Lease Renewal Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Indiana law says, what's specific to Indianapolis - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Indianapolis's row on the comparison reads 1 month (month-to-month). § 32-31-1-4 makes notice to the tenant “equal to the interval between the periods” sufficient, and the sections state the period in months and rent intervals rather than days.
- Month to month is the default. Under § 32-31-1-2, a general tenancy occupied with the landlord's express or constructive consent “is considered to be a tenancy from month to month.”
- Other tenancies run on other clocks. A tenancy from year to year needs notice not less than three months before the year ends under § 32-31-1-3, and a tenancy at will takes one month in writing under § 32-31-1-1 but needs an express contract to exist.
- A fixed term is different. § 32-31-1-8 says “Notice is not required to terminate a lease” where the landlord agreed to rent for a specified period, and the Indiana and Indianapolis sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew one.
- The reason is a separate question. § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) says Indiana's bar on retaliatory acts does not prohibit declining to renew at the end of the term, and Indianapolis § 582-105 sits beside § 32-31-8.5-6, which says a unit “may not adopt or enforce any” ordinance “concerning retaliatory acts by landlords”.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
A renewal clause decides what happens when your lease reaches its end date: whether it rolls into another term, who has to act to stop that, and how much warning the other side gets. Indiana's statutes answer the warning question for tenancies that run from period to period.
That answer is Ind. Code § 32-31-1-4. Notice to the tenant equal to the interval between rent periods ends a periodic tenancy of not more than three months, so a monthly tenancy ends on one month.
Under § 32-31-1-2, a general tenancy held with the landlord's consent is treated as month to month.
The fixed term is where the timing goes quiet. § 32-31-1-8 lists a lease for a specified period among those that need no notice to end, and the Indiana sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew one. That leaves the renewal paragraph you signed as the first document to read, and the reason behind a refusal as the second.
What renters assume
If my Indianapolis landlord does not want to renew my one-year lease, Indiana law gives me a month's warning before the term ends.
What is actually true
The one month comes from § 32-31-1-4 and applies to a tenancy that runs from period to period. For a lease for a specified period, § 32-31-1-8 says “Notice is not required to terminate a lease”, and the Indiana sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew it.
Indianapolis makes 24 rows on the comparison on this page. Eleven of the 24 rows sit at the thirty-day mark: Austin, Chicago, Phoenix, Nashville, Boston, Las Vegas, Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Indianapolis.
Five read 60 days, in Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Atlanta and Baltimore, and three sit at 90, in New York City, Denver and Portland.
Milwaukee reads 28 days, Philadelphia 15 days and Charlotte 7 days. Washington and Newark draw no bar because their rows require cause.
Indianapolis's label says 1 month (month-to-month), as Detroit's and Kansas City's do, because § 32-31-1-4 counts in rent intervals rather than days. The bar stands with the thirty-day group so the row can be compared.
It measures a periodic tenancy, so a renter on a fixed term is not on the clock it draws.
Plain English Version
If you rent month to month in Indianapolis, Indiana's statute ends the tenancy on notice to you equal to the gap between rent payments, which is one month when rent is paid monthly. A year-to-year tenancy needs notice at least three months before the year runs out.
If you signed a lease with an end date, Indiana says no notice is required to end it on that date, and the sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew it. Indiana's retaliation chapter also says its bar does not stop a landlord from declining to renew at the end of the term.
Lease Renewal Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Indianapolis, IN
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the tenant continues in possession after the expiration of the term granted herein, then this lease is hereby renewed for a further period of one year and the rent during said period shall be increased $420.00 per year payable by the increase of each monthly payment in the sum of $35.00, unless the parties enter into a new written agreement.
Quoted from the published opinion in Renoir House, Inc. v. Solomon, 58 Misc. 2d 994 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. 1968). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“the expiration of the term granted herein, then this lease is”
The trigger is the end date, and Indiana lets that date end a fixed term without any notice. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8 says “Notice is not required to terminate a lease” where the landlord agrees to rent the premises for a specified period of time, or where the time the tenancy ends is specified in the contract. The Indiana sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew such a lease, which leaves this paragraph as the document that says what staying on does.
“renewed for a further period of one”
This swaps the statute's default for a fresh fixed term. Under § 32-31-1-2, a general tenancy occupied with the landlord's express or constructive consent “is considered to be a tenancy from month to month”, and § 32-31-1-4 ends a periodic tenancy on notice to the tenant equal to the interval between the periods. A tenancy from year to year runs on § 32-31-1-3 instead, with notice not less than three months before the year ends. Which of those a holdover would produce without a clause like this, our Indiana record does not settle.
