What Indianapolis Renters Need to Know When Their Building Is Sold to a New Landlord
Indiana Code 32-31 has specific rules on deposits, lease survival, and notice. Most renters don't know them. The gaps are costly.
Indiana Code 32-31 has specific rules on deposits, lease survival, and notice. Most renters don’t know them. The gaps are costly.
It starts with something small. Your rent payment portal stops working. The name on the online listing for your building changes overnight. A sticker on the mailbox gives a new money-order address, or you notice a new LLC name on a recorded deed when you search your address out of curiosity. Sometimes you get a form letter. Often you get nothing at all.
This is what a building sale looks like from the tenant’s side in Indianapolis right now. It’s happening in concentrated bursts across the South Broad Ripple corridor, Fountain Square, Bates-Hendricks, the Near Eastside, and SoBro. Since 2020, portfolio investors and newly formed single-asset LLCs have been active buyers in precisely the neighborhoods where most of CityDesk’s renter readership lives. Thousands of Indianapolis tenants are simultaneously facing a situation the law addresses in specific, often unflattering ways — and almost nobody takes the time to explain it clearly.
This piece does that. It covers what Indiana law actually requires, what it conspicuously does not require, and what Marion County renters should do right now if a sale has already happened or looks imminent.
Your Lease Doesn’t Disappear When the Building Sells
Under Indiana property law, a valid lease runs with the land. When a building sells, the new owner takes title subject to any existing leases. Your landlord cannot sell away your right to occupy the unit through lease-end. The new owner steps into the old owner’s shoes and inherits the lease obligations.
That protection is real. How much it actually protects you depends entirely on what kind of tenancy you have.
If you have a fixed-term lease — the standard 12-month agreement most Indianapolis renters sign — you retain the full rights and obligations of that lease through its expiration date, regardless of who owns the building. The new owner cannot raise your rent mid-term. They cannot change your lease terms. They cannot terminate your tenancy before the lease expires simply because they now hold the deed. A sale is not a lease-termination event. Full stop.
Month-to-month tenancies are a different story, and this is where I’d pay close attention. Under IC 32-31-1-1, either party can terminate with 30 days’ written notice. A new owner who wants to renovate, reposition the property, or move in a different tenant base can legally hand you that notice on the day the sale closes. You’d have 30 days to vacate. That’s exactly how the statute reads, and it applies to any month-to-month tenancy — not just post-sale situations.
Here’s the practical point that matters most: if you’ve been rolling along month-to-month for a while and a sale seems likely, get a fixed-term renewal signed with your current landlord before closing. This gives you substantially stronger protection than staying month-to-month. After the sale, you lose that option. The new owner sets the new terms at renewal, and they’re under no obligation to offer you anything you’d like.
Your Security Deposit and the Transfer Chain Indiana Law Requires
This is where competing coverage almost always falls short. It’s also where Marion County tenants get hurt most often — and most predictably.
Indiana Code 32-31-12-6 establishes a specific chain of obligation when a building sells. The selling landlord bears the primary duty: they must either transfer the security deposit to the new owner or return it directly to the tenant. The statute requires written notification to the tenant of any transfer, including the new owner’s name and address. Once the new owner actually receives the deposit, liability shifts entirely to them. From that point forward, it’s the new owner’s obligation to return the deposit within the statutory timeframe after the tenancy ends, with any required accounting for deductions. The 45-day return window — the clock that governs how long a landlord has to return your deposit after you vacate — applies regardless of which owner is currently holding the money.
Real disputes happen in a predictable pattern, and it’s almost boring in how consistent it is. The deposit is never formally transferred. The selling landlord pockets it, transfers nothing, notifies nobody. The new owner has no record of it. The tenant moves out, the new owner says they never received a deposit, and the selling landlord is no longer reachable or no longer has a local presence. Indiana’s chain-of-liability language in IC 32-31-12-6 exists precisely because this scenario is common. The statute does not let either party simply disavow responsibility by pointing at the other.
If the deposit wasn’t transferred and the selling landlord can be identified, they remain liable. If the new owner received funds but disputes the amount, they’re on the hook for what they received.
The 45-day clock is the anchor of any legal argument you’ll make in Small Claims Court. If neither party returns your deposit within 45 days of lease termination, you have the right to sue for the amount withheld under IC 32-31-12-14. Document the deposit you paid at move-in. If you don’t have a receipt, find the canceled check, the money-order stub, or the payment record in any portal. That documentation is essential before any dispute proceeds. Don’t wait until you’re already in a fight to go looking for it.
