What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Utah?

In Utah, when a tenant abandons the premises and leaves personal property, the owner may remove and store it, must post a notice in a conspicuous place and mail one to the tenant’s last known address, and may sell it at a public sale or donate it to charity once it has been stored at least 15 calendar days without a reasonable effort by the tenant to recover it. The tenant may retrieve the property within 15 calendar days from the date of the notice by paying the costs of inventory, moving and storage. The owner must give an extension of up to 15 more calendar days if the tenant provides a police report or protection order for domestic violence, verification of an extended hospitalization, or a death certificate or obituary. Notice of any public sale must be mailed to the tenant’s last known address at least five calendar days before the sale. Sale proceeds are applied to what the tenant owes; if the tenant is not present any surplus is paid to the tenant if the tenant’s location is known, and otherwise is handled under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. Hazardous materials, animals, garbage and perishable items need not be stored and may be disposed of immediately. Personal property removed and stored when a sheriff or constable enforces an order of restitution is considered abandoned property subject to the same section, and the tenant must be given reasonable access within five business days to retrieve clothing, identification, financial and medical documents and medication. This is Utah Code §§ 78B-6-816, 78B-6-812.

WhatUtah
Belongings left behindPost and mail notice, then hold 15 calendar days
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“The owner shall post a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place and send by first class mail to the last known address for the tenant a notice that the property is considered abandoned.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Utah Code §§ 78B-6-816, 78B-6-812

Read the statute in the Utah Code (Utah Legislature): le.utah.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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