“be increased $420.00 per year payable by the”
The price of the extra year is fixed before anyone knows whether the tenant will stay. Our Indiana record on renewal is about notice periods and the reason for ending a tenancy, and it does not reach how much a renewal may cost. What Indianapolis does attach to the renewal date is paperwork: Revised Code § 582-103(b) requires a new signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities “within ten (10) days before or after the renewal date of a tenant's lease”.
“increase of each monthly payment in the sum”
Rent stays payable month by month, and in Indiana the payment interval is what a periodic notice is measured in: § 32-31-1-4 makes notice to the tenant “equal to the interval between the periods” sufficient. Whether the landlord renews at all is a different question. § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) says Indiana's bar on retaliatory acts does not prohibit “Declining to renew a rental agreement at the conclusion of the term of the rental agreement”.
Read the date first. This is 1968, and a trial-level New York City Civil Court decision, so it carries little precedential weight - one trial judge reading one lease, not a rule laid down by an appellate court. Treat it as an illustration of a clause shape, never as controlling authority, and check current New York law before relying on any part of it. What the court did: it called paragraph 14 “crystal clear and unambiguous” and read it as an option the tenant exercises simply by staying in possession, at a fixed increase the lease itself named. The tenant held over and refused to sign a new agreement, so the lease was extended for a year at $292 a month, and the landlord's written notice raising the rent above that figure was “completely ineffectual.” The court also held that General Obligations Law § 5-905 did not let the landlord negate the option: that statute exists to protect tenants from automatic-renewal clauses that bind them unless they give advance notice to quit, not to defeat a renewal clause that runs the tenant's way. Petition dismissed, final judgment for the tenant.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Indiana Law on Lease Renewal Clause
- Section 32-31-1-2 sets the default: "A general tenancy in which the premises are occupied by the express or constructive consent of the landlord is considered to be a tenancy from month to month." Section 32-31-1-4 then applies to "a tenancy of not more than three (3) months which, by express or implied agreement of the parties, extends from one (1) period to another" and provides that "Notice to the tenant equal to the interval between the periods is sufficient to determine" it. For a tenant who pays rent monthly, that interval is one month.
- A tenancy at will is narrower than its name suggests. Section 32-31-1-1 says it "may be determined by a one (1) month notice in writing, delivered to the tenant", but also that it "cannot arise or be created without an express contract." Under § 32-31-1-9 a notice required by sections 1 through 7 may be served on the tenant, on a person residing at the premises if the tenant cannot be found, or by "affixing a copy of the notice to a conspicuous part of the premises."
- Longer and fixed terms run on different rules. A tenancy from year to year "may be determined by a notice given to the tenant not less than three (3) months before the expiration of the year" under § 32-31-1-3, with a model notice in § 32-31-1-5, while § 32-31-1-8 says "Notice is not required to terminate a lease" where "The landlord agrees to rent the premises to the tenant for a specified period of time" or "The time for the determination of the tenancy is specified in the contract."
- Indiana's retaliation chapter leaves non-renewal in place. Section 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) states that the bar on retaliatory acts does not prohibit a landlord from "Declining to renew a rental agreement at the conclusion of the term of the rental agreement", and § 32-31-8.5-5(c)(7) allows a possession action where the landlord seeks in good faith to take possession at the end of the term to live there, to alter, remodel or demolish in a way that displaces the household, or to stop renting the unit for at least six months.
Sources include Ind. Code § 32-31-1-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-2; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-3; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-9; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1); Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c); Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-103(b); Indianapolis Rev. Code § 551-202(a) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Start with Ind. Code § 32-31-1-2: “A general tenancy in which the premises are occupied by the express or constructive consent of the landlord is considered to be a tenancy from month to month.”
The notice rule follows in § 32-31-1-4. It applies to “a tenancy of not more than three (3) months which, by express or implied agreement of the parties, extends from one (1) period to another”.
It says “Notice to the tenant equal to the interval between the periods is sufficient to determine” that tenancy, which for monthly rent is one month.
The section speaks of notice to the tenant, and it states the period in rent intervals rather than days. Count it that way, from the dates your rent falls due.
