Indianapolis, IN Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 537, the Vacant Building Standards of Marion County, opens with a legislative finding in Sec. 5 and IC 36-7-36. Sec. 537-5 applies the standards to the "vacancy, maintenance, repair, and boarding of vacant structures located in the county" and preserves the division's full authority under IC 36-7-9-1 and IC 36-7-36 et seq. Sec. 537-6 then converts any structure that fails those minimum standards into a public nuisance outright, subject to remedial action rather than voluntary compliance. Chapter 537's definitions (Sec. 537-1) mark a structure "vacant" if it is "currently unoccupied or occupied by vagrants, squatters, trespassers or other persons having no legal right to occupy," and mark it "unsafe" by reference to the state standard in IC 36-7-9.

Once a structure is cited, Sec. 537-7 requires the owner to comply by the deadline in the division's order, but guarantees at least thirty-three days from mailing before an order (other than one requiring immediate boarding) becomes enforceable, so the owner can request an administrative hearing first. Repair orders issued under IC 36-7-9-5(a)(5) become final ninety days after issuance unless a hearing under IC 36-7-9-7 is requested in time (Sec. 537-12); civil penalties assessed after that point can still be challenged through an informal dispute hearing before the director of the department of business and neighborhood services within thirty days, or, if the structure is later brought into compliance, within four years of the order date.