What do Indiana's 2026 HOA law changes require of volunteer boards?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 1, 2026

Indiana HOA law for boards in 2026: 4-day meeting notice with an agenda, a fine schedule before any fine, tighter no-quorum budgets, and a $50 resale letter cap.

Part of the HOA board handbook: new state laws for boards.

The short answer

Indiana passed four acts in the 2026 session that change how a homeowners association board runs meetings, fines owners, adopts a budget and charges fees. Most of the changes took effect July 1, 2026. - HEA 1115 (Public Law 155): board meetings need 4 days' written notice with an agenda, fines need an adopted schedule of fines, records copies and searches are free, and the resale statement fee is capped at $50. - HEA 1152 (Public Law 53): a board that cannot reach quorum at the budget meeting has less room to raise the budget, and new rules protect amateur radio antennas and in-home child care. - HEA 1150 (Public Law 26): associations cannot ban the U.S. or Indiana flag, cannot treat vehicles or yard equipment differently by fuel source, and cannot run automated license plate readers. - HEA 1210 (Public Law 157), section 225: only owners who live in their home as a homestead may vote on rental bans. This section took effect on passage, when the governor signed the act on March 12, 2026. The rules sit in the Homeowners Association Act, IC 32-25.5, and IC 32-21. IC 32-25.5-1-1(b) applies the meeting, records, fee and fine rules to every Indiana HOA, including one formed before July 1, 2009 that never elected into the act. Condominiums fall under IC 32-25, though the flag chapter covers them too. Rules still vary with your declaration and bylaws. This is education, not legal advice, so have an Indiana association attorney review any new policy.

Board meetings and the 4-day notice

IC 32-25.5-3-3(g) now says the board must give members at least 4 days' advance written notice of each board meeting, and the notice must include an agenda. Hand delivery, U.S. mail, email or other electronic means all count. The notice for the annual meeting must also tell members they can demand a special meeting and how many members it takes, which is 10 percent under IC 32-25.5-3-2(a). The closed-session carve-outs stay. The board may still meet in private to discuss delinquent assessments, or with counsel about litigation that has started or been threatened in writing. For the budget meeting, a member who joins by remote or virtual means under the nonprofit corporation rules in IC 23-17-10-1(d) through (f) now counts as in attendance, alongside in-person and proxy attendance. Set a habit the secretary can keep: send the notice and agenda by email 7 days before every meeting, post a copy wherever your documents say, and file the sent email with the minutes. If a director calls an urgent meeting, the 4-day clock still runs.

Fines now start with an adopted schedule

New IC 32-25.5-3-12 lets an association fine an owner for a covenant violation even if its documents never mention fines, but only after the board adopts a schedule of fines. The schedule must list: 1. each covenant violation subject to a fine; 2. the amount for each one; 3. whether a fine recurs, for a set number of days or until cured, and how it is calculated; and 4. a maximum aggregate fine for any single violation. A recurring fine can never pass that cap. If the board adopts the schedule at a meeting, the meeting notice must include the proposed schedule. Members can see the schedule on request, and 10 percent of members can call a special meeting to amend it by majority vote of those present. Before assessing a fine, the board must notify the owner of the violation, the amount, the date the fine will be assessed and any recurring terms. The running total must be given to the owner on request. HEA 1115 also amended IC 32-25.5-5-4, so a fine is no longer an exempt claim. Before suing over a fine, the association has to follow the grievance procedure in IC 32-25.5-5, including a notice that tells the owner they can ask in writing for a meeting within 10 business days. Sample notice: 'The board has found that the trailer parked at 18 Willow Lane violates Section 7.4 of the declaration. Under the schedule of fines adopted August 11, 2026, a fine of $25 per day will be assessed starting September 15, 2026, until the trailer is removed, with a maximum of $750.' For drafting the schedule itself, see our guide on how to write an HOA fine schedule.

