Maintenance & Repairs 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
- The Indiana Code sections we read set no fixed number of days for a landlord to finish a repair. The measure is a reasonable amount of time, and it starts with the tenant's notice.
- Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(b) lets a tenant sue only after giving notice, allowing "a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy", and seeing the landlord fail or refuse. The tenant may not prevent access for the work.
- § 32-31-8-5 lists the duties: premises delivered "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition", compliance with health and housing codes, clean common areas, and working systems and appliances. § 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter "by contract or otherwise" void.
- A tenant who wins may recover actual and consequential damages, attorney's fees and court costs, and injunctive relief under § 32-31-8-6(d). Under § 32-31-8.5-2(2) a written complaint to the landlord about these duties is protected activity.
- Indianapolis adds a signed tenant-rights notice due within ten days of the tenancy's start (§ 582-103) and a retaliation ban with a $2,500 first-violation penalty (§ 582-105). Indiana's preemption sections speak to both, and we describe the city sections as enacted.
Understanding the Maintenance & Repairs Clause
A renter waiting on a repair in Indianapolis wants a date. The Indiana Code sections we read answer with a standard instead: after the tenant's notice, the landlord gets "a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy". No number of days sits beside it.
That standard is in Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6, and it sets the order of events. Notice comes first, the reasonable time follows, and only a landlord who then fails or refuses can be sued under the chapter.
The tenant may not block the landlord's access to do the work.
Indianapolis adds a tenant-rights notice and a retaliation rule, not a repair clock. Indiana's own code limits what a city may regulate on both subjects, and we describe the city sections as enacted.
The Indiana text behind this page was read in archived copies of the General Assembly's 2026 code. Read the current text of § 32-31-8-6 on iga.in.gov before you rely on it.
What renters assume
That Indiana gives an Indianapolis landlord a fixed number of days to finish a repair, and that a tenant may act the moment those days run out.
What is actually true
The Indiana Code sections we read set no day count. § 32-31-8-6(b) asks for notice, then "a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy", and the tenant may not prevent access for the work. How long is reasonable is not stated in the section.
Indianapolis's row in the comparison on this page carries no bar. It is one of ten of the 24 rows without a figure, alongside New York City, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Newark, Detroit, Charlotte and Milwaukee.
The other 14 rows carry a figure, in four groups. Los Angeles, Portland, Columbus and Baltimore sit at 30 days, with Columbus labelled an outer limit and Baltimore a presumed limit.
Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Kansas City show 14 days, Seattle and Phoenix 10 days, and Austin and Miami 7 days.
Indianapolis's empty bar reflects the measure in § 32-31-8-6, a reasonable amount of time after notice. The ten days in § 582-103 is the deadline for handing a tenant the city's rights notice, not a deadline for a repair.
Plain English Version
No Indiana section we read tells your landlord how many days a repair may take. You give notice of the problem, the landlord gets a reasonable amount of time to fix it, and you must let the landlord in to do the work.
If the landlord refuses or runs past that time, you can sue, and a tenant who wins may recover damages, attorney's fees and court costs, and an order to fix it. In Indianapolis, the landlord must also hand you a signed tenant-rights notice within ten days of the tenancy's start.
Repairs 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.
The court quoted this sentence as the opening of an apartment lease's reimbursement paragraph; the rest of that paragraph is not printed here.
REIMBURSEMENT. You must promptly reimburse us for loss, damage, or cost of repairs or service caused anywhere in the apartment community by your or any guest's or occupant's improper use or negligence.
Quoted from the published opinion in Churchill Forge, Inc. v. Brown, 61 S.W.3d 368 (Tex. 2001). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“promptly reimburse”
Promptly is the lease's word for how fast you pay. Indiana's word for how fast the landlord repairs is reasonable: under § 32-31-8-6(b), after the tenant's notice the landlord must be given “a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy”. Neither word carries a day count, and how long is reasonable is not stated in the section.
“damage, or cost of repairs”
This is the money the sentence moves, and Indiana lists repair duties that a contract may not waive. § 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to keep electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, elevators and appliances supplied as an inducement “in good and safe working condition”, where they were provided when the agreement was made. § 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter “by contract or otherwise” void.
