Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Utah
Rental
How do you get a renter to vacate the home when she is not paying rent? It is rented month-to-month (no lease). She refuses to even talk to my husband, the lessor, so he put a ''pay rent or quit'' notice under her door. She seemed so nice at first, and then turned into a real shrew, saying she would not meet my husband face to face. She is still in our house, but is never there. We need a really good renter in the house, for the sake of the lovely neighborhood and for our cash flow. We are retired, so as a result, we need that income.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Rental
After the 3 day notice you need to sue for possession plus judgment for unlawfully "holding over." You may call for a free consultation.
Re: Rental
There is only one way to legally evict a renter and that is through court proceedings. It's called Unlawful Detainer. The clerk of your court can probably help you with information.
The general procedure is this:
Prepare a Summons and Complaint
Also a Motion and an Order to reduce the time within which the defendant(s) has to answer from the standard 20 days to 3 days (and have the 3 days showing on the Summons).
File those with the court & get the court execute the Order reducing the time.
A copy of all of the paperwork then gets deposited the the Sheriff's dept for service on the defendants.
After they have been served and you receive a Return of Service from the Sheriff's office you then wait the 3 days (not including week-ends and holidays). If they have not responded (filed an Answer to your Complaint) you will be entitled to a default judgment.
Prepare a Certificate of Default and have the clerk execute and file it.
At the same time you have a Default Judgment and Order prepared for the court/judge to execute which includes a money judgment for back rent, costs, attorney's fees (if applicable) etc., and an order for the Sheriff's department to evict the tenants.
A copy of that order goes to the Sheriff's office for them to serve on the tenants. The sheriff's office is the only one under Utah law allowed to lawfully, physically evict a tenant.
You can see it's complex for someone not familiar with the process but it is do-able.
You might consult with an attorney on this. Evictions are sometimes relatively inexpensive to have done through a local attorney. At least check with your court clerk's office and at least you may be able to get some helpful forms and information.
Beware of circumventing the process and evicting them yourself without a court Order-they could turn around and sue you if you do.
Good luck.
File the lawsuit with the court
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
