Utah Eviction Laws
In most eviction cases it is usually just your word against your landlord unless you have evidence to show otherwise. Hopefully, you took pictures of your home before you moved in. Depending upon the reasons for the eviction notice then you may need more evidence than just pictures.
Getting out of your lease
Remember that in certain situations you can get out of a lease. You can get out of a lease due to the situation of a criminal investigation or sometimes domestic violence situations. Other times you can get out of a lease if your landlord is very forgiving and just hope that he or she doesn’t sue you. If you get out of a lease then make sure that you get it in writing from the landlord so he or she can’t sue you.
The Beginning Of Eviction
Part of the eviction process is getting a written notice from your landlord stating that you need to leave your house. In most cases your landlord MUST give you written notice before going through with court proceedings otherwise the case can be dismissed. Utah has different types of eviction notices that landlords may use. Eviction notices may be served to you by a person from the courts, or law enforcement or someone else. The eviction notices may be sent certified through the mail or left on the property if you are not home
The different utah eviction notices are:
Three-day Alternative Notice for Non-Payment of Rent – this type of notice requires you to either pay rent immediately or move out within 72 hours.
Three-day Notice to Vacate – this type of notice is usually when illegal activity is occuring on the premises or too many complaints about noise or some other damage that has occurred. This notice may be used if you are suspected of selling drugs or doing drugs on the premises.
Three-day Notice to Comply or Quit – this type of notice is usually when you are breaking any parts of the agreement regarding the lease such as painting the walls bright distrubing colors, or other things that are in violation of your agreement with landlord. This notice indicates that you have three days to start to agree with the lease agreements again or you need to move out within 72 hours.
Fifteen-Day “No Cause” Notice – this type of notice is if your landlord wants you to move out. This one is usually used if it is just a monthly arrangement with the landlord. Your lease MUST be expired in order for your landlord to use this type of notice on you. Your landlord must notify you 15 days prior to move out unless it is stated 30 days elsewhere.
Five Day Notice to “Tenant-at-will” – this type of notice is used if you are staying at someones house without an rental agreement. In this case it is no different than staying at a friends house. This notice implies that have to leave the premises within five days. When there is no rental agreement that the landlord has no obligation to accept rent payments from you even if you try to pay rent.
The Middle of Eviction
If you fail to follow the prior the notice that you received then the landlord can file a lawsuit as part of the second process according to the utah eviction laws. You must respond to the papers that will be served to you. If you don’t respond to the papers with a certain amount of time then a judgement will go into effect so that law enforcement will show up to the premises to move your stuff along with you out of the building unit.
The End of Eviction
In the end of the eviction process if the landlord wins then the judge can sometimes make you pay up to three times the amount that is owed and also pay all other fees. If you win the case then in most cases the judge will allow you to stay in your building unit if everything is paid up to current. If you lose the case and then if law enforcement has to show up to the property to move out your stuff then they will put it in storage and then sell it for however much money that you owe. They will in most cases return the any left over items back to you if you fight it.
