Bloomington, IN Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Bloomington Municipal Code § 16.04.010 states that Chapter 16.04 governs the minimum conditions and the responsibilities of persons for the maintenance of residential rental units and their premises. Section 16.04.030 splits that duty: the owner must maintain the unit and premises in compliance with the chapter, and the tenant must keep the space they occupy or control clean, sanitary and safe. Section 16.04.040 requires exterior areas to stay clean, safe and sanitary, premises graded to prevent erosion and standing water, sidewalks and driveways kept free of hazards, and bans storing indoor furniture or inoperable, disassembled or stripped vehicles outside.

Section 16.04.050 requires the exterior structure itself, siding, paint and metal surfaces, to be maintained soundly and free of rot, rust, peeling paint, mold and graffiti, while § 16.04.060 imposes the same structural-soundness and health-and-safety standard on the interior, plus keeping shared areas of rooming houses and multi-unit buildings clean. Section 16.04.020 folds the state's adopted building, residential, fire, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fuel gas, energy and accessibility codes into the chapter, so a rental found out of compliance with those adopted codes is also a Chapter 16.04 violation, carrying a $100 fine under the schedule in § 16.10.030.

HAND enforces the chapter through the registration, inspection and occupancy-permit process in Title 16.03: a unit failing its cycle inspection cannot get or keep an occupancy permit until reinspected and brought into compliance, and owners can appeal a director's order to the Board of Housing and Quality Appeals under § 16.10.050.