Rent control rules in Salt Lake County, UT — also known as rent stabilization or rent cap ordinances — limit annual rent increases and protect tenants from displacement.
Salt Lake County and every city within it (Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, Sandy, Murray, Taylorsville, South Jordan, Draper, Riverton, Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Millcreek, Herriman, Bluffdale, Midvale, South Salt Lake) are barred from enacting rent control. Utah Code Title 57, Chapter 20 (Local Rent Control Prohibition) expressly preempts any county, city, or town ordinance that would cap rents or fees on private residential property. Landlords may raise rent freely on month-to-month tenancies with 15 days' written notice under Utah Code §57-17-7. Fixed-term leases can only be changed when they renew. There is no statewide rent cap and no local one.
Utah Code §57-20-1 (Rent and fee control prohibition) provides that 'a county, city, or town may not enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential property.' This blanket preemption means no Salt Lake County municipality can pass a rent stabilization, rent freeze, vacancy decontrol, or rent registry ordinance — even by initiative. Limited statutory exceptions exist only for housing where the local government has a financial interest (such as housing-authority units or LIHTC properties subject to a regulatory agreement). For market-rate apartments and houses in Salt Lake City, Sandy, West Valley City, Murray, and every other SLCo jurisdiction, landlords may set the initial rent and raise it as the market allows. Required notice for a rent increase on a month-to-month tenancy is 15 calendar days under Utah Code §57-17-7 (some local ordinances and lease provisions extend this — the Salt Lake City Landlord/Tenant Initiative recommends 60 days as best practice but does not require it).
Because rent control is preempted, there is no 'rent overcharge' violation in Salt Lake County. A tenant who believes a rent increase is retaliatory (raised after a habitability complaint) can sue under Utah Code §57-22-5.1; the remedy is damages and attorney fees, not a rent rollback. Landlords still cannot collect rent on an uninhabitable unit, but the amount of rent itself is unregulated. If a Salt Lake County city ever attempted to enact rent control, a landlord could sue in Third District Court for a declaratory judgment voiding the ordinance under §57-20-1.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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