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

Section 13.03.010 adopts the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code as the City of Lafayette's Property Maintenance Code, and Section 301.2 puts the duty on the owner: premises must be maintained in a sanitary and safe condition, and a person cannot occupy, or let another occupy, a unit that fails to comply. Section 502.1 sets the minimum fixtures for every dwelling unit: its own bathtub or shower, lavatory, water closet, and kitchen sink, each kept in sanitary, safe working condition, with the lavatory placed in the same room as the water closet or close to its door; a kitchen sink cannot substitute for the required lavatory.

Heat is a separate, enforceable promise: Section 602.3 requires every owner or operator who rents, leases, or lets a dwelling or sleeping unit, whether the promise to furnish heat is express or implied, to supply heat during cold weather sufficient to keep all habitable rooms, bathrooms, and toilet rooms at not less than 68°F. Section 602.2 bars using cooking appliances or unvented portable space heaters to meet that duty. Every habitable room also needs at least two separate receptacle outlets under Section 605.2, a window providing natural light equal to at least 8 percent of the room's floor area under Section 402.1, and an openable window covering at least 45 percent of that glazed area for ventilation under Section 403.1.

The Enforcement Authority, defined at Section 13.05.010 as the City Engineer or a designee, issues notices of violation under Section 104.2 and can prosecute noncompliance under Chapter 13.05.