Kaysville, UT asked in Landlord - Tenant for Utah

Q: If someone is renting out their basement illegally, can they legally evict you? Will it be on my record?

We had a lease when we first moved in to the basement apartment almost 3 years ago, the lease was up in 2017, we never signed another lease. We have gotten behind on rent and our landlord said he would keep working with us. We received a letter from him saying that we had until January 2019 to get caught up on our rent. I sent him a text a couple of days later telling him thank you and that we appreciated him working with us, (he never responded) exactly one week after the first letter he said that we have until December to get caught up, (this was an eviction) then a few days later gave us a pay or vacate. Not sure why he would sign a letter saying he would work with us and then give us the 3 days pay or vacate. There is a lot to this story, a lot of little things and I know he is illegally renting this basement, (he is also renting other rooms in the house as well) he holds our mail until there is a stack before giving it to us, Has thrown mail in the garbage. Lots more little things

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1 Lawyer Answer
Wesley Winsor
PREMIUM
Wesley Winsor
Answered
  • Saint George, UT
  • Licensed in Utah

A: You main question is whether a person who is illegally renting out his basement can evict a tenant.

The answer to that is yes. As between you and the Landlord the contract governs, therefore he can evict you for default of the agreement ( failure to pay rent). As between the Landlord and the City, the City code will govern so if the city decided to prosecute they will look to the law to figure out if he is guilty.

You are not party to the relationship between the Landlord and the city, therefore you don't have any standing to make a claim that he is misbehaving. Only the city prosecutor or the city agents (code enforcement) has a right to do that.

You may have some argument to make about detrimental reliance to stay there until Jan. 2019, but I think that it would be hard to prove. In addition, a oral assurance is not usually enforceable unless you game him something in return for his willingness to work with you.

I hope this helps frame the issue for you.

Wes

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