Pleasant Grove, UT asked in Landlord - Tenant for Utah

Q: I am buying my father's home and my sister is living in home and refuses to leave

My father is selling us his home and my sister who has lived with him for years is refusing to leave we have given her many months notice she would have to leave when we close on the home and now with closing a week away she's refusing to leave we are in Utah FYI she hasn't been effected by Covid and makes good money so that isn't a issue she just don't want to move. What do I need to do to make her leave

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2 Lawyer Answers
Kenneth Prigmore
Kenneth Prigmore
Answered
  • Spanish Fork, UT
  • Licensed in Utah

A: The answer depends on a few issues. One question is how your sister lived in the home. Did they have any sort of formal agreement? Did she pay rent? The method of evicting someone differs depending on the relationship. Another issue is notice. Timing of notice is tied to the relationship as well. You mentioned giving notice many months ago, but the form of notice is important.

You will need some form of eviction. I am going to assume your sister owns no interest in the home. Eviction will take longer than a week to get an order and have her forcibly removed by a constable.

Fortunately, this is a seller's market for home sales right now in Utah, so waiting another month will likely increase the value of the home and draw additional buyers who may compete to purchase the home.

You could go to utcourts.gov and review their self-help for evictions, but your case is unusual and it is possible that you may miss something important. When that happens, you start the eviction process all over again. I highly recommend you retain an attorney to help with the eviction.

I have noted, in past negotiations on behalf of landlords, that some evictions can be avoided with a little negotiating. Some renters will leave a property if offered 200-300 dollars. This seems unfair as the tenant has remained beyond their legal right, but it is cheaper than hiring an attorney and filing a claim in court. If you approach things with a business perspective, and ignore the unfair acts of the tenant, you can often get them out quickly. You might offer to rent a truck, or help find her a new place.

Good luck.

Kenneth Prigmore
Kenneth Prigmore
Answered
  • Spanish Fork, UT
  • Licensed in Utah

A: As an update to my previous answer, I just noted that you are purchasing the home personally. This changes many things, the first of which is that the one week deadline is not usually a hard deadline. You can normally reschedule. It's annoying, but little is lost other than time.

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