“caused anywhere”
The clause reaches past your door to the whole complex. Indiana's duty list reaches the shared spaces as well: § 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to keep common areas clean and proper and to “Comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises”. A charge for a hallway or a laundry room is a charge for space that section asks the landlord to keep.
“by your or any guest's or occupant's improper use”
Whose conduct counts is the question the Texas case turned on, and our Indiana record does not answer it. The record sets the landlord's duties in § 32-31-8-5 and the notice route in § 32-31-8-6, and does not reach how an Indiana court would treat damage a guest or an occupant caused. Keep a dated note of how any defect appeared.
The sentence stood, and the case went back. The Texas Supreme Court held the reimbursement clause enforceable, reversed summary judgment for the co-signing tenant and remanded the case. The route matters more than the result: Tex. Prop. Code § 92.006 bars only a contractual waiver of repair duties the landlord actually owes under Subchapter B, and § 92.052(b) gives a landlord no duty to repair damage caused by the tenant, an occupant or a guest. With no duty on that damage there was nothing to waive, so neither the Property Code nor public policy stopped the parties agreeing the tenant would pay. Why a renter should care: the clause reached a cotenant who had not herself been negligent, because it covers your guests and your occupants as well as you. Justice Baker dissented and would have voided the sentence for failing § 92.006(e) - its requirement that such an agreement cover one dwelling, and the requirement in § 92.006(e)(4) that it be conspicuous and underlined. This is 2001 Texas law, decided on the Texas Property Code. It is state-specific and not a national rule: a differently worded statute produced the opposite answer in Iowa in 2016.
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 Maintenance & Repairs Clause
- Notice comes first, and the clock that follows is a reasonable time, not a day count. Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(b) provides that a tenant may not bring an action under the chapter unless "(1) The tenant gives the landlord notice of the landlord's noncompliance with a provision of this chapter. (2) The landlord has been given a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy of the condition described in the tenant's notice. The tenant may not prevent the landlord from having access to the rental premises to make repairs or provide a remedy to the condition described in the tenant's notice. (3) The landlord fails or refuses to repair or remedy the condition described in the tenant's notice."
- The duties the notice can point to are listed in Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5. A landlord must deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition", "Comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises", keep common areas clean and proper, and keep electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, elevators and appliances supplied as an inducement "in good and safe working condition, if provided on the premises at the time the rental agreement is entered into." Section 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter "by contract or otherwise" void, and § 32-31-8-1 applies the chapter to rental agreements entered into after June 30, 2002.
- If the tenant wins, the court can award money and an order to fix. Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(d) lets a prevailing tenant recover "Actual damages and consequential damages" and "Attorney's fees and court costs", plus "Injunctive relief" and "Any other remedy appropriate under the circumstances." Under § 32-31-8-6(e), the landlord's liability for damages begins when the landlord has notice or actual knowledge of the problem and has either refused to remedy it or "failed to remedy the noncompliance within a reasonable amount of time following the notice or actual knowledge".
- A written complaint is what brings the state retaliation rule into play. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-2(2) lists as protected activity "Complaining to a landlord in writing concerning the landlord's violation of IC 32-31-5-6 or IC 32-31-8-5", and § 32-31-8.5-5(a) bars a retaliatory act in response, which § 32-31-8.5-4 defines to include raising the rent, cutting services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession or to end the lease early. Section 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1) still allows a landlord to decline to renew "at the conclusion of the term of the rental agreement."
Sources include Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-1; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-2; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20; Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-103; Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-105; Marion County Public Health Dept. Code § 10-504; Marion County Public Health Dept. Code § 10-601 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
In the Indiana sections we read, a slow repair meets a standard rather than a calendar. Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6 sets no fixed number of days for a landlord to finish a repair after a tenant gives notice.
The section sets an order of steps instead. Under § 32-31-8-6(b), a tenant may bring an action only after giving the landlord notice, after the landlord "has been given a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy", and after the landlord "fails or refuses" to fix it.
The tenant "may not prevent the landlord from having access to the rental premises" to do the work.
The duties the notice can point to are in § 32-31-8-5. The landlord must deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition", "Comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises", and keep common areas clean and proper.
Electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, elevators and appliances supplied as an inducement must be kept "in good and safe working condition, if provided on the premises at the time the rental agreement is entered into."
The chapter guards against being signed away. § 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter "by contract or otherwise" void, and § 32-31-8-1 applies the chapter to rental agreements entered into after June 30, 2002.
