Cities could lose tool that aims to limit out of state landlords

A handful of Indiana communities have ordinances to better control and track rental properties. These ‘rental caps’ limit out-of-state investors that may buy up entire neighborhoods and may not manage rental properties well.

Now a provision in a larger local finance bill would ban rental caps.

Cities with rental caps include Fishers and Carmel. Both cap rental properties at 10 percent of a neighborhood and create a registry of owners.

Fisher Mayor Scott Fadness said he is disappointed lawmakers inserted language to end those caps into a bill.

“They tried this last year, over Easter weekend, they tried to sneak a line into a bill as well, it’s something we have to be vigilant about and share our story,” Fadness said.

In Fishers, more than a third of rental homes are owned by out-of-state companies. Other data collected from the first year of the Fishers registry indicates those properties are more likely to have code violations and public safety calls.

Representatives from the Indiana Association of Realtors spoke in favor of the provision to ban rental caps and said they were an overreach. In the past, realtor groups have said they considered it a step backward in housing policy, as more rentals provide more opportunity for those who want to live in those neighborhoods.

Fadness argues the move to cap rentals provides more options for single-family home ownership.

“Time and time again I’ve heard people say they want to live in Fishers, they want to own a home, and they’re struggling to find a starter home,” Fadness said.

The session is scheduled to end February 27.

Contact WFYI Managing City Editor Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org