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Proposed manager-licensing bill stalled; Carmel HOAs told status quo likely for 2025
Summary
Kelly Elmore, principal and shareholder at KSN Law, told the Carmel Neighborhood Association Network that a proposed state bill would have required each community association manager to hold a broker’s license but that the measure did not advance this session and "it looks like it is going to be status quo moving into next year."
Kelly Elmore, principal and shareholder at KSN Law, told the Carmel Neighborhood Association Network on an evening in early 2025 that a bill introduced this year would have required individual community association managers to hold the state broker’s license but that, as of the legislative session’s current posture, no major change appears likely.
Elmore said the bill (discussed in committee as House Bill 1055) would have removed the common industry practice in Indiana under which a single licensed broker at a management company "umbrella" covers multiple managers. "It would require every single individual who's a community association manager to go and sit for that exam," she said, and she added the bill had limited traction after one or two hearings.
Why it matters: Elmore said licensing has practical cost consequences for associations. She cited Illinois as an example where manager licensing increased operating costs that ultimately were passed to homeowners through higher management fees. "What I've seen in other jurisdictions is a lot of the cost got displaced on the homeowners directly," she said.
Elmore explained how the broker license is traditionally applied in Indiana: either the owner of a management company or one of the company's leaders holds the broker credential and that credential has been treated as extending coverage to employees. She also noted the broker exam contains "very, very, very little to do with HOA law" and that Indiana has relatively little black-letter HOA law compared with other states; in practice the association governing documents remain central to legal questions.
Elmore said self-managed associations generally would not be affected, but that once compensation and contracts for management services are involved, the status of a manager can change the regulatory analysis. She also described engagement with the Community Association Institute and the Indiana attorney general's office in prior years but said no definitive new enforcement standard has emerged.
No formal municipal action followed the presentation. Elmore offered to provide follow-up materials and directed attendees to her firm’s handout and an upcoming CAI legislative overview in June for a fuller catalogue of proposed measures.
Ending: For now, Elmore advised CNAN attendees to expect "status quo moving into next year," while continuing to monitor legislation and consulting attorney guidance when amending governing documents or negotiating management contracts.
