Chaos at Karl King: How Indiana law limits South Bend's enforcement authority

It's a similar situation to that of the Portage Township Trustee's Office; staff do what they can, but the state law only allows for so much. Karl King Holdings LLC is now under a voluntary compliance agreement with the township. 

The City of South Bend has a Rental Safety Verification Program (RSVP), which inspects reported ordinance violations. ABC57's Annie Kate obtained RSVP records from 2025 to understand when and how the city takes action. 

For example, one November inspection report shows multiple issues in one tenth-floor unit, including "organic matter on wall surfaces in closets." An accompanying photo shows a closet with significant black mold on the wall. The city issued two $250 invoices, issued Dec. 12 and again Dec. 26, charging the property owners, Karl King Holdings LLC, for the problems in that very unit.  

Other units were without smoke detectors, not to mention reports of various bug, trash, and safety issues that ABC57 has also reported.

What this shows is that the city has been alerting the property owners of ongoing problems. Since December, the city has issued 28 invoices, totaling $7,000.

The criticism ABC57 hears in the community is that the city should be doing more, and that the fines are so low, it's barely a slap on the wrist for the owners. ABC57's Annie Kate sat down with South Bend Mayor James Mueller and asked him about this very concern.  

"Do you think that the RSVP program has enough teeth?" Annie Kate asked, to which Mueller replied, "Well, again, that's limited by state law. So, if you want to change the impact of this program, you're going to have to go and change state law."

Here's the thing: the city does not have the authority to regulate a property owner's operations or business practices. It does have the authority to inspect and ensure properties meet minimum standards based on the International Property Maintenance Code, created by an American building trade association. Then, staff can issue penalties and fines, but only what's applicable under state law.  

"Under state law, we do have narrow ability to make sure our housing is affordable and of quality," Mueller said. "But the issue is that we do have narrow limits."

ABC57 asked the mayor what he would say to those living in poor conditions, who may feel trapped, as many say they do in Karl King.  

"There are some common-sense measures. So, you know, be an advocate. Continue to push those common-sense measures at the state level," he said. "Talk to the city, report violations that may be occurring. And then also, as a last resort, if their rights are being trampled on, seek legal counsel. And there are a number of agencies that can help with that."

Going back to what the city can do, Mueller says it's a city priority to focus on the overall housing shortage and build, build, build.  

"Really, the broader piece of this is our all-of-the-above housing strategy," he said. "We need to build up our quality housing supply. That is the best thing we can do to fix these problems."

Mueller says the city is decades behind on building its housing stock, so it will take a long time to get the needed inventory, but South Bend has numerous projects currently under construction, like the development to replace the lost Housing Authority units that used to be at the Rabbi Shulman building and Monroe Circle campus.