Breaking a lease in Utah

If you are the tenant

• Utah's statutes set a notice period only for landlords. No statute or official guide reviewed sets how much notice a tenant must give to end a month-to-month tenancy; the lease controls.

If the landlord ends it

• For a tenancy of indefinite length with monthly or other periodic rent, the landlord must serve notice at least 15 calendar days before the end of a month or period, requiring the tenant to leave at the end of that month or period (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i)). No reason is required by statute.

Written notice required: Not stated. § 78B-6-802(1)(b) requires that notice be served but does not expressly say written. Domestic-violence terminations require a written notice (§ 57-22-5.1(4)(c)).

• tenancy-at-will, landlord: 5 days. For a tenancy at will, the landlord's notice must give at least 5 calendar days (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)(ii)).

If a tenant abandons, the owner may retake and re-rent at fair rental value; the tenant is liable for the lesser of the rent for the rest of the term, or rent until the unit is re-rented plus any shortfall in rent, a reasonable leasing commission and restoration costs (§ 78B-6-816(1)).

Landlord's duty to re-rent: Yes. The Utah Supreme Court held that a landlord seeking unpaid rent from a breaching tenant must take commercially reasonable steps to mitigate, ordinarily by trying to re-rent (Reid v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 776 P.2d 896 (Utah 1989)). See also § 78B-6-816(1).

Lease-break fees: No general statutory cap on lease-break fees; the lease controls. For domestic-violence terminations the fee is fixed at one month's rent (§ 57-22-5.1(1)(h), (4)(d)).

• Domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (Utah Code § 57-22-5.1(4)-(9))

  A domestic-violence victim may end all future lease obligations by giving written notice with a move-out date, proof, and a one-month-rent termination fee, and must move out within 15 days of notice.

  Proof:

  A court protective order or stalking injunction (not ex parte), or a police report showing the renter is a domestic-violence victim and not the predominant aggressor. The renter must be current on lease obligations (limited exception for violations within 30 days caused by the abuse) and cannot use this after an eviction notice is served.

  What you still owe:

  The renter pays a termination fee of one month's rent and rent for any days occupied during the 15 days after notice, plus amounts owed before notice; future obligations end. Other occupants on the lease remain bound.

• Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair (Utah Code § 57-22-6(4)(a)(i))

  If an owner fails to start fixing a deficient condition within the corrective period after a proper notice choosing rent abatement, the lease terminates.

  Proof:

  A notice of deficient condition choosing the rent abatement remedy; the owner then has 3 calendar days (habitability) or 10 calendar days (lease requirement) to take substantial action.

  What you still owe:

  If the owner does not act, rent is abated from the notice date, the lease ends, the owner must immediately return the full deposit and prepaid rent, and the renter must move out within 10 calendar days after the corrective period.

Military orders, every state: the federal SCRA lets servicemembers with orders (permanent change of station or deployment of 90+ days) end a lease with written notice and a copy of the orders. How the SCRA date is counted.

• § 57-22-5.1 was amended by 2026 Utah Laws ch. 445, effective January 1, 2027; the termination provisions in subsections (4)-(9) read the same in both versions.
• § 78B-6-802 was amended by 2026 Utah Laws ch. 401 (effective May 6, 2026); the 15-day and 5-day notice periods are in the current text.
• Utah's Service Members' Civil Relief Act (Utah Code Title 39A, Chapter 6) has no lease-termination section; federal SCRA governs military lease breaks.

• Write a Utah notice to vacate
• Utah security deposit law: getting your deposit back after you move

• Utah Code § 78B-6-802 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Utah Code § 78B-6-816 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Utah Code § 57-22-5.1 (current, until 1/1/2027) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Utah Code § 57-22-5.1 (effective 1/1/2027) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Utah Code § 57-22-6 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Utah Code Title 39A, Chapter 6 (Utah Service Members' Civil Relief Act) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Reid v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 776 P.2d 896 (Utah 1989) Retrieved October 13, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 13, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.