HAMILTON COUNTY — Fishers and Carmel residents are watching closely as new state legislation could overturn local rental property regulations passed just last year.
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House Bill 1210 seeks to prohibit governing bodies from passing rules or regulations that prevent homeowners from renting their properties. Fishers and Carmel both passed regulations in 2024 limiting the number of rental homes in a subdivision to 10% of total properties.
For Fishers residents Russ and Sally Abarr, who participate in eviction court watching, the question of corporate home ownership in their community is real.
"Out of state landlords coming in, I know that's been a real issue and even led to a higher eviction percentage in our county," Sally Abarr told WRTV on Tuesday.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness opposes the bill, saying his city already dealt with the issue through a thorough process.
"We understand personal property rights. We respect those a great deal. That's why we spent two years in a dialogue about this and ultimately got unanimous bipartisan support at our city council level to do this," Mayor Fadness outlined. "These efforts are about our communities and our neighborhoods, and to support it."
Carmel-based realtor Nancy Mutchmore believes those types of decisions should be left up to local homeowner associations. She also noted that corporate buying has slowed due to higher interest rates.
"They are not coming in and buying at the rate that they used to; the higher interest rates impacted that buying, so it really is not happening like it was at lower interest rates," Mutchmore explained. "I think that we kind of got ahead of the curve."
Russ Abarr sees both sides of the issue.
"I can understand the desire to prevent outside investment companies and buying homes in Fishers and making it more difficult for families to buy homes," Abarr acknowledged. "But on the flip side, that may be a method for people to be able to live in Fishers if they can rent a home versus being forced to buy a home."
The bill's author was not available to comment during the legislative session.
WRTV also reached out to Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam's office about HB-1210, but they declined to comment at this time.
You can find the full text of HB-1210 by clicking the link here.
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Logan MacDonald is the In Your Community multimedia journalist for Hamilton County. He joined WRTV in 2025. Logan loves to tell stories that hold the powerful accountable and give a voice to communities in need. Share your story ideas and important issues with Logan by emailing him at logan.macdonald@wrtv.com.
