How to Evict a Roommate in Indiana (and Other Household Situations)
What Indiana law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: In Indiana's security-deposit chapter, a "tenant" is someone who occupies a rental unit for residential purposes, with the landlord's consent, for consideration agreed on by both parties, and a "landlord" includes a sublessor. A roommate who pays the leaseholder under an agreement can be the leaseholder's tenant; one who pays nothing and has no agreement generally is not a tenant under that definition. A general tenancy in which the premises are occupied with the landlord's express or constructive consent is treated as month to month. IC 32-31-3-3, 32-31-3-10; IC 32-31-1-2
| Roommate not on the lease | In Indiana's security-deposit chapter, a "tenant" is someone who occupies a rental unit for residential purposes, with the landlord's consent, for consideration agreed on by both parties, and a "landlord" includes a sublessor. A roommate who pays the leaseholder under an agreement can be the leaseholder's tenant; one who pays nothing and has no agreement generally is not a tenant under that definition. A general tenancy in which the premises are occupied with the landlord's express or constructive consent is treated as month to month. These definitions apply to the chapter in which they appear; whether a particular roommate is a tenant depends on the facts. |
|---|---|
| Removing a roommate or subtenant | A leaseholder who sublets to a roommate is that roommate's landlord. A month-to-month or at-will tenancy is ended with one month's written notice (or, for unpaid rent, the 10-day notice), and the roommate is then removed through an eviction case in court. Except by court order, a landlord may not deny or interfere with a tenant's access to or possession of the unit, for example by changing locks or cutting utilities. |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets a number of days. Indiana's expedited squatter-removal law expressly does not cover an invitee, a person whose rental agreement has expired, or anyone who ever had a rental agreement or the owner's permission to occupy. No notice to quit is required where no landlord-tenant relationship exists. Whether a long-staying guest has become a tenant depends on the facts, such as agreed rent and the owner's consent. Source: IC 32-31-12-2; IC 32-31-1-8(6) |
| Removing a family member or partner | No statute names family members specifically. A relative or partner who was invited to live there is an invitee, so the expedited squatter-removal process does not apply; if no landlord-tenant relationship exists, no notice to quit is required before filing a court action for possession. Protective orders in domestic-violence cases are a separate court process that can remove a person from a shared home. Source: IC 32-31-12-2; IC 32-31-1-8(6) |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger statute. For Indiana's landlord-tenant obligations chapter, a "dwelling unit" expressly includes a boarding house unit and a rooming house unit, so a room rented for agreed rent with the owner's consent is generally covered like other rentals. Source: IC 32-31-5-3 |
| Tenancy at will | A tenancy at will can arise only from an express contract and may be ended by one month's written notice delivered to the tenant. A general tenancy with the landlord's express or constructive consent is month to month. No notice is required to remove a tenant at sufferance or a tenant at will who commits waste. |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
Templates
Indiana eviction laws · Free legal help in Indiana · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.