Free Utah 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit

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The 3-day notice to pay rent or quit is the notice a Utah landlord must serve before filing an eviction for nonpayment of rent. Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c) gives the tenant three business days to pay the rent and other amounts due in full or surrender the premises. The count excludes weekends and Utah state holidays, and paying in full within the window cures the default. Generate a compliant notice below.

3 Business Days Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c) 78B-6-805 Service Free PDF

A Utah 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the statutorily-required written notice a landlord must serve before filing an eviction (unlawful detainer) for nonpayment of rent. It is governed by Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c), with service rules at § 78B-6-805 and the damages framework – including treble damages – at § 78B-6-811. Unlike many states, Utah counts this nonpayment period in business days, not calendar days, and Utah permits the demand to include the rent and other amounts due, such as lease-specified late fees. The form below produces a compliant notice; our Utah eviction notice laws guide covers the full process, and the Utah landlord-tenant laws hub covers deposits, entry, and habitability.

The 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the statutorily-required written notice a Utah landlord must serve on a tenant who has failed to pay rent when due. It is the procedural prerequisite to filing an unlawful detainer action under Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c). Without a properly-drafted, properly-served 3-day notice, no Utah court will entertain an eviction for nonpayment of rent – the notice is a legal condition of the lawsuit, not a courtesy.

The notice does three things in one document. First, it demands the past-due rent and other amounts due. Utah is more permissive than many states on what may go into the demand: § 78B-6-802(1)(c) speaks of the payment of rent and other amounts due, and a tenant cures by paying the full rent due including late fees specified in the lease. The demand should still state a precise figure the tenant can actually pay, and it should include only charges the lease authorizes – padding the demand with amounts the lease never created invites a defense.

Second, it gives the tenant a three-business-day cure window in the alternative. The tenant has three business days to either pay the full amount demanded or surrender possession of the property. This is the statutory cure opportunity: if the tenant pays in full within the period, the default is cured and the tenancy continues on its existing terms. The phrase “in the alternative” is important – the notice must offer both options (pay or quit), not simply demand that the tenant leave.

Third, it starts the unlawful detainer clock. If the tenant neither pays nor surrenders within the three business days, the tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer under § 78B-6-802(1)(c), and the landlord may file. From that point the tenant is exposed to the damages framework of § 78B-6-811, which allows a court to treble the damages found due. The form on this page assembles the demand, the alternative, the deadline, and the payment instructions correctly for a Utah nonpayment notice.

The Utah 3-day pay-or-quit notice sits inside the state’s forcible entry and unlawful detainer statute, Title 78B, Chapter 6, Part 8. The core provision is Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c): a tenant who continues in possession after default in the payment of rent or other amounts due, and after a written notice requiring in the alternative the payment of the rent and other amounts due or the surrender of the premises has gone uncomplied with for three business days after service, is guilty of unlawful detainer.

Business days, not calendar days. The nonpayment subsection is one of the few in § 78B-6-802 that uses “business days.” Most of the other grounds in the section – a breach of a lease covenant, committing waste, maintaining a nuisance, carrying on unlawful conduct, or assigning or subletting against the lease – use “three calendar days.” A landlord evicting for nonpayment must therefore count differently than a landlord evicting for a lease violation, and treating the nonpayment window as calendar days shortens it and can void the notice.

Service rules are at Utah Code § 78B-6-805, which authorizes personal delivery to the tenant; leaving a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion at the residence, leased property, or usual place of business when the tenant is absent; and, when no such person can be found, posting a copy in a conspicuous place on the leased property and mailing a copy. The mailing standard is registered mail, certified mail, or an equivalent. Email, text message, and social media are not statutory service methods.

The damages and judgment framework is at Utah Code § 78B-6-811. In an unlawful detainer judgment the court determines the rent and damages due and may treble – triple – the damages. For a nonpayment holdover, the trebled figure can reach three times the rent that accrued after the notice period expired, together with costs. This treble-damages exposure is one of the most significant features of Utah eviction practice and a strong reason to serve an accurate notice and to file only after the full period has run.

