Security deposits in Indiana: what the law says

What the statute says

Deadline to return or itemise

45 days

45 calendar days, counted from the later of two dates: the day the tenancy ended and the tenant delivered possession, and the day the landlord received the tenant's written mailing address. Indiana states the trigger more than one way.

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IC 32-31-3-12(a) counts 45 days from 'termination of the rental agreement and delivery of possession' and separately provides that the landlord 'is not liable under this chapter until the tenant supplies the landlord in writing with a mailing address'; IC 32-31-3-14 counts from 'termination of occupancy'. Taking the later of the two dates is the reading a landlord cannot argue around: if the address was supplied at or before move-out the clock runs from move-out, and if it arrived afterwards it runs from the day the landlord received it. Plain calendar days throughout — no business-day rule, no tolling clause and no weekend or holiday extension anywhere in the chapter. Put the forwarding address in writing and keep proof of the date it was sent, because that date is half of the calculation. The Indiana Supreme Court has settled the address half of that. In Lae v. Householder, 789 N.E.2d 481, 484-85 (Ind. 2003), the court held that a tenant's failure to supply a forwarding address before the forty-five days ran out defers, but does not eliminate, the landlord's obligations, because the landlord's obligation cannot begin to run until after the tenant has supplied an address. Sending the address late costs a tenant time, not the claim.

Itemised statement required

Yes

Small claims limit

$10,000

Code section

Ind. Code art. 32-31, ch. 3 (IC 32-31-3), 'Security Deposits'; the return duty is IC 32-31-3-12 and the itemization duty is IC 32-31-3-14

Who handles complaints

None. The State of Indiana's own FAQ states: 'The State of Indiana has very few laws on tenant/landlord relations, no state agency deals with complaints or direct regulation.' There is no housing agency, rent board, or licensing body that adjudicates or mediates deposit disputes.

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The Indiana Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division (consumer hotline 1-800-457-8283; Government Center South, 5th Floor, 302 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) mediates and investigates complaints against businesses under the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, but by statute it 'cannot act as an individual's private attorney', and the state FAQ does not present it as the route for landlord-tenant problems. The real remedy is the small claims docket. The state FAQ refers tenants to Indiana Legal Services (844-243-8570), the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic (317-429-4131), the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society (317-635-9538) and the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (317-644-0673).

Deposit cap

None - Indiana sets no cap. IC 32-31-3 contains no ceiling on the amount of a residential security deposit, and no other Indiana statute located imposes one. A city cannot create one either: IC 32-31-1-20(c)(2) forbids local regulation of security deposits and makes any such ordinance 'void and unenforceable'.

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Note that IC 32-31-3-9(b) pulls prepaid rent beyond the first full rental period, front-loaded above-average rent, and any other refundable sum into the definition of 'security deposit', so oversized move-in charges are still governed by the chapter even when the lease calls them something else.

Local stacking

None available for security deposits - Indiana preempts the field. IC 32-31-1-20(c) says a 'unit' (county, city or town, IC 36-1-2-23) 'may not regulate, through an ordinance or otherwise' seven listed aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship on privately owned property unless the General Assembly authorizes it, and…

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the enumerated list is: (1) tenant screening, (2) SECURITY DEPOSITS, (3) lease applications, (4) leasing terms and conditions, (5) disclosures about the property, the lease, or the parties' rights and responsibilities, (6) the rights of the parties to a lease, and (7) any fees charged by a landlord. The subsection ends: 'Any ordinance or regulation that violates this subsection is void and unenforceable.' Subsection (b) separately bars local rent regulation. So Indianapolis/Marion County, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Bloomington and Gary cannot add days, penalties, interest, escrow or receipt duties on top of IC 32-31-3. Two things survive: (i) IC 32-31-1-20(a) exempts privately owned property allocated government funds or benefits expressly to provide reduced rents to low or moderate income tenants, so local rules may still reach subsidized units; and (ii) IC 36-1-20 still lets political subdivisions run rental registration and inspection programs, which regulate habitability and permits, not deposits. Note the 2026 Small Claims Manual still opens its landlord-tenant section with 'Local housing ordinances and public housing laws create both rights and duties for landlords and tenants' - for deposits specifically, IC 32-31-1-20 controls.

