Can an abandoned house in Indiana be sold for back taxes with no redemption period?
Yes. Once a court or hearing authority has found a tax-delinquent house vacant or abandoned, the county, city or town can send it to a special auction where the highest bidder gets a deed. The owner has no right to buy the property back after that sale.
The minimum bid is only the county's share of the cost of holding the sale. Compare that with an ordinary Indiana tax sale, where the owner generally has one year afterward to redeem.
A county, city or town executive can ask a court to declare a property abandoned, or a local enforcement authority can ask its hearing authority to decide. Those proceedings end if someone tells the local executive that they are an owner of record.
Is there a faster foreclosure for abandoned homes in Indiana?
Yes. The lender, or the local enforcement authority, can ask the foreclosure court to find the house abandoned, and once it does, the sale order can be carried out the same day the judgment is entered.
Signs the law counts as evidence of abandonment include boarded-up windows or entrances, several broken window panes, smashed or broken doors, shut-off utilities and piled-up trash.
If the court finds that evidence, it must declare the property abandoned and enter a judgment foreclosing the mortgage.
In an ordinary case the sale order has to wait three months from the filing. The sheriff must then schedule the sale within sixty days for an abandoned property, compared with one hundred twenty days in other cases.
Own a vacant house in Indiana and behind on the mortgage? Here's the full picture of Indiana foreclosure.
How can an Indiana city make an owner fix, secure or tear down a vacant house?
Through Indiana's Unsafe Building Law: the local enforcement authority can order an unsafe building vacated, sealed against intruders, or torn down when its condition warrants it.
Indiana's legislature has declared vacant, deteriorated buildings a serious problem in cities and calls them public nuisances.
If the city or its contractor ends up doing the work, everyone who held an ownership interest while the order was in force can be held responsible for the cost.
A city or county can also adopt Indiana's vacant structures law by ordinance. Where it has, the enforcement authority can order the owner of a vacant or abandoned building to clean it, secure or board it up, and put up fences or barriers to keep people out and stop dumping.
An owner whose building stays vacant or abandoned for ninety days in a row can face a $500 civil penalty, capped at $5,000 per building per year, unless an exception applies.
Can an Indiana court appoint a receiver for an unsafe or abandoned house?
A court can appoint a receiver to take over an unsafe property long enough to get the repairs done and paid for.
The receiver can be a local nonprofit that works to improve housing, or another capable person living in the county.
For a property found both unsafe and abandoned, the court can appoint a receiver, at the local enforcement authority's request, to take it over, fix it up and transfer it. That receiver can maintain and repair the property, and tear down structures that can't reasonably be saved, to get it ready for sale. The property then goes to public auction unless an owner of record claims it.
How do neighbors report a vacant house in Indiana?
In South Bend, report it to Neighborhood Services and Enforcement, whose inspectors respond to residents' complaints about building problems, including vacant and abandoned properties.
To ask about city codes or request a city service in South Bend, dial 311 or 574-233-0311. The city also has an online public portal where anyone can look up case information, including photos.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.