Indianapolis, IN Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

' That one sentence is the entirety of the chapter's inspection provision, and it means the Indianapolis Landlord Registration Program established by Section 851-101 runs on paperwork rather than site visits. Every owner or landlord of a rental unit, including a rent-to-own unit without a recorded title transfer, must register with the department of business and neighborhood services under Section 851-104: the registration discloses the owner's contact information, an in-state property manager if any, an agent for service of process, an affirmation that the property carries no un-remediated code violation, and an affirmation of no more than one delinquent property-tax payment.

00 under the Section 131-501 schedule, due starting January 1, 2015, with only one fee required per registered 'rental unit community'; registrations renew annually, and owners must report any information change within 30 days. A property rented fewer than 30 consecutive days at a time and not more than 180 days a year, such as a short-term rental, is expressly carved out of the 'rental unit' definition in Section 851-103 and doesn't have to register under this chapter at all. Section 851-108 requires the department to report annually to the city-county council on registration counts, fines collected, and code-violation citations tied to registered rentals, and it can recommend eliminating the registry if that reporting shows it isn't working.