Penalty detail

Indiana has NO multiplier and no fixed statutory penalty - never promise an Indiana tenant 2x or 3x. Three consequences hang off three different sections.

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(1) IC 32-31-3-15: failing to give the section 14 notice 'constitutes agreement by the landlord that no damages are due, and the landlord must remit to the tenant immediately the full security deposit.' (2) IC 32-31-3-16: 'A landlord who fails to comply with sections 14 and 15 of this chapter is liable to the tenant in an amount equal to the part of the deposit withheld by the landlord plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.' (3) IC 32-31-3-12(b): failing to comply with section 12(a) lets a tenant 'recover all of the security deposit due the tenant and reasonable attorney's fees.' The ceiling is therefore the deposit itself plus reasonable attorney's fees plus court costs. The fee shift is the leverage, because the Small Claims Manual warns fees are otherwise unavailable in small claims absent a written agreement or a statutory basis. IMPORTANT LIMIT: Klotz v. Hoyt (Ind. 2009) holds that a late or inadequate notice 'precludes the landlord only from recovering damages for physical harm to the rented premises and does not bar the landlord from seeking unpaid rent and other damages', so a tenant who owes back rent does not automatically take the whole deposit; IC 32-31-3-12(c) likewise preserves other damages for both sides. IC 32-31-3-17 makes any lease waiver of the chapter void.

County overlays

None. Indiana preempts local security-deposit regulation statewide under IC 32-31-1-20(c)(2), and any conflicting county or city ordinance is 'void and unenforceable'.

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The only local variation that matters is procedural, namely where you file: Marion County (Indianapolis) uses township small claims courts governed by IC 33-34, where venue for a landlord-tenant claim is the township in which the real estate is located (IC 33-34-3-1(c)) and the $10,000 cap excludes interest and attorney's fees (IC 33-34-3-2); every other county uses the small claims docket of the circuit or superior court (IC 33-28-3-4, IC 33-29-2-4).

Penalty statute

IC 32-31-3-16 is the money-damages section (NOT IC 32-31-3-12 and NOT IC 32-31-3-14); IC 32-31-3-15 is the forfeiture section; IC 32-31-3-12(b) is a parallel remedy for the section 12 notice failure

Deadline statute

IC 32-31-3-12(a) (itemized written notice with the amount due, delivered to the tenant) and IC 32-31-3-14 (itemized list of damages, mailed to the tenant)

Interest or escrow

None - neither interest nor escrow is required. IC 32-31-3 has no interest provision, no escrow or separate-account provision, no written-receipt requirement, and no move-in or move-out inspection requirement. Commingling is not prohibited.

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Related provisions that do exist: IC 32-31-3-13.5 (a landlord may not REQUIRE a motor-vehicle lien as a deposit, and must record it and comply with IC 32-31-3 if one is accepted) and IC 32-31-3-19(a) (on a good-faith sale the seller stays liable for the deposit for one year after notice of the conveyance unless the buyer gave notice assuming liability AND the deposit was actually transferred).

Limitations detail

UNRESOLVED - do not print a filing deadline without an owner decision. IC 32-31-3 has no limitations clause of its own, so a general statute in IC 34-11-2 applies and the candidates disagree.

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The Indiana Office of Court Services Small Claims Manual (2026) lists 'Rents and use of real estate (landlord-tenant disputes)' under SIX YEARS, which maps to IC 34-11-2-7(2). A written lease is also plausibly a 'written contract for the payment of money' under IC 34-11-2-9(b), also six years. But IC 34-11-2-11(a) gives TEN years for written contracts other than those for the payment of money, and IC 34-11-2-4(a)(3) gives TWO years for 'a forfeiture of penalty given by statute' - probably inapplicable because Indiana's remedy is compensatory (the withheld deposit plus fees) rather than a penalty multiplier, but no case was located resolving it. Six years is the most defensible working assumption because it is what the state court system publishes and it is the shorter of the two contract candidates.

Small claims statute

IC 33-28-3-4(b)(1) (circuit court small claims docket), IC 33-29-2-4(b)(1) (superior court), IC 33-31-2-3 (probate court) and IC 33-34-3-2 (Marion County township small claims courts) - all $10,000, for claims filed after June 30, 2021. The Marion County statute excludes interest and attorney's fees from the cap.

