Utah eviction law

When rent or other amounts due are unpaid, serve a written notice requiring payment or surrender of the premises. The tenant commits unlawful detainer only if the notice goes uncomplied with for three business days after service. The notice may be served any time after the rent becomes due.

Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c) Utah Code § 78B-6-805

• Serve the notice by handing it to the tenant, by registered or certified mail or an equivalent, by leaving it with a person of suitable age and discretion if the tenant is absent, or, if no such person can be found, by posting it in a conspicuous place on the property. Utah Code § 78B-6-805
• After the notice period, the tenant, a subtenant or another interested person may still perform and save the lease from forfeiture. Utah Code § 78B-6-802(2)
• During state military service, a Utah National Guard or State Defense Force member's household may not be evicted for nonpayment of rent under $2,400 a month without a court order. Utah Code § 39A-6-113

For a breach of a lease condition or covenant other than rent, serve a written notice requiring the tenant to perform or surrender the property within three calendar days after service, on the tenant and any subtenant in actual occupation. For assigning or subletting against the lease, waste, an unlawful business, a nuisance, or a criminal act on the premises, a three calendar day notice to quit may be served instead.

Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(d) to (1)(h)

• If a violated covenant cannot later be performed or brought into compliance, a notice to quit under the listed grounds may be given. Utah Code § 78B-6-802(2)
• The notice rules for nuisance do not apply to a court action to abate a private nuisance by eviction. Utah Code § 78B-6-802(4)

After the notice period runs, file an unlawful detainer action. The summons gives the tenant three business days from service to appear and defend, unless the court allows more time. When the tenant stays in possession, the court must expedite the case and begin trial within 60 days after the complaint is served unless the parties agree otherwise.

Utah Code § 78B-6-807 Utah Code § 78B-6-810

• Either party may ask for an evidentiary hearing within 10 business days after the tenant answers, where the court decides who holds possession while the case is pending. Utah Code § 78B-6-810(2)
• A judgment for the landlord includes an order of restitution, rent, and three times the damages assessed for unlawful detainer, waste, amounts due under the contract, or a forcible entry or detainer. The court awards costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. Utah Code § 78B-6-811(1) to (3), (5)
• The order of restitution gives the tenant three calendar days after service to vacate, unless the court orders otherwise, and a sheriff or constable enforces it. Utah Code § 78B-6-812(2), (4)
• A landlord may file a possession bond, which opens alternative remedies to the tenant, including keeping the lease by paying all amounts due within three calendar days in a nonpayment case. Utah Code § 78B-6-808
• Either party may appeal within 10 days, or within three days in a private nuisance abatement case. Utah Code § 78B-6-813
• Since September 1, 2026, a pet found when an order of restitution is enforced goes to the tenant if present; otherwise the officer or landlord calls animal control, and you must give animal control the tenant's name and last known contact information. Utah Code § 78B-6-812(4)(e), (4)(f)
• Which Utah courts hear eviction cases, and the court rules that govern them, were not read for this page. Utah Code tit. 78B, ch. 6, pt. 8

You may not willfully exclude a tenant from the premises in any manner except by judicial process. The one exception is retaking and rerenting premises the tenant has abandoned.

Utah Code § 78B-6-814

• Willful exclusion means preventing the tenant from entering with the intent to deprive the tenant of entry. Utah Code § 78B-6-801(11)
• You must keep electrical systems, plumbing, heating, and hot and cold water maintained throughout the tenancy. Utah Code § 57-22-4(1)(b)(ii)
• The Fit Premises Act and the eviction statutes do not address shutting off utilities. Other Utah law was not checked for a utility shutoff rule. Utah Code ch. 57-22 Utah Code tit. 78B, ch. 6, pt. 8

Abandonment is presumed when the tenant has not told you of an absence and either has not paid rent within 15 days after it was due and nothing but their belongings suggests they still live there, or has not paid when due, has removed their belongings and shows no sign of living there. You may serve a declaration of abandonment; if the tenant does not dispute it in writing within 24 hours, not counting weekends and court holidays, abandonment is established.

Utah Code § 78B-6-815 Utah Code § 78B-6-816

• You may remove belongings left behind, store them, and recover actual moving and storage costs. Post a notice that the property is considered abandoned and mail it to the tenant's last known address. Utah Code § 78B-6-816(2)(a), (2)(b)(i)
• The tenant may reclaim the property within 15 calendar days of the notice by paying inventory, moving and storage costs. Extend this by up to 15 more days if the tenant shows domestic violence, an extended hospitalization, or the tenant's death. Utah Code § 78B-6-816(2)(b)(ii), (7)
• After 15 days in storage with no reasonable effort to recover it and no hearing pending, you may sell the property at a public sale, with at least five calendar days' mailed notice, or donate it where that is commercially reasonable. Utah Code § 78B-6-816(2)(b)(iii), (9)
• Hazardous items, animals, garbage and perishables need not be stored and may be disposed of right away. Motor vehicles are not covered by these rules. Utah Code § 78B-6-816(4), (6), (8)
• Property removed when an eviction order is enforced is treated as abandoned property, but the tenant must get access within five business days to clothing, identification, financial, public benefit and medical items. Utah Code § 78B-6-812(4)(c), (4)(d)

Utah's Fit Premises Act and its eviction statutes contain no general rule against retaliation. They do bar you from restricting a tenant's ability to call a public safety agency, such as police, fire or ambulance, and from penalizing or evicting a tenant for making reasonable requests for that help.

Utah Code § 57-22-5.1(10)

• Under Utah's fair housing law, reprisal against a person who opposed a discriminatory practice or took part in a fair housing complaint or investigation is itself a discriminatory housing practice. Utah Code § 57-21-7(1)(f)
• A city's good landlord program may not reduce your benefits because of calls for help that you are barred from restricting or penalizing. Utah Code § 57-22-7(3)