Can the New Landlord Raise Your Rent or Change Your Lease Terms Right Away?
Fixed-term tenants have a straightforward answer: no. Rent and lease terms are contractually locked until your lease expires. A new owner inheriting your lease is bound by what that lease says. They cannot unilaterally raise your rent mid-term because renovation costs more than they expected. The lease is a contract, and a building sale does not void it.
Month-to-month tenants face a different reality. A new owner can propose different terms, including higher rent, with 30 days’ written notice. You can accept the new terms or move out. There’s no negotiating mechanism the law provides beyond that.
On rent control specifically: Indianapolis cannot cap rents. No Marion County ordinance changes this. Indiana state law explicitly preempts local rent control ordinances. There is no mechanism through which a city council action or mayoral order can limit what a landlord charges. Rent control does not exist in Indianapolis and is not legally available at the local level under current state law — whatever you may have seen floated at a council meeting or in a campaign mailer.
The inflection point for fixed-term tenants arrives at renewal. When your lease expires, the new owner can offer you a renewal at whatever rent and under whatever terms they choose. You can accept, negotiate, or find different housing. If you’re weighing those options, our coverage of what the rental market in Indianapolis is actually doing in 2026 gives useful context on where rents and vacancy stand right now. Know that moment is coming. It has a way of arriving faster than people expect.
What Notice Is a New Landlord Actually Required to Give You in Indiana?
Here’s the honest, unflattering answer: not much.
Indiana state law does not require a new landlord to proactively notify tenants that an ownership change has occurred. There’s no statute mandating a welcome letter, a change-of-ownership notice, or any affirmative communication from the new owner to existing tenants simply because a sale closed. The one written notice the statute does require is the deposit-transfer notification described in IC 32-31-12-6 — the selling landlord must tell you in writing that the deposit was transferred and give you the new owner’s name and address. In practice, this notice is frequently skipped, particularly in LLC-to-LLC transactions where neither party has a local management presence.
Indianapolis has no local ordinance filling this notice gap. The City-County Council has not passed a tenant-notification requirement for building sales. What this means practically is that you have to ask — and you should ask in writing. Even if the law doesn’t require the new owner to send you a change-of-ownership letter, you can send a written request via certified mail, return receipt requested. Ask for written confirmation of three things: the legal name and address of the new owner or managing entity; confirmation that your security deposit was received in transfer; and acknowledgment that your existing lease is in effect.
A new owner who refuses to respond to that request in writing is telling you something useful before a dispute formally begins. Getting this information in writing before anything goes wrong gives you documentation. Waiting until a deposit dispute arises and trying to establish basic facts retroactively is much harder — and much less convincing to a judge.
The New LLC Problem and How to Find Out Who Actually Owns Your Building
The most frustrating version of this situation is increasingly common in Fountain Square, Bates-Hendricks, and the Near Eastside. A building gets sold to a newly formed single-asset LLC. The tenant receives no notice. The old management contact number goes unanswered. The new entity has no obvious public presence. A sticker on the mailbox saying “send rent here” or a new Venmo handle is not sufficient landlord identification — and it won’t help you at all when you need to serve legal papers.
Marion County Assessor property records are your first stop. Search by address. The assessor’s site shows the current owner of record for tax purposes, including the legal entity name if the building is held by an LLC. This is updated after deeds are recorded, though there can be a lag of several weeks following a recent sale.
Indiana Secretary of State business entity search (bsd.sos.in.gov) is your second tool. Once you have the LLC name from the assessor’s record, search for it in the SOS database. The entity record will show the registered agent — the person or company legally designated to receive service of process — and their address. This is who you serve if you file in court.
These two searches together will, in most cases, give you enough information to identify the legal entity, its registered agent, and a physical address for correspondence. A building sold to “1247 Shelby Holdings LLC” registered in Indiana two months ago with a downtown law firm as registered agent is findable through these tools in about ten minutes. If you file in Marion County Small Claims Court, you name the legal owner as the defendant — not “my landlord” or the property manager’s first name. Serving the wrong party, or an unregistered entity, can get your case dismissed on procedural grounds before a judge ever looks at the merits. That’s a painful way to lose a case you should have won.
