Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1017
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 34-30-26-5.
Synopsis: Tax sale procedures. Provides immunity from civil liability
and civil and criminal trespass to a person who is a tax sale certificate
holder or an applicant for a tax deed who enters an abandoned or
vacant property during the statutory redemption period to perform
routine maintenance in order to remedy an existing or anticipated
ordinance violation imposed by a political subdivision.
Effective: January 1, 2026.
Pierce K
January 8, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
2025 IN 1017—LS 6053/DI 134 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
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Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1017
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
taxation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 34-30-26-5, AS AMENDED BY P.L.203-2013,
2 SECTION 24, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JANUARY 1, 2026]: Sec. 5. (a) Except as provided in subsection (d),
4 a person who is not the owner of real property or who is a creditor, and
5 who suspects that the property may be vacant or abandoned, may enter
6 upon the premises of the real property to do the following:
7 (1) Without entering any structure located on the real property,
8 visually inspect the real property to determine whether the real
9 property may be vacant or abandoned.
10 (2) Perform any of the following actions:
11 (A) Secure the real property.
12 (B) Remove trash or debris from the grounds of the real
13 property.
14 (C) Landscape, maintain, or mow the grounds of the real
15 property.
16 (D) Remove or paint over graffiti on the real property.
17 (E) For either a tax sale certificate holder or an applicant
2025 IN 1017—LS 6053/DI 134 2
1 for a tax deed, maintenance described in clauses (A)
2 through (D), or any other routine maintenance, required
3 to remedy an existing or anticipated ordinance violation
4 imposed by a political subdivision (as defined in
5 IC 34-6-2-110) during a tax sale redemption period (as
6 specified in IC 6-1.1-25-4) with regard to:
7 (i) an abandoned structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-1);
8 (ii) vacant real property (as defined in IC 36-7-36-5); or
9 (iii) a vacant structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-6).
10 (b) A person who:
11 (1) enters upon the premises of real property to visually inspect
12 the property, as permitted under subsection (a)(1); and
13 (2) after inspecting the real property, determines that the real
14 property may be vacant or abandoned;
15 may notify the appropriate enforcement authority of the suspected
16 vacant or abandoned status of the property and request that the
17 enforcement authority inspect the property to determine whether the
18 property is in fact vacant or abandoned.
19 (c) A person that enters upon the premises of real property as
20 permitted under this section:
21 (1) is immune from civil liability for an act or omission related to
22 the entry or to any action described in subsection (a)(2), unless
23 the act or omission constitutes gross negligence or willful,
24 wanton, or intentional misconduct; and
25 (2) shall be held harmless from and against all claims of civil or
26 criminal trespass.
27 (d) In the case of real property that is subject to a mortgage, the
28 creditor in the mortgage transaction may not enter upon the premises
29 of the real property under subsection (a) if entry is barred by an
30 automatic stay issued by a bankruptcy court.
2025 IN 1017—LS 6053/DI 134