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IC 32-31-3-11 confirms deposit cases may be filed on a small claims docket. Filing there waives anything above $10,000 and bars a later suit for the remainder (Small Claims Manual, p. 15).

Itemized list statute

IC 32-31-3-14 (the mailed list must state the estimated cost of repair for each damaged item and the amounts and lease on which the landlord intends to assess the tenant, and must enclose a check or money order for the balance); IC 32-31-3-12(a) separately requires the deductions to be 'itemized by the landlord with…

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the amount due in a written notice'

Read it yourself

Official sources. If a number below matters to your case, open the statute and read it — laws get amended, and cities often stack stricter local rules on top.

• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(a) — 45-day clock and what may be deducted; deductions must be itemized with the amount due in a written notice delivered to the tenant. Official Indiana General Assembly copy of the Indiana Code. NOTE: iga.in.gov serves the single-page-app shell (691 bytes) to non-browser user agents, so a plain WebFetch of this URL returns no statutory text. Verified HTTP 200 with the full statutory text twice: by curl with a browser User-Agent, and by loading the URL in a real browser and reading the rendered section text. The human-facing reader URL for the same material is https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/32#32-31-3.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(a) (last sentence) — Precondition to ANY landlord liability under the chapter: the tenant must give the landlord a mailing address in writing.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(b) — Remedy for breaching the 45-day written-notice duty: the full deposit due plus reasonable attorney's fees. No multiplier.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12(c) — Neither side is cut off from other damages by this section; the owner at the time of termination is bound (subsection (d)).
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13 — Exhaustive list of permitted uses of a security deposit: damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, rent arrearage, rent due for premature termination, and unpaid utility or sewer charges the tenant owed.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14 — Itemized list of damages must be MAILED within 45 days of termination of occupancy - note this section's trigger wording differs from section 12(a)'s.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14 (contents) — Required contents of the itemized list, plus the separate duty to enclose a check or money order for the balance.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-15 — Forfeiture: no section 14 notice means the landlord has agreed no damages are due and must immediately remit the whole deposit.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-16 — THE MONEY REMEDY LIVES HERE, not in section 12 and not in section 14: the withheld part of the deposit plus reasonable attorney's fees AND court costs.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-17 — Anti-waiver: a lease clause waiving the chapter is void.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-11 — Venue: circuit, superior, municipal and small claims courts all have original and concurrent jurisdiction, and the case may be filed on a small claims docket.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-9(b) — Definition sweeps prepaid rent beyond the first rental period into 'security deposit', so a 'last month's rent' prepayment is covered by the chapter.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13.5 — A landlord may not REQUIRE a lien on the tenant's motor vehicle as a security deposit; if one is accepted it must be recorded and must comply with IC 32-31-3.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-18(a) — Landlord must disclose in writing, at or before the start of the lease, an Indiana resident authorized to manage the unit and one authorized to accept service and notices.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-3-19(a) — If the building was sold, the seller stays liable for the deposit for one year after notice of the conveyance unless the buyer notified the tenant it assumed liability AND the deposit was actually transferred.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) — STATE PREEMPTION: a unit may not regulate seven listed aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship; the enumerated list includes '(2) Security deposits'.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) (closing sentence) — Any local security-deposit ordinance is void, so there is no county or city overlay to stack on the state 45-day rule.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(a) — Carve-out from the preemption: it does not reach privately owned property allocated government funds or benefits for the express purpose of providing reduced rents to low or moderate income tenants.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-2.9-3 — Scope: the residential landlord-tenant statutes (which include IC 32-31-3) apply to rental agreements for dwelling units located in Indiana.
• Ind. Code § 32-31-2.9-4 — Seven exclusions from the whole chapter: institutional/medical/educational housing, occupancy under a contract of sale, fraternal or social organizations, transient hotel or motel occupancy, employment-conditioned occupancy, condo owners and co-op proprietary lessees, and primarily agricultural use.
