According to the Indianapolis Star, a number of state legislators have ties to the real estate industry, including working for law firms that represent landlords and owning rental properties themselves. The connections are raising concerns about conflict of interest issues regarding recently enacted landlord-friendly legislation that would strip away protections for Indianapolis renters.
Potential professional conflicts are common at the Indiana General Assembly, where lawmakers only work part-time. And it is not clear to what extent the lawmakers would personally benefit from the legislation, which is under consideration in the House.
None of the four agreed to interview requests by IndyStar, though Torr and Cook released statements Friday saying their votes were cast only in support of good policy.
"It’s important to have balanced and uniform landlord and tenant regulations, without which there will be fewer and less affordable housing opportunities," said Torr, a Carmel Republican, in a statement to IndyStar. "The only motivation behind Monday’s committee action is to support this balance and good public policy for Hoosiers, including stronger protections for tenants — any assertion otherwise is absolutely false."
Read More
