FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2022
Contact: Andrew Bradley | (317) 222-1221 x403 | abradley@prosperityindiana.org
Notre Dame Student Policy Network Releases Report on Tenant Protections in Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In a recently released report, Tenant Protections: An Impact Analysis, the Student Policy Network at the University of Notre Dame examines policies in Indiana aimed at providing additional security for tenants and the health and economic impacts of these policies. In conjunction with Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition, the Student Policy Network hosted an event outlining the findings of the report on April 20, 2022.
“My team, as part of the Notre Dame Student Policy Network, took a semester-long dive into the impacts of proposed tenant protections throughout Indiana. Identifying a lop-sided policy outlook in favor of landlords, we used health data, state comparisons, and advocate interviews to qualify the need for further tenant-focused legislation and recommend specific policy implementation. We hope our findings can be used by policymakers, advocates, and community developers to better understand the issues at hand in Indiana’s housing market, and find equitable solutions,” said Thomas Musgrave, Project Lead of the Notre Dame Student Policy Network.
According to the report, “Low-income tenants are consistently underrepresented in legislative debate; we aim to voice the concerns of these Hoosiers, while considering the effects of our proposed legislation on landlords, the state, the judiciary, and the overarching housing market.”
Analysis of recent legislation includes SB 230, enforcement of habitability standards (Sen. Fady Quaddora (D-Indianapolis) and Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus)), and HB 1214, residential eviction actions including sealing and expungement, (Rep. Ethan Manning (R-Denver), Rep. Chris Jeter (R-Fishers), Rep. Edward Clere (R-New Albany), and Rep. Vernon Smith (D-Gary)). SB230 was sent for consideration of an interim study committee while HB1214 was passed and signed into law by Governor Holcomb this session.
When compared to other states, tenants in Indiana are limited in ensuring basic habitability standards, and lack necessary legal support in fighting eviction and removing evictions from their record, which has devastating impacts on the most vulnerable Hoosiers. With adverse health effects, social immobility, cyclical poverty, and increased state costs directly associated with current tenant-landlord policies, the report advocates that changes must be made to create a safer, more equitable, and more fiscally responsible Indiana.
Read the full report here. View the presentation slides here.
View the report release event here.
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About Prosperity Indiana
The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
About the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition
Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition (HHNC) was formed by members of Indiana’s housing security advocacy community in April 2020 to support advocacy and education related to housing and homelessness prevention in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staffed by Prosperity Indiana through advocacy and coalition building grants from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Central Indiana Community Foundation, HHNC convenes partners from across Indiana to advocate for immediate, medium- and long-term housing stability policy solutions and conduct education and research to achieve federal, state, and local policies for an equitable response and recovery to the pandemic and beyond.
The HHNC Steering Committee is comprised of members from AARP Indiana, the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention (CHIP), Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, Family Promise of Greater Indianapolis, Hoosier Action, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute – INCAA, Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Prosperity Indiana, The Ross Foundation, and United Way of Central Indiana.