Fishers measure would establish landlord registry and cap neighborhood rentals

The City of Fishers is considering a new housing proposal that would affect landlords, renters, home-owners, and neighborhoods if enacted next year. It could also serve as a test case for housing reform in Indiana.

The ordinance is two-prong: it would create a mandatory landlord registry and impose a neighborhood rental cap of ten percent of single-family units.

Landlords who want to lease out units would be required to register for a permit with the Department of Planning & Zoning, which would then collect information, including contact information, for landlords and their agents. It also requires those agents to be in-state if the owner’s principal place of business or residence is out-of-state.

Mayor Scott Fadness said the ordinance was inspired by increased purchases of single-family homes converted to rentals.

“We’ve really tried…[to] come up with a solution that doesn’t create a great deal of bureaucracy, but does ensure that none of our neighborhoods get to a point of saturation on rentals,” said Fadness. “We’ve heard time and time again from people who live there and spent their life savings, want to ensure that that neighborhood keeps its integrity and its vibrancy for the long term.”

The city pointed to a troubling trend of out-of-state investor-owners buying up properties, particularly when involving so-called mega-investors, which own at least 1,000 properties. It also pointed to home-owners worried about perceived neighborhood decline with too many rentals.

Others who oppose the proposal have expressed concern that the measure will exclude people who want to live in Fishers.

At least some of the registry will be public. In a Monday town hall, the city was asked if realtors would be able to access housing information to share with prospective buyers.

“That’s our intent, if we do move forward with this ordinance, that we would have an entire page dedicated to the registry and information around the registry,” said Jordin Alexander, the mayor’s chief of staff.

The planning department would use the registry to track prior housing violations. Those could include whether the owner is up-to-date on city utility payments and hasn’t been the subject of numerous public safety calls for service.

Under the policy, the director of the planning department would decide whether a registration should be accepted or maintained if the owner violates these rules.

The proposal plans to use software that will pull information from various sources, said Alexander.

“The data [is] pulled from the county to actually identify these suspected rentals. So it pulls from homestead exemptions on the property, whether the property is owner-occupied, whether the property tax mailing address is different than that home address,” she said. “And then we’re also able to pull from various listings, like Zillow, Redfin.”

The city's current software — Tolemi — has the ability to create a public portal for renters, according to Ashley Elrod, a spokesperson for the city.

“This is subject to change, however,” she said.

The system will flag landlord applications for manual review if the units are in neighborhoods the city has determined meet the 10 percent rental cap threshold and have more than ten single-family units.

Landlords who fail to register or violate housing policy would be subject to fines that could range from $250 to $7,500. Permits could be denied or revoked if the landlord doesn’t fix violations, is delinquent on utility bills, or puts “undue burden” on city public safety services.

If the owner doesn’t correct violations, the planning department will forward the information to the city’s legal department, where legal action may be filed.

Fishers will hold a city council meeting on April 21 for a second reading of the ordinance and a public hearing.

The city hopes the ordinance will be passed by summer and go into effect January 1 next year. Legacy rentals are excluded from the neighborhood rental cap but must still register with the city.
 

Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.