Money follows the same clock. Under § 32-31-8-6(d) a tenant who wins may recover "Actual damages and consequential damages" and "Attorney's fees and court costs", plus "Injunctive relief".
Under § 32-31-8-6(e), the landlord's liability for damages begins once it has notice or actual knowledge and has refused to remedy the problem or failed to remedy it within a reasonable amount of time.
A written complaint is protected. § 32-31-8.5-2(2) lists "Complaining to a landlord in writing concerning the landlord's violation of IC 32-31-5-6 or IC 32-31-8-5" as protected activity. § 32-31-8.5-5(a) bars a retaliatory act in response, which § 32-31-8.5-4 defines to include raising the rent, cutting services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession or to end the lease early.
One exception sits in § 32-31-8.5-5(b)(1): a landlord may still decline to renew "at the conclusion of the term of the rental agreement." The state text was read in a Wayback Machine copy of the General Assembly's 2026 code, captured September 29, 2026, so read each section's current text on iga.in.gov.
Indiana Tenant Protections
Under Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5 an Indiana landlord must deliver the rental premises in a safe, clean, and habitable condition and comply with all health and housing codes applicable to them. The landlord must also keep common areas clean and proper, and keep the systems and appliances supplied as an inducement in good and safe working condition, if provided when the rental agreement is entered into.
Section 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter by contract or otherwise void.
The Indiana Code sections we read set no fixed number of days for a repair. Under § 32-31-8-6(b) the tenant gives notice, the landlord has a reasonable amount of time to make repairs or provide a remedy, and the tenant may not prevent access for the work.
A tenant who prevails may recover actual and consequential damages, attorney's fees and court costs, and injunctive relief under § 32-31-8-6(d).
Under § 32-31-8.5-2(2) a written complaint to the landlord about these duties is protected activity, and § 32-31-8.5-5(a) bars a retaliatory act in response. In Indianapolis, Revised Code § 582-103 requires a signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities no later than ten days after the tenancy starts.
Section 582-105 bars retaliation against a tenant who asks the Marion County Public Health Department to inspect, with a penalty of $2,500 for a first violation as to each tenant.
Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6 voids local ordinances concerning retaliatory acts by landlords, and § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit from regulating disclosures about the parties' rights and responsibilities unless the general assembly authorizes it. We describe both city sections as enacted. Read the current text of each section before relying on it.
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.
On repairs, Indiana law and Indianapolis's code do different jobs. The duty to repair, the reasonable-time standard and the remedies come from the state sections. A tenant-rights notice and a city retaliation rule come from Chapter 582 of the Revised Code.
Our record of Revised Code Chapters 582 and 851, and of the Marion County Public Health Department's Chapter 10 housing standards, finds no section giving an Indianapolis landlord a set number of days to finish a repair. Text searches of the Revised Code for "landlord", "tenant", "habitable" and "housing code" returned no other section about landlord repairs.
The first city duty arrives with the tenancy. Revised Code § 582-103 requires the landlord to give each tenant a signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities no later than ten days after the tenancy starts. Keep that notice with the lease.
The second is a retaliation rule. § 582-105 bans retaliating against a tenant who asks the Marion County Public Health Department to inspect the unit, with a penalty of $2,500 for a first violation as to each tenant.
Indiana's code speaks to both subjects. Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6 provides that a unit "may not adopt or enforce any" ordinance or regulation "concerning retaliatory acts by landlords", and that any that does "is void and unenforceable". § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit from regulating listed aspects of a landlord-tenant relationship, including disclosures about the parties' rights and responsibilities, unless the general assembly authorizes it.
We describe § 582-103 and § 582-105 as enacted and are not predicting how either state section would apply to them. The state rule in § 32-31-8.5-2(2) protects a written complaint to the landlord on its own terms.
The county health code sets standards rather than a repair clock. Marion County Public Health Department Code § 10-601 requires heating equipment capable of heating habitable rooms and bathrooms to at least 68 degrees F under ordinary winter conditions. § 10-504(d) requires cooling equipment capable of cooling to at least 72 degrees F, and Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5(2) separately requires an Indiana landlord to comply with all health and housing codes that apply to the rental premises.
