Indiana sucks for renters
I’m quoting IndyStar reporter James Briggs here so don’t blame the messenger! But Indiana DOES suck for renters. James Briggs rightly points out that, “All questions about why Indiana sucks for renters point to the Indiana Apartment Association.” I have spoken out about how the IAA acts with absolute impunity, but Briggs nails it when he says, “The IAA has amassed immense power at the Statehouse and wields it like a cartoon villain tying renters to the train tracks — except, unlike the cartoons, tenants' rights always get run over.”
Maybe most telling in Briggs’ reporting is a statement from former Ballard chief of staff Ryan Vaughn who said in 2020, “I must say that in all my time in public service, whether it was leading the (City-County Council), serving as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, of just general community advocacy, I have never encountered a more disingenuous organization than the (Indiana Apartment Association) and that’s saying something.”
And yet, they continue to act unchallenged and with impunity. Large, corporate members of the IAA have told me they don’t like what they do and wish they would stop. When I ask why they continue to support IAA’s work, I get some form of “it’s complicated.” Perhaps I’m not smart enough to understand what’s so complicated.
