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- HB182, a bill requiring 60 days' notice for rent increases, failed again.
- The Utah House Committee rejected the bill in a 6-6 vote, citing balance concerns.
- Supporters argue it aids renters, but opponents claim it complicates existing systems.
SALT LAKE CITY — For the third year in a row, a bill to give Utah renters more notice of rent increases failed to reach the finish line.
HB182 would have required landlords in most cases to give renters 60 days' notice if rent is going up. But the Utah House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee rejected the bill Friday afternoon in a 6-6 vote.
For the last several years, supporters have argued the move would create a good balance for landlords and tenants – and give renters more time to figure out their budgets or find new housing. But the bill has failed each year since 2023.
Last year, the proposal was supported by the Rental Housing Association of Utah, which represents landlords. But this year, the organization opposed it.
"It swings the pendulum to one side and not the other," said Kristin Matulonis, past chairwoman of the Rental Housing Association Government Affairs Committee, adding that it would also infringe on contractual rights. "We have a system that is already in place and is working, and it just complicates things with more dates."
The bill sponsor, Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, D-Cottonwood Heights, was disappointed.
"It's hard for me to understand their opposition when this is something that they fully supported a year ago," Bennion said following the vote.
Asked about the reversal, Paul Smith, executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Utah, told KSL-TV the bill was "very unlikely to pass this year" after dying in a Senate committee last year.
"We heard from the Senate that this bill swung the pendulum one direction and upset the balanced approach we as a state try to take on landlord-tenant issues," Smith said.
During Friday's committee hearing, several members of the public spoke in support of the bill and said it was a reasonable change to help renters in a difficult rental market.
But others argued the market is not as tight as it was and that the bill would make things more confusing.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, said he worried about smaller landlords not knowing the rules and being put into a "gotcha" situation with the bill.
"It's not the right move," Teuscher said before voting against it.
Bennion said she'll keep talking to people about this issue, but it appears this particular proposal is done for this session – again – which leaves her disappointed.
"We want them to have every tool that they need to be able to thrive as renters," Bennion said. "This bill helped renters and landlords."