The Revised Code was read on Municode, whose page says it is "Codified through Ordinance No. 42, 2026, passed June 1, 2026. (Supp. No. 47, Update 2)" and warns that it "may not reflect the most current legislation adopted by the Municipality".
Read § 582-103 and § 582-105 as they stand on the day you need them.
Useful. Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6(b) makes notice to the landlord the first step, and § 32-31-8.5-2(2) protects a complaint made to the landlord in writing.
Good. Under § 32-31-8-6(b) the tenant "may not prevent the landlord from having access to the rental premises" to make repairs or provide a remedy.
Question it. § 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter "by contract or otherwise" void, and § 32-31-8-5 lists the duties that chapter places on the landlord.
Ask for it. Revised Code § 582-103 requires a signed notice of tenant rights and responsibilities no later than ten days after the tenancy starts. We describe that section as enacted.
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 § 32-31-8-6; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-1; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-2; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6; Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20; Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-103; Indianapolis Rev. Code § 582-105; Marion County Public Health Dept. Code § 10-504; Marion County Public Health Dept. Code § 10-601, read on web.archive.org. The Indiana General Assembly's PDF of Indiana Code 32-31-8, read in a Wayback Machine copy captured September 29, 2026, is printed as Indiana Code 2026 and shows section 6 as added by P.L.92-2002 with no later amendment; FindLaw's copy of the section, marked current as of January 1, 2026, has the same text.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A repair promise with no timetable
The Indiana Code sections we read set no day count. Put the notice in writing and date it, because § 32-31-8-6(b) runs the reasonable time from notice and § 32-31-8.5-2(2) protects a written complaint.
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A clause that waives the landlord's duties
§ 32-31-8-4 makes a waiver of the chapter "by contract or otherwise" void. Read an as-is or tenant-repairs clause against § 32-31-8-5 before you sign it.
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A day count presented as Indiana law
If a lease or a landlord says Indiana allows a set number of days, ask which section. § 32-31-8-6 speaks of "a reasonable amount of time".
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Rent raised after a written complaint
§ 32-31-8.5-4 counts raising the rent, cutting services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession as retaliatory acts, and § 32-31-8.5-5(a) bars them in response to protected activity.
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No tenant-rights notice at the start
Revised Code § 582-103 requires a signed notice within ten days of the tenancy's start. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit from regulating disclosures about the parties' rights and responsibilities unless the general assembly authorizes it, and we describe the city section as enacted.
Your Rights as a Indianapolis Tenant
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A safe, clean and habitable home
Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition" and to comply with all health and housing codes applicable to them.
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Damages, fees and a court order
Under § 32-31-8-6(d) a tenant who wins may recover actual and consequential damages, attorney's fees and court costs, and injunctive relief.
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Protection for a written complaint
§ 32-31-8.5-2(2) makes a written complaint about the landlord's duties protected activity, and § 32-31-8.5-5(a) bars a retaliatory act in response.
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Heat and cooling standards in Marion County
§ 10-601 sets heating capable of reaching at least 68 degrees F in habitable rooms and bathrooms, and § 10-504(d) cooling capable of at least 72 degrees F.
What To Do - Step by Step
Give notice in writing, with a copy
Name the unit, the defect and the date. § 32-31-8-6(b) makes notice the first step, and § 32-31-8.5-2(2) protects a complaint made in writing.
Let the landlord in to do the work
Under § 32-31-8-6(b) the tenant may not prevent the landlord's access to make repairs or provide a remedy. Agree a time in writing.
Photograph the condition with dates
Under § 32-31-8-6(e) liability for damages begins once the landlord has notice or actual knowledge and has refused, or failed within a reasonable amount of time. Dated photographs show when.
Check heat and cooling against the county standard
§ 10-601 sets heating to at least 68 degrees F and § 10-504(d) cooling to at least 72 degrees F. Ind. Code § 32-31-8-5(2) requires compliance with applicable health and housing codes.
Keep the city tenant-rights notice
Revised Code § 582-103 sets ten days from the tenancy's start to hand it over. § 582-105 sets a $2,500 first-violation penalty for retaliation, and Ind. Code § 32-31-8.5-6 voids local retaliation ordinances; we predict nothing about either.
Take advice before going to court
Indiana legal aid or a tenant advice service can go through § 32-31-8-6 and § 32-31-8.5-5 with you. Read the current text of each on iga.in.gov first.