If the New Owner Won’t Honor Your Deposit or Lease, What to Do in Marion County
Start now with documentation. If a sale has occurred or appears imminent, take timestamped photos of the unit’s current condition. Gather your original lease, your deposit receipt or payment record, and every written communication you’ve had with your landlord — texts, emails, portal messages, letters. If the sale has already happened and you haven’t done this, do it today. Documentation created before a dispute is substantially more credible than documentation assembled during one.
Send a certified letter to the new owner’s address of record. Use the assessor and SOS records to identify the correct address. In the letter, request written confirmation that your deposit was received in transfer, the legal name and address of the new owner, and acknowledgment that your lease is in force. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep the green card. This creates a paper trail showing you made a reasonable request before escalating — which matters more than most people realize when you’re standing in front of a judge.
If the dispute doesn’t resolve, file in Marion County Small Claims Court. For security deposit disputes under $10,000, Small Claims Court at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., is the correct venue. You don’t need a lawyer to file. Renters represent themselves in Small Claims regularly, and the court clerks can walk you through the process. Verify current filing fees before publication — fees are subject to change and should be confirmed directly with the Marion County clerk’s office. The 45-day statutory return window under IC 32-31-12 is the legal centerpiece of any deposit claim. If 45 days have passed since you vacated and neither the selling landlord nor the new owner has returned your deposit or provided a written itemized accounting, you have a cognizable claim.
Indiana Code 32-31-12-6 establishes the chain of liability in post-sale deposit cases. It does not permit either landlord to disclaim responsibility simply by pointing at the other. Incorporate on-record Indiana Legal Services comment before publication. The specific case pattern their Indianapolis attorneys identify as most common is essential to this section and should not be paraphrased from statutory text alone.
If you’re navigating this without legal representation, our guide to free and low-cost legal help in Indianapolis covers the main resources organized by what you actually need, including landlord-tenant intake options.
Local Resources for Indianapolis Tenants
Indiana Legal Services — Indianapolis office
Statewide intake: 1-844-243-4432 Address: 151 N. Delaware St., Suite 1800, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Confirm current phone, address, and income eligibility threshold before publication. ILS handles landlord-tenant matters including security deposit disputes, wrongful eviction, and lease enforcement. Intake is income-based; eligibility thresholds should be confirmed directly with ILS. This is the primary legal aid resource for low-income Indianapolis renters, and their attorneys have direct experience with Marion County post-sale disputes.
Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic
Serves lower-income Indianapolis residents with free civil legal help. Intake process and scheduling information are available through their website; they operate on an appointment basis at multiple Indianapolis locations. Confirm intake process and current service eligibility before publication.
Indiana Volunteer Lawyers Project (IVLP)
IVLP connects income-eligible clients with volunteer attorneys. Referrals typically go through Indiana Legal Services or other legal aid partners. Confirm current referral process before publication.
Indianapolis Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service
For renters above ILS income limits who need a private attorney. The referral service can connect you with attorneys who handle landlord-tenant matters; an initial consultation may involve a fee. Confirm current contact number with IndyBar before publication.
Indiana Attorney General Consumer Protection Division
Toll-free: (800) 382-5516 | attorneygeneral.indiana.gov
The AG’s office can investigate patterns of landlord conduct and take action against bad actors, but it cannot represent individual tenants in private disputes and cannot order a landlord to return your specific deposit. Filing a complaint is worthwhile if you believe the conduct is systematic — it creates a record, and records matter when regulators start looking at a particular owner’s portfolio. But it’s not a substitute for Small Claims Court if you want money actually returned.
Marion County Small Claims Court
City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204
The correct venue for deposit disputes under $10,000. Self-represented filers are common and the process is designed to be accessible without legal training. Bring your lease, your deposit receipt, your certified mail receipt, and any written communications. Bring everything. Judges in Small Claims have seen every version of this dispute, and the tenants who come in organized tend to do better than those who come in with a story and no paper.
If a sale of your building has happened or is in progress, the most important thing you can do right now is get your documentation in order. Identify the legal entity that now owns the property. Put your requests in writing before a dispute develops. Indiana law gives you real protections — a lease that survives the sale, a statutory deposit transfer requirement, a defined timeline for return — but those protections only work if you know them and can demonstrate, in writing, that the other party failed to meet them.
The law won’t chase down your deposit for you. It gives you the tools to do it yourself. Marion County’s Small Claims Court is a realistic path when those tools are used correctly.
For more local coverage, explore our Moving & Real Estate section.
