State Sen. Eric Koch-Courtesy-IN State Republicans
INDIANAPOLIS — A bill authored by State Sen. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) to help protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Senate Enrolled Act 114 allows utility companies to ask courts to appoint receivers over certain landlords who have failed to pay their property’s utility bills after collecting the payment in rent from tenants.
Koch filed the bill following reports of an Indiana landlord collecting and keeping utility payments from residents instead of passing them on to the complex’s utility company. The landlord accrued over $1 million in unpaid bills and water was shut off to hundreds of tenants.
SEA 114 ensures owners of properties of four units or more, excluding cases where tenants directly pay their utility bills, forward payments to the property’s utility company.
Koch said, “Senate Enrolled Act 114 provides a remedy for enforcement that did not previously exist by establishing safeguards to protect tenants in instances where a landlord doesn’t handle their money appropriately.”
SEA 114 received unanimous support from the General Assembly throughout the legislative process and is backed by multiple organizations including Citizens Energy Group, the Indiana Apartment Association, AARP Indiana, Citizens Action Coalition, and many others.
