Anyone who’s ever rented a house to some rowdy Ute undergrads or had trouble getting the heat fixed in their chilly Salt Lake City apartment probably wished they knew more about landlord-tenant laws. And if you’ve ever found yourself in a testy lessor-lessee relationship, you may have wondered what your legal rights and responsibilities were. This is an introduction to leases and rental agreements laws in Utah.
Leases and Rental Agreement Law
States enact lease and rental agreement laws in order to regulate landlord-tenant relationships and define some of the basics terms of real estate rental contracts. These statutes tend to be fairly similar, and standardize everything from the time limits for leases and what to do when and if a lease expires to protections against housing discrimination. Some states have adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in order to create consistency landlord-tenant law from state to state, while a few states have enacted stricter tenant rights laws, providing even greater protections for renters.
Leases and Rental Agreements in Utah
Utah’s statutes on leases and rental agreement place no limits on the amounts a landlord can charge as a deposit, and require that it be returned within 15 days after the lease expires if there is no damage to the premises. Like many states, when a Utah lease term ends, the holdover tenant is subject to all of the terms of the original lease. The table lists Utah’s lease and rental agreements statutes.
| Code Section | Utah Code 57-17-1, et seq.: Residential Renters’ Deposits; Utah Code 57-21-1, et seq.: Utah Fair Housing Act |
| Terms of Leases | Holdover tenant is bound to covenants previously agreed to and binding in first term (Cottonwood Mall Co. v. Sine, 767 P.2d 499, 503.) |
| Deposits | No limit on deposit; interest on deposit not required; deposit must be returned within 15 days of termination or 30 days if there is damage to the rented premise |
| Discrimination | No discrimination on basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, source of income, disability; housing for older persons exempted; no discrimination against children unless in adults-only apartment complex, condo, or other housing not violating federal law |
| Uniform Residential Landlord & Tenant Act Adopted? | No |
Related Resources for Utah Leases and Rental Agreements Laws
State statutes on rental properties can be complicated. If you would like legal assistance regarding a lease or rental agreement issue, you can contact an Utah landlord-tenant attorney. You can also find additional articles and information in FindLaw’s section on Leases and Rental Agreements.
