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

Under Section 155.08, every dwelling unit must have a kitchen sink hooked up to an approved water supply and sewer system with running hot and unheated water, plus a flush water closet and a bathtub or shower similarly connected, and at least two means of egress. Section 155.09 requires habitable rooms to have windows or skylights equal to at least 10% of floor area for light and openable area equal to 45% of that for ventilation. Section 155.10 obligates every dwelling to have heating equipment capable of holding habitable rooms, bathrooms and water closet compartments at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, measured 36 inches above the floor, under ordinary winter conditions, and bars unvented combustion heaters.

Section 155.11 requires foundations, roofs, walls and stairs to be structurally sound, weather-tight and free of lead-based paint, and premises kept graded and free of standing water. The Health Officer enforces the chapter: Section 155.15 authorizes inspections of any dwelling, and owners and occupants must give access. Where a unit has defects that create a serious health hazard, Section 155.14 lets the Health Officer condemn and placard it as unfit for human habitation, ordering it vacated within a set window, and no one may reoccupy it until the Health Officer removes the placard.