The 2026 session of the Indiana General Assembly started early with a highly-charged debate over mid-decade redistricting and ended ahead of the statutory schedule as well – and unlike many previous years, even adjourned well before midnight on this final day. But legislators still packed a lot into its two months (give or take) of regular business.

We’re pleased to report progress on a number of REALTOR® priorities. And even though the winter storm in late January limited our face-to-face opportunities, hundreds of REALTORS® came to the statehouse for Delegation Days, mingled with lawmakers at our Legislative Reception and responded to calls to action by contacting their Representatives and Senators to help push key bills across the finish line.

And while we accepted a few compromises along the way (members know a thing or two about negotiating the best deal when perfection isn’t possible), we scored significant victories for current property owners, future homeowners and real estate consumers.

Let’s start with consumers and the issue of referral fee disclosure. Reducing risk to real estate brokerages is always a top IAR priority. We’ve learned some difficult lessons as an industry over the past two years about the importance of transparency in business practices and compensation – and in retrospect, the value of addressing these issues proactively instead of through litigation.

With the support of IAR’s Legislative Policy Advisory Committee and Board of Directors, we endorsed a state-level requirement for the disclosure to consumers of broker-to-broker referral fees. Not only will this mandatory disclosure requirement help protect members from potential liability, but it will also get a head start on anticipated future changes to the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and ensure that the same consumer disclosure rules apply to all Indiana licensees.

‘Affordability’ was a theme of this session, and affordable homeownership was the aim of the #1 bill of the House majority – House Bill 1001, authored by REALTOR® champion Representative Doug Miller. HB1001sought to roll back local regulations that add unnecessary costs and delays to new housing projects.

As REALTORS® know, we need more housing: The number of properties for sale on our MLSs have been cut in half since 2015 as Indiana continues to grow; in the past five years, we’ve added about 125,000 new homeowner households but have permitted less than 99,000 single-family units.

Limited supply puts upward pressure on home prices. And one key bottleneck to new housing is the patchwork of local zoning and development standards – especially regulations focused on aesthetic or decorative requirements that have little to do with safety, privacy or consumer preferences.  

HB1001 originally eliminated such requirements in favor of statewide standards unless local governments adopted ordinances to opt out and preserve their existing rules – an opportunity for community debate about housing development and growth.

But local officials pushed back despite the opt-out provisions, declaring that HB1001 threatened local decision-making and ‘community character.’

We believe that local regulations already routinely threaten property rights and drive up costs for the residents who make up their communities – and turf battles shouldn’t stand in the way of housing for Hoosiers.

A 2020 Indiana University survey of local officials identified ‘affordable housing’ as a top concern of three out of four respondents (the most common choice unrelated to public health). Since then, home prices have risen twice as fast as household income with limited inventory as a primary culprit. But the urgency expressed in 2020 took a back seat to bureaucratic prerogatives in 2026.

We’re disappointed that local leaders are more invested in their own authority to control development than actually moving the needle on new housing and affordability as they worked to chip away at HB1001.

But while the final bill backed away from the full preemption of anti-housing rules, it still took several steps in the right direction as it passed both chambers with bipartisan support – as it was sent to the Governor’s desk, HB1001:

We were also compelled to stand up for property rights and housing access by fighting back against unfair, arbitrary local caps on single-family rental properties through language within House Bill 1210: 

Indiana REALTORS® supported House Bill 1250 as a common-sense public safety bill motivated by the tragic murder of Susan Haynie, a valued community member and part of our real estate family in Southwest Indiana.

Susan’s assailant was a violent offender who was paroled just six months prior to the attack in her eastside Evansville home. These circumstances shaped HB1250, which requires a seven-day electronic notification of the county sheriff, prosecuting attorney and/or chief of police when a violent offender is being released or paroled into the local area; also requires the court to notify the victim of the impending release.

Fellow Evansville REALTOR® and Representative Tim O’Brien authored HB1250 as good public policy that also honors the legacy of Susan Haynie by taking steps to prevent future tragedies.

HB1250 has passed the House and Senate and awaits Governor Braun’s signature.

Your IAR Government Affairs team also worked to protect REALTORS® from undue liability in their day-to-day business created by other state laws – laws which may serve a noble and legitimate purpose but should not impose an unfair burden on real estate brokers. For example: