Security Deposit Alternative in Indiana
Indiana gives you 45 days after the rental agreement ends and the resident moves out to return the deposit or send an itemized list of damages, each with an estimated repair cost, along with a check for the balance. The clock does not run until the resident gives you a mailing address in writing. Miss the 45 days and the statute treats that as your agreement that no damages are due, so the full deposit goes back immediately, plus attorney fees and court costs if it comes to that.
What Indiana law says about security deposits
Read from the Indiana statute on 2026-09-14. Deposit rules change, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Confirm the current text with your own counsel before you change a lease.
Can you require it of every Indiana resident?
Indiana has no statute written for a monthly fee charged instead of a deposit, so the arrangement rests on your lease and the general deposit rules. The chapter's definition is worth reading closely. A security deposit is money paid to secure the resident's obligations and held for all or part of the term, and the term includes any other amount of money returnable to the tenant on condition that the unit comes back in the required condition. The chapter sets no maximum. When the agreement ends, you return the deposit less accrued rent, damages from the resident's noncompliance, and unpaid utility or sewer charges, all itemized in a written notice delivered within 45 days of termination and delivery of possession, and the clock does not start until the resident gives you a mailing address in writing. Failing to send the itemized list within 45 days counts as agreement that no damages are due, and the full deposit has to be remitted immediately, with liability for the amount withheld plus attorney fees and costs.
Rules differ by state and by city, and subsidized housing is its own question. This is general information for property managers, not legal advice. Get a written opinion before you make the fee a condition of tenancy anywhere.
How the program works in Indiana
The mechanics are the same in every state Beagle operates in. The program is designed to comply with applicable state and local regulations, and the rate is set by the deposit amount rather than by geography, so a Indiana property and one two states over are quoted the same way.
The resident chooses at signing
Instead of producing the full deposit, the resident pays a smaller non-refundable monthly fee that is billed with rent. Nothing is held, so nothing has to be returned.
The property keeps its protection
Damage beyond normal wear is reimbursed up to the deposit amount the unit would otherwise have required, so what you can recover does not shrink.
Move-out stops being a negotiation
A claim is filed against the program rather than deducted from money you are holding, which takes the itemised-deduction letter and the dispute that follows it off your team's desk.
You earn on every resident who takes it
You set an administrative fee on top of the premium, up to $5 per unit per month, and keep it.
Indiana security deposit alternative FAQs
Indiana has no statute answering that, so a mandatory version is a question for your own attorney. Chapter 32-31-3 defines a security deposit partly by whether the money is returnable to the resident, so whether a nonrefundable monthly fee is a deposit at all is where that review should begin.
See it on your Indiana units
Run the program against your own unit count, or walk through it with our team. No upfront fees, no onboarding charges, no long-term contracts.