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A measure to restrict local governments from creating regulations on landlords passed out of the Indiana House Monday. That’s despite pushback from several hundred housing, legal and other organizations.
The vote comes after Indianapolis passed an ordinance recently to protect tenants’ rights.
The Senate bill includes a provision that would restrict local governments from making similar regulations governing tenant-landlord relationships without approval from the legislature.
Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) says the language in the bill will affect many communities, including his own.
“And I think you’re going to find that if you have communities with even noncontroversial ordinances related to landlord-tenant relationships, they’re going to get challenged in court if this becomes law,” says Pierce.
Indianapolis, South Bend and Fort Wayne have some of the highest rates of eviction among larger cities in the country, according to a study from the Eviction Lab out of Princeton University.
The bill passed out of the House 62-31. It now goes back to the Senate with the changes.
Contact Samantha at shorton@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @SamHorton5.
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