At a previous meeting, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 142 on eviction issues, authored by Sen. Liz Brown. The bill:
- Provides that the court shall order an expungement in a qualifying eviction case automatically. (Under current law, the tenant is required to request the expungement.)
- Permits an expungement in an eviction case if: (1) a money judgment related to the eviction action is entered by the court against the tenant and the tenant has satisfied the money judgment; or (2) a judgment is entered by the court against the tenant and at least seven years have elapsed since the entry of the judgment.
Testimony in support of the bill was provided by the Notre Dame Eviction Law Clinic, Indiana Legal Services, Indiana United Ways, AARP Indiana, Prosperity Indiana, Indiana Land and Title Association, and the Indiana State Bar Association Probate, Trust, and Real Property Section.
On January 15, 2025, the bill was heard for amend and vote. The committee amended the bill by a 10-1 vote to do the following:
- Prevents an order concerning disclosure of eviction action records from being entered if a money judgment related to the eviction action was entered against the tenant and the tenant has not satisfied the money judgment.
- Specifies that a court may issue an order to prevent the disclosure of records in an eviction action if at least seven years have elapsed since the action was filed and a final judgment has been entered that did not include a money judgment against the tenant.
The amended bill passed 10-1.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2025/bills/senate/142