Lugar Tower residents await relief with Indianapolis Housing Agency locked in litigation

A Marion County judge ordered a jury trial in a lawsuit brought by residents of the Richard G. Lugar Tower Apartment Complex, a public housing property for elderly and disabled people.

The move on Thursday came as a different judge demanded earlier this month that the Indianapolis Housing Agency respond to new evidence alleging it violated a court-ordered compliance agreement governing Lugar Tower.

Sandra Barnes and Anthony Bright, two residents, sued IHA in June over safety and sanitation concerns. The lawsuit is at least the third brought by tenants since 2023.

Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office then reopened the other case over the two-year compliance agreement in August after learning IHA told residents of Lugar Tower that security and property management services would end.

The state said a property management contractor, Bradley Company, hadn’t staffed the building since August 5, 2025 — and called it a “clear contradiction” of the agreement and compliance period, which had an end date of August 28.

A state investigator responsible for monitoring the IHA’s compliance with the court order said in a sworn statement that she had documented additional safety and sanitation concerns this summer. These included extensive water leaks, an open and unlocked exterior door to a stairwell, an elevator shutdown during a visit that caused state investigators to take 10 flights of stairs to visit a tenant, and regular interruptions of power to the tenant’s apartment that prevented her from charging a wheelchair.

State attorneys Timothy Weber and Chase Haller argued in a legal filing that these conditions “have a direct bearing on the alleged failures [the agreement] was implemented to cure,” and that they are “worsening each week.”

The attorney general’s office did not agree to an interview request for this story.

The agreement

Following other litigation, a court order approved a compliance agreement in 2023 between the IHA and the attorney general's office over Lugar Tower.

By then, Rokita’s office had received dozens of consumer complaints about the property to its Consumer Protection Division. After investigating, state attorneys argued that IHA “engaged in a pattern of violating” Indiana landlord-tenant law by failing to provide consistent hot water service, working elevators, reasonable building security, and failing to remove human excrement from stairwells.

The agreement did not require IHA to admit a violation of the law, and the agency denied the allegations. If IHA fully complied with the monitoring requirements, the state would close pending investigations.

The agreement bound IHA to compliance monitoring requirements, including “fully” cooperating with the state to resolve any written complaints from tenants, responding to each tenant complaint in writing, allowing the state access to the building, and submitting regular reports.

The housing agency agreed to provide continuous management of key Lugar Tower operations under state law. Those included heating and cooling systems, pest infestation treatment, and working locks on all apartments. IHA also agreed to contract licensed property management and ensure “a reasonable security presence.”

Both parties signed the agreement and it was approved through a court order on August 28, 2023.

Since last year, the IHA has been under federal receivership after years of mismanagement.

Attorneys for the agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Before the agreement ended, residents sued

In early June this year, IHA informed residents that building security and property management would cease before the compliance period ended in August. There would be no security contractor after June.

Barnes and Bright, the two Lugar Tower residents, sued the agency over these actions and other habitability issues, alleging that they violated Indiana landlord-tenant law.

Barnes said that when the building is not fully secured, nonresidents are able to enter it and loiter. At the same time, the lawsuit argued other sanitation and maintenance issues had occurred.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department dispatched to the property 883 times between January 2023 and June 15, 2025, according to police data filed in the suit.

Barnes said this environment makes her feel unsafe in her own apartment.

Court records show that the housing agency was behind on payments to both the security and property management contractors. The contractors informed IHA that they would terminate services to the building.

In the residents’ case this summer, a judge ordered IHA to maintain security or staff presence at Lugar Tower through the end of the compliance period — August 28, 2025.

Yvonda Bean, the new CEO and director of IHA, said in a sworn statement that Lugar Tower was experiencing a budget shortfall that prevented them from paying the contractors.

“Any court order requiring Defendants to provide security at Lugar Tower would require Defendants to identify a security company willing to provide services free of charge indefinitely, or otherwise Defendants would be required to close Lugar Tower,” Bean said.

Last May, IHA announced a new twelve-month plan. Bean said the agency would sell several of its properties, but Lugar Tower was not among those mentioned at the time.

Judges make moves

Residents may finally get answers soon.

State attorney Timothy Weber asked the court to consider the alleged violations of the compliance agreement.

In an order, Judge Amber Collis-Gebrehiwet ordered IHA to appear and “show cause why it should not be subject to additional sanctions for its failure to adhere to the [agreement’s] terms.”

She scheduled the hearing on the compliance agreement for October 29.

In the residents’ case, Judge John Chavis scheduled a jury trial for November 17.

Contact WFYI reporter Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.