A recap of recent resources, updates and guidance from IAR's Legal Department 

As we count down to Halloween, the Legal Department received a request from good friend, IAR member and Managing Broker Dee Young to create a video on haunted houses and things that go bump in the night – in legal terms, that translates to a closer look into Indiana’s psychologically affected property statute (Indiana Code 32-21-6), with context from a few spooky calls to the Legal Hotline.

So check out this analysis from General Counsel Richelle Cohen Mossler…if you dare:

A brief summary of conditions that classify a property as psychologically affected and trigger the duty of honesty by owners and agents in response to direct inquiries by potential buyers or tenants:

Back in early September, a revised Seller’s Residential Real Estate Disclosure was released by the state and is now available via ZipForm and other licensed forms providers in the IAR forms library. We covered changes to the form and advised brokerages to update active listings (not already under contract) executed on or after July 1st to the new version as the prudent action to reduce liability under state law.

In summary, the updated Seller's Disclosure includes:

TLDR? Just watch this video update – IAR Legal and Regulatory Compliance Counsel Anne Johnson explains the key changes:

Most buyers are sellers; with homes staying on the market longer, timing is a more prevalent issue for buyers who are also selling – and so we’ve noted a corresponding uptick in questions on the Legal Hotline regarding the First Right Contingency Addendum to the Purchase Agreement.

The First Right Contingency allows a presumptive Buyer time to sell their existing home before finalizing a purchase while simultaneously allowing the Seller to keep their listing active during the contingency period.

In this video, Anne Johnson returns to dive into recent inquiries on this addendum:

This summer we communicated about the changes to Indiana real estate law made effective on July 1st by House Enrolled Act 1347, including the requirement that brokerages maintain trust accounts to manage client funds. The trust account clarification triggered a number of questions via the Legal Hotline – IAR Senior Staff Counsel Kelly Shonborn tackled the key issues (including the fiduciary obligation to make a trust account available to clients) in this video update:

We'll close this Halloween edition of Legal Matters with a real-world scare: IAR Legal and Regulatory Compliance Counsel Anne Johnson discusses the types of sanctions issued by the Indiana Real Estate Commission for violations of license law – from reprimand to license revocation – with 2025 examples in this Violation Station:

Each year, IAR’s Legal Department fields thousands of calls through the Legal Hotline as well as hearing directly from members at state and local association events and other forums. Earlier this year, the Legal Department released an updated compilation of common questions from the Legal Hotline, including revisions on buyer agency agreements, broker compensation and MLS rules. Click the button to view and download the PDF of this Legal Q&A Compilation: