Indiana’s buyer’s remorse law gives you three business days to cancel most unsolicited sales of $25 or more that take place somewhere other than the seller’s regular store. The right comes from the Indiana Home Solicitation Sales Act at Indiana Code Title 24, Article 5, Chapter 10. It’s narrower than many people assume: it exists to protect you from high-pressure sales pitches you didn’t go looking for, not to let you undo an ordinary purchase you later regret.
What Purchases You Can Cancel
The statute covers a “home consumer transaction,” meaning a sale of at least $25 that results from a seller contacting you somewhere other than their permanent place of business. Door-to-door sales are the obvious example. The law also reaches sales pitches at hotel conference rooms, fairgrounds, parking lots, and your workplace. If a salesperson approached you in one of those settings and you signed something, you likely have a three-day cancellation right.
The dollar threshold is a floor. Sales under $25 don’t trigger the right, even if everything else about the transaction fits.
What’s Not Covered
Most purchases people regret aren’t covered by this law. There is no general right to cancel something you bought at a retail store, through an online checkout, or in any other ordinary shopping situation. If you buy a couch at a furniture showroom and change your mind, your only options are the store’s return policy and any warranty that applies.
A few specific types of contact fall outside the statute as well:
- Transactions handled entirely by mail or telephone.
- Sales that result from general advertising, such as a television commercial or online ad.
- Online purchases.
- Sales you initiate by seeking the seller out at their regular business.
The pattern is consistent. Indiana’s cancellation right targets situations where a seller came to you and pressured a decision. If you walked into the sale on your own terms, you don’t get a cooling-off period.
How to Cancel
To cancel, send the seller a written notice stating that you’re canceling. There’s no required script; any clear written statement works. Deliver it in person, or mail it to the address on the cancellation notice the seller gave you. If the seller never provided a notice, send it to any address you have for them.
Your cancellation must reach the seller, or at least be mailed, before midnight of the third business day after whichever date comes later: the day you and the seller finalized the deal, or the day the seller gave you the required written cancellation notice.
Certified mail with a return receipt is worth the few dollars it costs. It gives you proof of the date you sent the cancellation, which is often the single most important piece of evidence if the seller later denies receiving it. Keep a copy of everything you send.
When the Three-Day Clock Starts
The seller is required to hand you two copies of a written cancellation notice at the time of sale. That notice must be on a separate document, printed in at least 10-point boldface type, and state that you may cancel before midnight of the third business day after the agreement.
If the seller skips this step, your right to cancel doesn’t disappear. Because the three-day window runs from the later of the final agreement or the delivery of the notice, a seller who never provides the notice effectively leaves your cancellation window open. Failing to give the notice is itself a violation of the statute.
So if a contractor signed you up on Monday and only handed you the cancellation form on Wednesday, your three days run from Wednesday, not Monday.
What the Seller Has to Do After You Cancel
Once the seller receives your cancellation notice, they have 10 business days to return every payment or other item of value you handed over. That includes cash, checks, trade-ins, and anything else.
There is one narrow exception. If you hired the seller for an emergency home repair and the work was completed within three days of the agreement, the seller can recover the fair market value of the materials and labor used on the emergency work. The exception exists so someone can’t get a burst pipe fixed, cancel the contract, and pay nothing.
If the seller left goods with you, keep them in the same condition you received them and make them available for pickup. Refusing to return the goods can leave you still owing on the original contract.
If the Seller Refuses to Honor the Cancellation
A violation of the Home Solicitation Sales Act is also treated as a deceptive act under Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. That matters because it opens up stronger remedies than the cancellation statute alone would provide.
Three specific actions count as violations: failing to provide the required cancellation notice, failing or refusing to issue a full refund, and knowingly interfering with your right to cancel.
You can file a private lawsuit and recover either your actual damages or $500, whichever is greater. If the seller acted willfully, the court can increase the award to three times your actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. The court can also order the seller to pay your attorney’s fees, which removes a real barrier to bringing smaller claims. Senior consumers who prove an uncured deceptive act can seek treble damages.
You can also file a complaint with the Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, which investigates businesses and can bring legal action on behalf of the state. Before you file, gather the original contract, a copy of the cancellation notice you sent, proof of mailing or delivery, and any records of your communication with the seller.
The Right Can’t Be Waived
If a contract includes language saying you give up your cancellation rights, that clause is unenforceable. The cancellation right sits on top of any other legal remedy you might have, so using it doesn’t cost you anything else you’d otherwise be entitled to.
A Federal Backstop
The Federal Trade Commission’s Cooling-Off Rule provides a parallel three-day cancellation right for sales made at your home or at temporary locations, with slightly different dollar thresholds ($25 at home, $130 at temporary locations). It covers much of the same ground as Indiana’s statute, so a sale that qualifies under one law often qualifies under both. If an Indiana seller tells you a federal exclusion defeats your cancellation right, check the state statute separately before accepting that answer.
Other Indiana Cancellation Rights
A few other Indiana purchases carry their own cancellation periods. Timeshare and camping club buyers get three days after signing the sales contract to cancel, with Sundays and legal holidays excluded from the count. That right comes from a separate statute, so it applies regardless of where the sale took place.
Beyond these specific categories, Indiana does not provide a general buyer’s remorse right. The protections exist to counter high-pressure tactics in settings where you didn’t seek out the seller, not to let you reverse an ordinary purchase.