• Ind. Code § 33-28-3-4(b)(1) (circuit) and § 33-29-2-4(b)(1) (superior); same text at § 33-31-2-3 (probate) — Small claims docket jurisdiction is $10,000 for actions filed after June 30, 2021; identical language in all three chapters. Official Indiana General Assembly copy of the Indiana Code. NOTE: iga.in.gov serves the single-page-app shell (691 bytes) to non-browser user agents, so a plain WebFetch of this URL returns no statutory text. Verified HTTP 200 with the full statutory text twice: by curl with a browser User-Agent, and by loading the URL in a real browser and reading the rendered section text. The human-facing reader URL for the same material is https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/33.
• Ind. Code § 33-34-3-2 — Marion County (Indianapolis) township small claims courts: $10,000 limit, expressly NOT including interest or attorney's fees, so a fee award under IC 32-31-3-16 does not eat into the cap there.
• Ind. Code § 33-34-3-1(c) — Marion County venue rule for landlord-tenant claims: the township where the real estate is located.
• Ind. Code § 34-11-2-7(1)-(2) — Six-year limitation for accounts and contracts not in writing and for 'use, rents, and profits of real property' - the bucket the Indiana Office of Court Services assigns landlord-tenant disputes to. Official Indiana General Assembly copy of the Indiana Code. NOTE: iga.in.gov serves the single-page-app shell (691 bytes) to non-browser user agents, so a plain WebFetch of this URL returns no statutory text. Verified HTTP 200 with the full statutory text twice: by curl with a browser User-Agent, and by loading the URL in a real browser and reading the rendered section text. The human-facing reader URL for the same material is https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34.
• Ind. Code § 34-11-2-9(b) — Six-year limitation for written contracts for the payment of money executed after Aug. 31, 1982 - the other six-year candidate for a written lease.
• Ind. Code § 34-11-2-11(a) — Ten-year limitation for written contracts OTHER than those for the payment of money - the competing bucket that makes the deposit limitations period genuinely unsettled.
• Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4(a)(3) — Two-year limitation for 'a forfeiture of penalty given by statute' - probably inapplicable because Indiana's deposit remedy is compensatory, but no authority was found ruling it out.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), p. 12 — Official court-system statement of the $10,000 small claims limit and its July 1, 2021 effective date. PDF, HTTP 200, 424 KB, cover dated 2026 and footer 'Updated 12/23/2025'.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), p. 12 — Attorney's fees are normally unavailable in small claims absent a written agreement or a statutory basis - IC 32-31-3-12(b) and -16 supply exactly that statutory basis, which is the real leverage in an Indiana deposit case.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), p. 33, item 13 — TRAP: the official court manual describes the 45 days as running from the landlord's RECEIPT OF THE FORWARDING ADDRESS, which is not what IC 32-31-3-12(a) or -14 literally say. Flagged in open_questions.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), p. 33, item 12 — Court-system statement of the substantive limit on withholding.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), pp. 13-14 — The manual's statute-of-limitations list puts 'Rents and use of real estate (landlord-tenant disputes)' in the SIX YEARS group. It is a court publication, not a statute, and the manual says the list is not exhaustive.
• Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2026), p. 15, item 6 — Filing in small claims WAIVES anything over $10,000 and bars a later separate suit for the remainder.
• Klotz v. Hoyt, No. 18S02-0807-CV-391 (Ind. Jan. 22, 2009), as summarized in Indiana Judicial Branch Case Clips — Indiana Supreme Court limit on the forfeiture: a late or inadequate 45-day notice kills only the landlord's claim for PHYSICAL DAMAGE, not unpaid rent. Case Clips is an official courts.in.gov publication; the slip opinion itself was NOT fetched.
• State of Indiana official FAQ, 'Are there any laws or codes pertaining to Tenant Landlord issues' — Official state answer on enforcement: there is NO Indiana agency that handles landlord-tenant complaints. The page refers tenants to Indiana Legal Services (844-243-8570), Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic (317-429-4131), Indianapolis Legal Aid Society (317-635-9538) and the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (317-644-0673).
• Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division — The only statewide complaint intake that exists (consumer hotline 1-800-457-8283). It mediates and investigates complaints against businesses under the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act but cannot act as the tenant's lawyer, and the state FAQ does not list it as the route for landlord-tenant problems.
• Indiana Legal Services, 'Security Deposits' (statewide civil legal aid) - SECONDARY SOURCE, not cited for any number — Legal-aid plain-language page, used only to corroborate the practical effect of the written-address precondition. Not authority.

Last checked: 2026-09-04