To evict a squatter in Indiana, sign an affidavit under the state’s 2025 property protection law and ask local law enforcement to remove the person within 48 hours; if the squatter produces evidence of a lease or permission, or the situation is otherwise disputed, file a civil ejectment lawsuit in the county where the property sits. Both paths remain available, and self-help removal, changing the locks, cutting utilities, or forcing anyone out yourself, is illegal regardless of how clear-cut the case looks.
Make Sure the Person Is Actually a Squatter
Indiana defines a squatter as someone occupying property who has never had a rental agreement, the owner’s permission, or any other legal interest in that property.1Indiana Courts. Protection of Property Rights Two nearby categories are not squatters and cannot be removed through the fast-track process:
- Holdover tenants had a valid lease that expired. They once had permission, so removing them requires a standard eviction with proper notice.
- Tenants at will occupy with the owner’s verbal or informal permission but no written lease. Permission exists, even if nothing is in writing.
The distinction matters because the streamlined removal only works for true squatters. If the occupant can point to any prior rental arrangement or grant of permission, you will likely need to use the eviction or ejectment process instead.
The 48-Hour Law Enforcement Removal
Indiana’s 2025 squatter law lets you skip the courthouse for a straightforward case. You sign an affidavit stating that a squatter is occupying your property. The affidavit can be executed on your own initiative or when a law enforcement officer responds to your complaint about the unauthorized occupant.1Indiana Courts. Protection of Property Rights
Once the affidavit is filed, the law enforcement agency must dispatch officers to remove the squatter within 48 hours. The only exception is when public safety concerns require a later timeline. The responding officer must remove the squatter unless the officer discovers credible evidence that the person is not actually a squatter, such as a lease, receipts showing rent payments, or other documentation suggesting a legal interest in the property.1Indiana Courts. Protection of Property Rights
This is where cases stall in practice. A squatter who produces a fake lease or claims a verbal rental agreement creates exactly the kind of credible evidence that stops the officer from acting. Officers generally will not decide whose story is true on the spot. When that happens, the ejectment lawsuit is your next step.
File a Criminal Trespass Complaint at the Same Time
Squatting can also be prosecuted as criminal trespass. A person commits criminal trespass by entering someone’s dwelling without consent, or by entering or refusing to leave vacant or abandoned property after a law enforcement officer tells them to leave.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-43-2-2 – Criminal Trespass, Denial of Entry
Criminal trespass is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, and escalates to a Level 6 felony if the person has a prior trespass conviction involving the same property.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-43-2-2 – Criminal Trespass, Denial of Entry A police report does not automatically get the person out the way the affidavit process does, but it creates a paper trail that strengthens a civil case and puts the squatter on notice that they have been told to leave, which matters for any future charge.
Filing an Ejectment Lawsuit
When the affidavit route does not work, the civil ejectment lawsuit is the fallback. Ejectment is the traditional mechanism for removing someone with no right to be on the property, and it does not require the notice period that a landlord-tenant eviction does. You can file immediately.
The Complaint and Affidavit
File the complaint in the court for the county where the property sits. Along with it, submit an affidavit covering four points: that you are entitled to possession, that the occupant is holding the property unlawfully, and the estimated value and rental value of the property.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-30-3-1 – Action for Ejectment or Recovery of Possession of Real Estate Bring your deed, tax records, and any documentation showing ownership. Photographs of the current condition and evidence of the unauthorized occupancy help too.
The Show-Cause Hearing
After you file, the court clerk issues an order directing the squatter to appear and explain why they should not be removed. The hearing cannot take place sooner than five business days after the squatter is served.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-30-3-1 – Action for Ejectment or Recovery of Possession of Real Estate The squatter can file their own affidavits, present testimony, or post an undertaking to stay removal while the case proceeds. If they do not show up, the court can enter a default judgment for possession in your favor.
Emergency Possession Before the Hearing
If the property is in immediate danger of being destroyed, seriously damaged, or sold to someone unaware of the dispute, the court can issue a preliminary order of possession even before the hearing takes place.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-30-3-6 – Order of Possession, Prerequisites This is the exception, not the rule, and it comes with a cost. You must post a surety bond in an amount set by the court, which protects the occupant if the court later determines the early removal was wrongful.
Enforcing the Order Through the Sheriff
A ruling in your favor comes with an order of possession directing the squatter to leave by a specific date, usually a short window after the hearing. If they walk away voluntarily, you are done. If they do not, you still cannot remove them yourself. Go back to the court clerk and request enforcement through the sheriff’s office. The sheriff will schedule a time to physically remove the occupant, which can take several days depending on workload. Have people available to help move belongings out at the time of removal, since deputies typically supervise rather than handle the heavy lifting.
Handling Belongings Left Behind
You cannot throw out whatever the squatter leaves. Indiana requires a separate court order before you can remove a former occupant’s belongings from the property.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-31-4-2 – Liability, Abandoned Property, Court Order Allowing Removal by Landlord Once you have that order and the former occupant misses the deadline to collect their things, you can move everything to a storage facility approved by the court or a licensed warehouse.
Before delivering the property to storage, you must personally serve the former occupant with notice of the removal order and the name and location of the storage facility. Indiana law distinguishes between exempt property (items protected from creditors, like basic household necessities) and everything else. The storage facility must release exempt property to the owner on demand without requiring payment upfront.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-31-4-3 – Delivery to Warehouseman or Storage Facility For non-exempt property, the storage facility holds a lien covering storage, transportation, insurance, and labor costs, and the former occupant must pay those accumulated expenses to reclaim the items before they are sold.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-31-4-4 – Lien on Nonexempt Property for Expenses Incurred by Warehouseman or Storage Facility Skipping any of these steps exposes you to liability.
Do Not Try to Remove the Squatter Yourself
Indiana law explicitly prohibits property owners from taking matters into their own hands. You cannot change the locks, remove doors or windows, or shut off electricity, gas, water, or other essential services to force someone out.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-31-5-6 – Denial of or Interference with Tenant Access The only exception is interrupting services for genuine emergencies or necessary repairs.
The temptation to change the locks while the squatter is out is understandable, especially when someone is living in your property for free. Doing so gives them a legal claim against you. Every removal method above exists so you do not have to take that risk.
What About an Adverse Possession Claim?
A squatter who has been in place for a long time may try to claim ownership through adverse possession. In Indiana, that requires at least ten years of continuous, open, and exclusive possession.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-11-2-11 – Written Contract Actions On top of the ten years, the person must have paid all property taxes and special assessments they reasonably believed were due during the entire possession period.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-7-1 – Adverse Possession, Payment of Taxes
The tax requirement is what makes adverse possession nearly impossible for typical squatters. Someone who moved into a vacant house is not paying property taxes, and missing even one year defeats the claim. For a squatter facing a private property owner in Indiana, this defense almost never succeeds.