In March of 2019, the Indian Supreme court weighed in on state law related to landlord fees.
In the early 2000s, the State legislatures enacted a real estate property tax cap. So, property taxes on rental properties were capped at 2 and 3% depending. This tax cap resulted in property tax savings for many rental property owners.
Likely due to the loss in tax dollars, Cities and towns in Indiana have taken to charging landlords an annual fee. Usually, the fee is per apartment. For instance, the City of Hammond at one time made this fee $80 per unit. So a landlord with a 12 unit apartment paid an annual fee of nearly $1000.
The state then capped any fees that can be charged against landlords for their apartments - the fee was being passed along to the tenants regardless. There was some legal wrangling over the maximum which made its way to the Indiana Supremes. City of Hammond v. Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc., 2019 WL 1219387, at *16 (Ind. Mar. 15, 2019) (“Thus, the Fee Restriction now operates statewide, and all municipalities are restricted from charging a rental-registration fee that exceeds $ 5.)
So, as of the date of this writing, the maximum a municipality can charge a landlord (and tenant) is $5 per unit. Landlords should inquire whether they need pay such an annual fee, the fine for failing to do so is not capped.