State Specific Question About: INDIANA (IN)

On renewal leases, are Landlords required to give the tenant another disclosure form and another pamphlet?

I always do this with NEW leases, but we have a number of people that stay on year after year. We have them sign a new lease every year (just because we are constantly updating our leases, due to the fact tenants can find more ways to "misbehave" or stretch the rules).

What I find more important after the initial lease signing with the disclosure form and booklet is to:

a) Keep a log with pictures of any interior job in the tenants unit dealing with "lead paint issues".

b) Have any section of removed materials removed tested for lead.

On time I was ordered by the City Housing Department to do some work. This work involved cutting into an interior wall and then drywall it closed. The tenant found dust in the unit and then started to panic, "Lead Poisoning". She got an attorney and threatened a law suit. The dust in her unit was due to her having the windows open all day for weeks without cleaning.

I documented that I had used an accepted method to cut open the wall, no dust could escape. And to close it, I used water soluble joint compound and used a wet sponge to sand it. No dust again. I also had a dust shield with a HEPA Vacuum. Pictures of the process. On top of that I saved the removed section of the wall in a zip tight bag that I later had tested by a certified lab. No Lead Paint!

Had I not protected myself, then my insurance company would have paid out a million bucks to make this go away. I'm also a licensed contractor with extra insurance.

I am giving an opinion that the form and booklet are issued when you have a newcomer into the property, so on a lease that converts from 12 or 10 month term into monthly I have never do me and do not know anyone who has, my experience is limited to Mi, Fl, Ga and Oh.

I'm in Indiana.

My leases go M2M after 1 year, so I do not provide a new one. THere have been a few people that I've had agree to an "extension", and all I do in those cases is have them sign a one-page paper saying all terms and documents associated with the original lease are still in effect and the only item that changes is the lease termination date. I suppose if you wanted to you could expand on this by saying...

Annie,

Great question!

I am not aware of a rule requiring a new form and pamphlet for a lease that continues.

If you sign a new lease then yes, new lead form and pamphlet.

If you do work involving paint during occupancy, then new form and pamphlet.

FYI Indiana Court of Appeals (oversees Small Claims) has ruled that annual leases become MTM after 12 months unless otherwise specified.

BRAD

If I do a new lease, I do not give them another copy. They sign a document the first time and for the new lease -- which says that they have "received" it. It does not state when. I see no reason to give them another copy as long as they sign the document again that says that they have received it.

- John...