable access to the tenant’s dwelling unit, and
pays the tenant’s representative the tenant’s security deposit and unearned rent.
A landlord may also require the tenant’s representative to prepare and sign an inventory of the property being removed from the dwelling unit. If a landlord willfully fails to fulfill these duties, then the landlord may be liable to the tenant or the tenant’s estate for actual damages.
To comply with the new law and receive the safe harbor, a landlord needs to have at least one tenant’s representative on file for each tenant. The new law is silent on how a landlord should obtain a tenant’s representative designation and store the information. However, it does outline who may serve as a tenant’s representative and how someone appointed as such may accept. The new law will likely cause landlords to require that a prospective tenant furnish information about the tenant’s representative and obtain the signed acceptance as a part of the lease application process.
While the new law may have the effect of increasing the administrative burden on landlords in collecting and maintaining information on the tenant’s representative, it should also decrease the risk to a landlord faced with uncertainty in dealing with the property of a deceased or potentially incapacitated tenant. The author thanks law clerk Jozie M. Barton for her assistance with this article.