INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosiers who rent and tenant advocacy groups came to the Statehouse on Monday to tell lawmakers they need help to have better and more affordable living conditions.
A Senate bill will be heard Wednesday, Jan. 31 that would apply to renters in Marion County.
Monday’s rally was a cry for help and call to action, with dozens of Hoosier renters coming to the Statehouse to tell lawmakers that renters need protection from landlords who don’t fix problems in the places they pay for every month.
“We got to know everybody has a right to decent housing,” shouted Minister Martia Stewart, with Free Will Baptist Church, speaking at the rally.
Many of the Hoosiers in the audience had stories of housing, they said was not only not decent, but could be dangerous.
“I’m worried about mold,” said 88-year-old Lucille Luster, whose apartment flooded earlier this month. "It was in my closet, in my living room and in the kitchen."
Luster claims no one from the apartment cleaned it up. Her friend had to do the work.
“I just got a broom and a mop and a bucket. I had carried out 11 buckets of water,” said Luster’s friend, Nilla Wilson, of the cleanup she had to do.
That’s not the only issue Luster said she has to deal with and has reported to maintenance.
She said her toilet runs when she flushes it, and one of her ceiling lights keeps blinking.
“The maintenance man done seen it, but he promised me he was going to come and fix it — and that’s been two months,” Luster said.
Her story was one of many like it.
“We were sleeping in the middle of the night, the pipe burst and flooded my entire apartment,” Kiefer Gonzalez said.
Weeks later, after his ceiling caved in from flooding, Gonzalez, his wife and eight children were evicted. The local sous chef believes he was asked to leave because he reported the flood to the health department.
Months later, Gonzalez, his wife and children are still sleeping on friends’ couches.
“It’s difficult them asking me, ‘When do we get our home? When does our house get fixed?’” Gonzalez said. “I don’t have an answer for them.”
Senate Bill 243 may address some renters’ concerns in Marion County.
Under the bill, if someone moves out of a place they’re renting after reporting a code violation, a landlord can’t rent out the place to someone new until the violation gets fixed.
“It will allow these code violations and that process to continue, even while the property is vacant,” explained one of the bill’s authors, Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley.
If a landlord rents the property out anyway without fixing the issue and a new tenant finds the same problem, the new tenant doesn’t have to start the reporting process all over again.
Renters and housing advocates say the bill is a start in strengthening renters’ rights, so families can have a safe place to call home.
“I’m here fighting for my children because they deserve to be happy. They deserve to be in their own space,” Gonzalez said.
Senate Bill 243 is set to be heard in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Hunley says it has bipartisan support.