Budgets when quorum fails

Indiana owners approve the budget at a members' meeting. When too few owners attend for a quorum, IC 32-25.5-3-3(f) used to let the board adopt up to 110 percent of the last approved budget if the documents allowed it. HEA 1152 replaced that with three tiers: - Default: the board may adopt no more than 100 percent of the last approved budget. - First 5 years after the developer's first lot sale (3-3.2): up to 110 percent, if the documents expressly allow a no-quorum budget. - After those 5 years (3-3.3): the lesser of 105 percent or the last budget raised by the prior 12 months' average increase in the federal Consumer Price Index for housing in the Midwest region, again only if the documents expressly allow it. IC 32-25.5-3-3.1 keeps the old 110 percent rule for an association formed before July 1, 2026 whose documents already allowed it, until the documents are amended or renewed after June 30, 2026. That makes any restatement a budget decision too. Ask counsel before an amendment vote whether you would give up the 110 percent option. The practical fix is the same as before: work hard for quorum. Our guide on what to do when an HOA annual meeting won't reach quorum covers proxies and follow-up meetings.

Fees, records and the optional services list

- Resale and refinance letters: IC 32-21-5-8.5(f) caps the fee for a statement of unpaid assessments at $50, down from $250. Tell your manager or title-letter vendor in writing. - Account statements: under new IC 32-25.5-3-3(o), the association cannot charge an owner for a statement of their own account, and must keep one and give it on request. - Records: the association may not charge to copy a record a member requests in writing, and may not charge a search fee. The old $35 an hour search fee, capped at $200, is gone. - Retention: the association and each director must keep financial-transaction emails and letters they send as well as receive, for 2 years from the date received or sent. - Optional services: a fee is allowed only for an optional service tied to one owner's lot. The board must approve a schedule of optional services and send it to members at least once a year and whenever a fee changes. An unpaid optional service fee is not a lien, and a service already covered by assessments cannot become a separate fee without a majority vote of members at a meeting.

Owner uses the board can no longer block

- Flags: IC 32-21-13.5 bars any property owners association, including a condominium, from banning the U.S. or Indiana flag, under old or new documents. You may still set reasonable rules on flag size, lighting, pole materials and upkeep, but must allow at least one front-yard pole up to 20 feet, or one attached to the home. - Fuel source: IC 32-25.5-3.6 voids rules that restrict or treat differently cars, trucks, mowers, trimmers or leaf blowers based on what powers them. A gas leaf blower ban is out; quiet hours that apply to every blower stay. - License plate readers: under IC 32-25.5-3.8, an association may not install, maintain or operate a plate reader camera, or allow one on its property unless a police agency installs it and only that agency can see the data. Ordinary security cameras that happen to catch a plate are fine. - Amateur radio and child care: for documents adopted or amended after June 30, 2026, IC 32-25.5-3.4 bars rules that effectively prohibit a ham antenna, and IC 32-25.5-3.9 bars rules restricting a resident from providing child care, either as a licensed Class I child care home or as described in IC 12-17.2-1-1(2), in a detached single family home they live in. Age-restricted communities under the Housing for Older Persons Act are exempt from the child care chapter. - Amendments: IC 32-25.5-3-9 now caps the owner and first mortgagee approval your documents may require at two-thirds, down from 75 percent.

Rental votes and the quorum backstop

HEA 1210 added IC 32-25.5-3-11(d): only members who use their property as a homestead, as defined in IC 6-1.1-12-37, may vote on a rental ban or restriction. A developer that still owns lots is exempt. Before a rental amendment vote, have the secretary check each voter against the county auditor's homestead deduction records, and keep that list with the ballots. Section 3-11(b) now also says a failed quorum at an election meeting does not excuse any owner from paying assessments or following the covenants. The sitting directors keep serving until successors are chosen.

Checklist for the next board meeting

1. Adopt a schedule of fines with a cap per violation, and include the draft in the meeting notice. 2. Move every board meeting notice to 4 days or more, with an agenda. 3. Drop records copy and search fees, and cap resale statements at $50. 4. Approve and send a schedule of optional services. 5. Check rules on flags, fuel source, plate readers, antennas and child care. 6. Before any restatement, ask counsel how it affects the no-quorum budget rule. Sample motion: 'Move to adopt the attached schedule of fines under IC 32-25.5-3-12, effective upon delivery to all members, to repeal the records search fee policy, and to set the fee for resale and refinance statements at $50.'

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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