Two other tenancies run on their own clocks. Under § 32-31-1-1, a tenancy at will “may be determined by a one (1) month notice in writing, delivered to the tenant”, but it “cannot arise or be created without an express contract.” Under § 32-31-1-3, a tenancy from year to year needs notice “not less than three (3) months before the expiration of the year”, with a model notice in § 32-31-1-5.
Service is set out too. Under § 32-31-1-9, a notice required by sections 1 through 7 may be served on the tenant, or on a person residing at the premises if the tenant cannot be found.
It may also be served by “affixing a copy of the notice to a conspicuous part of the premises.”
The fixed term is handled differently. § 32-31-1-8 says “Notice is not required to terminate a lease” where “The landlord agrees to rent the premises to the tenant for a specified period of time” or “The time for the determination of the tenancy is specified in the contract.”
Then the reason. § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) says the bar on retaliatory acts does not prohibit “Declining to renew a rental agreement at the conclusion of the term of the rental agreement”. § 32-31-8.5-5(c)(7) allows a possession action where the landlord seeks in good faith to take possession at the end of the term. The listed purposes are to live there, to alter, remodel or demolish in a way that displaces the household, or to stop renting the unit for at least six months.
And the silence, scoped to what we read: the Chapter 32-31-1 sections in our record set no notice period for declining to renew a lease for a specified period at the end of its term. They were read in an Internet Archive copy of the General Assembly's Indiana Code 2026 and checked against FindLaw, so read the current text on iga.in.gov before you count from it.
Indiana Tenant Protections
Notice to end a periodic tenancy of not more than three months under Ind. Code § 32-31-1-4: notice to the tenant equal to the interval between the periods, which is one month for a monthly tenancy. § 32-31-1-2 treats a general tenancy held with the landlord's express or constructive consent as a tenancy from month to month. A tenancy at will ends on one month's written notice delivered to the tenant under § 32-31-1-1, and cannot arise without an express contract.
A tenancy from year to year needs notice not less than three months before the year ends under § 32-31-1-3. § 32-31-1-9 allows service on the tenant, on a person residing at the premises if the tenant cannot be found, or by affixing a copy to a conspicuous part of the premises. § 32-31-1-8 says notice is not required to terminate a lease for a specified period of time, or one whose end is specified in the contract. § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) says the retaliation bar does not prohibit declining to renew at the end of the term. § 32-31-8.5-5(c)(7) allows good-faith possession at the end of the term for the landlord's own home, for work that displaces the household, or to stop renting for at least six months.
Locally, Indianapolis § 582-103(b) requires a new signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities within ten days before or after the renewal date. § 551-202(a), as Municode prints it, gives a tenant in a condominium conversion a claim to an additional tenancy on the same terms and rent.
What's Specific to Indianapolis
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Indianapolis is a city inside a state, so a renter here reads two layers: the Indiana Code, then the Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County. On renewal, the city sections we read set no timing of their own and add a paperwork duty at the renewal date.
We read the Revised Code on Municode, codified through Ordinance No. 42, 2026, passed June 1, 2026 (Supplement 47, Update 2). Chapter 582 (Protection of Tenants' Rights), Chapter 551 (Condominiums) and Chapter 851 (Indianapolis Landlord Registration Program) were read in full, and none of those sections sets a notice period for declining to renew a lease.
That describes those chapters rather than the whole code, so start from § 32-31-1-4 and your own lease.
The renewal date does carry a disclosure. Revised Code § 582-103(b) requires the landlord to give a new signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities “within ten (10) days before or after the renewal date of a tenant's lease”. That is a disclosure duty rather than a notice period.
State law speaks to that subject as well. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c)(5) lists “Disclosures concerning the” rights and responsibilities of the parties among the subjects a unit may not regulate unless an act of the general assembly authorizes it.
The same subsection lists “Leasing terms and conditions” and “The rights of the parties to a lease”, and says a violating ordinance “is void and unenforceable”. We take no position on how that applies to § 582-103.
Chapter 551 holds the one long clock in what we read. Under § 551-202(a), a tenant whose tenancy expires, other than for cause, within 120 days after a condominium developer's notice of intent may claim an additional tenancy on the same terms and rent until that period ends.
The period is 180 days for a tenant over 65 or who is deaf, blind or unable to walk without mechanical assistance, and the claim is made by written notice within 30 days.
The subjects listed in § 32-31-1-20(c) overlap that section too. We describe § 551-202 as Municode prints it and make no prediction about its enforcement.
Retaliation sits on both layers. Revised Code § 582-105 counts bringing or threatening an action for possession as an adverse action when done in retaliation.
Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6 provides that a unit “may not adopt or enforce any” ordinance “concerning retaliatory acts by landlords”. Section 582-105 is an ordinance on that subject, and Municode still prints it.
What makes any of this usable is a dated file. Keep the renewal-date notice, any written word about renewal, and the dates of complaints you made, so the order of events is on paper if a refusal follows.
It should. § 32-31-1-8 lists a lease for a specified period among those needing no notice to end, and the Indiana sections we read set no non-renewal notice for it. Look for whether staying starts a new term or a month-to-month tenancy.
Worth having. With no non-renewal notice period for a fixed term in the sections we read, a written deadline in the clause is the warning the lease itself promises, and it binds both sides to a date.
§ 32-31-1-4 makes notice to the tenant “equal to the interval between the periods” sufficient to end a periodic tenancy. Read a shorter figure in the lease against that section before you sign.
§ 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) says Indiana's retaliation bar does not prohibit declining to renew at the end of the term, and (c)(7) lists good-faith grounds for possession then. Keep dated copies of any complaints you make.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Ind. Code § 32-31-1-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-2; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-3; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-8; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-9; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1); Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c); Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-103(b); Indianapolis Rev. Code § 551-202(a), read on web.archive.org. The Indiana General Assembly's Indiana Code 2026 prints §§ 32-31-1-1 through 32-31-1-4 with the history line As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.16., read in an Internet Archive copy saved 29 September 2026, and FindLaw's copy marked Current as of January 01, 2026 carries the same text.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A one-month notice on a year-to-year tenancy
§ 32-31-1-3 needs notice not less than three months before the year ends for a tenancy from year to year. Settle which kind of tenancy you have before counting.
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A notice left on the door
§ 32-31-1-9 lists affixing a copy to a conspicuous part of the premises among the ways a notice may be served. Check the door and the mail around each rent date, and note the day you found it.
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A tenancy at will with no written contract
§ 32-31-1-1 says a tenancy at will “cannot arise or be created without an express contract.” A notice calling you a tenant at will is worth asking about in writing.
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A refusal that follows a complaint
§ 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) leaves declining to renew outside the state retaliation bar. Indianapolis § 582-105 still prints a retaliation rule beside § 32-31-8.5-6. Keep the dates of every complaint.
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A condominium conversion notice
Indianapolis § 551-202(a), as Municode prints it, lets a tenant whose tenancy expires within 120 days of a developer's notice of intent claim an additional tenancy by written notice within 30 days.
Your Rights as a Indianapolis Tenant
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Notice equal to the rent interval
§ 32-31-1-4: notice to the tenant equal to the interval between the periods ends a periodic tenancy of not more than three months, which is one month for monthly rent.
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Month to month by default
§ 32-31-1-2: a general tenancy occupied with the landlord's express or constructive consent is considered a tenancy from month to month.
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Three months for year to year
§ 32-31-1-3 requires notice to the tenant not less than three months before the expiration of the year to end a tenancy from year to year.
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A conversion tenancy, as printed
Indianapolis § 551-202(a) gives an additional tenancy on the same terms and rent to the end of the 120 days, or 180 days for a tenant over 65 or with a listed disability, as Municode prints it.
What To Do - Step by Step
Name your tenancy type first
Fixed term, month to month, at will or year to year? § 32-31-1-4, § 32-31-1-1 and § 32-31-1-3 answer the last three, and § 32-31-1-8 needs no notice to end the first.
Count in rent intervals
§ 32-31-1-4 speaks of notice equal to the interval between the periods. Write down when your rent falls due and count from that, not from a day total.
Check how the notice reached you
§ 32-31-1-9 allows service on you, on a person residing at the premises if you cannot be found, or by a copy fixed to a conspicuous part of the premises. Note the date you found it.
Line up the dates against your complaints
§ 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) leaves non-renewal at the end of a term outside the state bar, and Indianapolis § 582-105 sits beside § 32-31-8.5-6. Keep copies and the dates they went in.
Read your own renewal paragraph on a fixed term
With no non-renewal notice period in the sections we read, that paragraph is the working document. Note the renewal date as well: § 582-103(b) ties a new tenant rights notice to it.
Read the current text, then get advice
The Indiana sections behind this page were read in Internet Archive copies of the General Assembly's Indiana Code 2026. Read § 32-31-1-4 on iga.in.gov yourself, then take a disputed non-renewal to an Indianapolis tenant attorney or legal aid office.