No rent control, no just-cause overlay. Utah has no statewide rent control, and Utah Code § 57-20-1 preempts cities and counties from enacting their own rent control ordinances. Utah also has no just-cause eviction statute layered on top of the notice – a landlord evicting for nonpayment relies on the § 78B-6-802(1)(c) notice and the unlawful detainer process itself, without a separate just-cause justification requirement. One operational rule ties the framework together: the notice must match the statute precisely. A miscounted period, a defective service, or a demand the tenant cannot cure voids the notice and restarts the process.

The three-day period under Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(c) is measured in business days. The day of service does not count; counting begins the next day. Saturdays, Sundays, and Utah state holidays on which the courts are closed are excluded from the count. The period runs to the end of the third business day, and only then – if the tenant has neither paid nor surrendered – is the tenant in unlawful detainer.

Utah state holidays that fall inside a service window are excluded. Utah observes New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington and Lincoln Day (Presidents’ Day), Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Pioneer Day (July 24, a Utah-specific holiday), Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. When a holiday falls on a weekend, the observed date is the day excluded. Pioneer Day in late July is a common surprise for landlords who serve notices during the summer.

Worked example. A notice served by personal delivery on a Tuesday of a normal week (no holiday) does not count Tuesday. Counting begins Wednesday: business day one is Wednesday, day two is Thursday, day three is Friday. The tenant must pay or surrender by the end of Friday.

Worked example with a weekend. A notice served by personal delivery on a Thursday does not count Thursday. Business day one is Friday; Saturday and Sunday are excluded; business day two is Monday and business day three is Tuesday. The tenant must pay or surrender by the end of Tuesday.

Worked example with a holiday. A notice served the day before a Utah state holiday skips the holiday in the count. If served on a Wednesday when Thursday is a state holiday, business day one is Friday (Thursday excluded), Saturday and Sunday are excluded, business day two is Monday, and business day three is Tuesday. Because the calendar spread between service and deadline can be a week or more once weekends and a holiday fall inside the window, Utah landlords should compute the deadline against the actual calendar every time rather than assuming “three days from Tuesday.”

Why the count is the number-one trap. Because the nonpayment window is business days while most other Utah eviction grounds use calendar days, a landlord who reuses a lease-violation notice habit and counts calendar days will serve a short notice. A short notice is defective, and filing on a short notice risks dismissal – and, given the fast Utah timeline, a dismissal is weeks of lost rent. The generator on this page counts business days and excludes Utah state holidays automatically so the printed deadline reflects the current calendar.

Complete the form below to generate a Utah 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit under § 78B-6-802(1)(c). The form computes the deadline in business days, excludes weekends and Utah state holidays, states the demand in the alternative, and prints the payment instructions and service block. Serve in accordance with § 78B-6-805 and keep proof of service.

Utah Code § 78B-6-805 authorizes four methods of service – personal delivery; registered mail, certified mail or an equivalent means addressed to the tenant at the tenant’s residence, leased property or usual place of business; leaving a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion there if the tenant is absent; and, if no such person can be found, affixing a copy in a conspicuous place on the leased property for a 3-day pay-or-quit notice, and they operate as a sequence: personal delivery first, then delivery to a suitable person if the tenant is absent, then post-and-mail if no suitable person can be found. Email, text message, social media, and verbal notification are not statutory methods and do not satisfy the rule.

Proof of service

A proof of service should be completed by the person who served the notice, stating the date, time, location, method, and recipient (or the suitable person or posting location). Keep the registered or certified mail receipt for any mailed copy and any date-stamped photographs of a posting. The original signed notice and the proof of service are filed with the unlawful detainer complaint and become part of the court record; a gap in the service proof is a frequent reason a Utah nonpayment case stalls.

Documentation retention

Retain the signed original notice, the proof of service, the mailing receipts, and any photographs. If the eviction is filed, these become court exhibits and support the landlord’s damages claim. If the tenant pays before the deadline, the same documentation records that the default was cured within the statutory window and closes the matter cleanly.

Utah’s unlawful detainer statute carries a distinctive penalty that shapes how the whole process should be run. Under Utah Code § 78B-6-811, when a court enters a judgment for the landlord it finds the amount of rent and damages due and may treble – triple – the damages, together with an award of costs. For a nonpayment evictio