Lae v. Householder

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court held that a tenant's failure to provide a forwarding address within forty-five days after termination of a residential lease tolls, but does not eliminate, a landlord's obligations under Indiana's Security Deposits statute. Once the tenant supplies an address, the landlord must provide the required itemized damages notice and return any remaining deposit, subject to the statute. The court affirmed the trial court's judgment awarding the tenants their security deposit and attorney's fees.

Holdings

1. A tenant's failure to provide a forwarding address within forty-five days after termination of the rental agreement does not eliminate the landlord's obligations under Indiana Code section 32-31-3-12. The tenant's later provision of an address tolls or defers the landlord's obligation until the address is supplied; it does not extinguish the tenant's statutory remedy.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a tenant's failure to provide a forwarding address before the forty-five-day period in Indiana Code section 32-31-3-12 expires eliminates the landlord's statutory obligation to return the security deposit and provide an itemized damages notice.
2. Whether the tenant's later provision of a forwarding address tolls or merely delays the landlord's statutory obligations.

Disposition

affirmed