When a court awards an owner or operator possession of the property through an eviction, the owner or operator may also request an order allowing the removal of the resident’s abandoned personal property. (Ind. Code § 32-31-4-2(d).) If the resident fails to remove his/her personal property before the date specified in the court order, the owner or operator may remove the personal property according to the order and deliver it to a warehouseman (such as a moving and storage company). (Ind. Code § 32-31-4-3.) Before the owner or operator delivers the resident’s personal property to a warehouseman, the owner or operator must notify the resident of the order for removal and the name and location of the warehouseman. This notice can be delivered to the resident’s last known address. While a lien may attach to this personal property, certain classifications of goods are exempt from such a lien. (Ind. Code §32-31-4-1.)

Without a court order issued in an eviction proceeding, and compliance with the requirements of such an order and Indiana law, a warehouseman (such as a moving and storage company) cannot obtain a valid lien on an evicted resident’s personal property without the resident’s consent. Statutory law provides that “a warehouseman has a lien against the bailor on goods covered by a warehouse receipt or on the proceeds thereof in his possession for charges for storage or transportation.” (Ind. Code § 26-1-7-209(a).) A bailor is a party who delivers goods to another under contract. In the absence of an eviction and compliance with statutory procedures, a lien is created against the resident only if the resident acts as a bailor or authorizes another to act as his/her bailor. As explained below, an owner or operator may be entrusted with the goods and authorized as an agent of the resident to deal with the moving and storage company and may allow a lien to accrue.

The resident’s authorization or consent for an owner or operator to act as his/her agent may be in the form of a provision of the lease, an addendum to the lease, or a separate agreement signed by a resident with rent in arrears. A lease provision is perhaps the best mechanism for future residents. The lease addendum alternative may serve where there is an existing owner or operator/resident relationship. A separate written agreement may be difficult to obtain because a resident behind in rent is not likely to agree to allow a warehouseman’s lien on personal property. The owner or operator may require the resident to be responsible for the costs associated with the moving and storage of the resident’s furnishings. An agreement between an owner or operator and the resident may be necessary to avoid warehousemen charging the owner or operator a flat fee for removing and storing a resident’s property.

State law (IC 32-31-4-5) previously required that unclaimed property be stored for a minimum of ninety (90) days before being sold. However, with the passage of HEA 1079 in 2025, that timeline has been shortened to forty-five (45) days as of July 1, 2025. Note that the forty-five day timeline begins at the point where the tenant receives notice as outlined in the first paragraph above.