Indianapolis’ Tenant Navigators Were Critical in Connecting Tenants to Eviction Diversion Resources
Feb 17, 2026
By Nada Hussein, NLIHC Research Analyst, State and Local Innovation
A study published in Urban Geography, “Tenant navigation as a critical infrastructure of care,” highlights the role that Tenant Navigators in Indianapolis played in connecting tenants at risk of eviction with holistic services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including support when applying for the city’s emergency rental assistance program and other eviction diversion measures. Despite the depletion or pausing of COVID-era resources, including Indianapolis’ emergency rental assistance program, Tenant Navigators still work in eight out of nine small claims courts in Marion County, Indiana to connect tenants to available eviction diversion resources. The study recommends that Indianapolis lawmakers permanently codify into law and continue to fund the Tenant Assistance Program (TAP), which includes Tenant Navigators.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indianapolis, Indiana established an emergency rental assistance program for renters facing eviction due to income loss predicated by the public health crisis. IndyRent was entirely remote in its first year of inception, leading the city’s Office of Public Health and Safety housing division to create TAP. The program placed Tenant Navigators in small claims courts, which typically handle eviction cases, across Marion County, Indiana to offer tenants free legal advice and help with applying for rental assistance through IndyRent.
Using a mixed-methods qualitative approach, the authors relied on participant observations and semi-structured interviews to understand TAP’s policy framework and implementation. Interviewers observed Tenant Navigators at in-person court hearings and during their interactions with tenants. They also interviewed Tenant Navigators and program managers.
The study found that TAP was developed using a community-centered approach that focused on reshaping the experiences of tenants in eviction court. As noted in the report, a significant power imbalance exists between landlords and tenants, with landlords often having greater access to support systems in a court of law, particularly legal representation. Tenant Navigators gave support to tenants to shift this imbalance and defend against an eviction filing. Tenant Navigators were able to create an infrastructure of support, which included emotional support, for tenants partly because of their own lived experiences as renters with housing instability.
Despite TAP still functioning, the study’s authors note limitations to what the program can accomplish. The study notes that Tenant Navigators are underpaid and hired only through a temp agency. Tenant Navigators themselves cannot prevent evictions. Additionally, the TAP program, which oversees the Tenant Navigators program, has insufficient funding, making the program unsustainable over the long-term in responding to tenants’ needs in eviction court. Given that the TAP program itself is not permanently codified into law, the program is not a permanent support system.
The authors’ recommendations include codifying TAP into law and providing more funding for the program, enacting right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, and funding emergency rental assistance programs.
The full report can be found here.