Kokomo, IN Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Section 160.04(A) bars any owner from erecting or maintaining a rental unit without first registering the property with the Rental Housing Officer, using a form that captures the owner's name, address, telephone number, and a description of the rental units. Owners who live outside Howard County or a contiguous county must designate a resident agent within that area to receive complaints and legal notices. Properties rented before November 1, 2003 may continue as rental property under Section 160.04(A)(7), a right that passes to later purchasers.

Section 160.04(C) gives a new owner 30 days after a change of ownership to report the transfer, and a previously issued registration permit automatically expires 30 days after title transfers. Registration is evidenced by a permit that stays valid until revoked for cause or until the property changes hands, and issuance does not itself prove the property meets the chapter's habitability standards. Section 160.04(F) makes it a violation for any owner to maintain an unregistered rental unit, punishable under the general penalty in Section 160.99: a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense. Registration was added by Ordinance 6424 in 2006 and amended by Ordinance 6454, passed November 13, 2006.