Free legal help and housing resources

Before you call or go

• Write down any deadlines on your papers.
• Gather your lease, notices, photos, texts, emails, and receipts, and put them in order.
• Write 3 or 4 sentences about what happened and what you want.
• If no one answers, leave your name, your number, and a good time to reach you.
• If one group can't help, ask who can, and try the next one.

Utah Legal Services

A nonprofit that handles civil legal cases, including housing, for Utahns with low incomes. The Utah Courts also send tenants in government housing or with a voucher here, because those tenants have extra protections.

What they offer: answers to questions, legal advice, help preparing legal documents, and representation in court. Their website has housing guides, including a bad housing guide with a Notice of Deficient Conditions form.

How to reach them:
Intake line: 1-800-662-4245 (or 801-328-8891 in the Salt Lake City area)
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Spanish is available.
Offices: Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, and St. George
Not everyone qualifies, so ask when you call.

Utah Courts Self-Help Center

Free help from the Utah State Courts for people without a lawyer.

What they offer: staff attorneys answer questions about the law, the court process, and your options. They provide court forms and help you fill them out, and they can point you to mediation and legal aid. They can't give you legal advice or represent you in court, and they aren't your lawyer. See the court's housing section for eviction, bad housing conditions, and deposit information and forms.

How to reach them:
Phone: 888-683-0009 (the line is very busy)
Text: 801-742-1898
Email: selfhelp@utcourts.gov
Hours: Monday to Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Utah Free Legal Answers

An online service where volunteer attorneys answer questions about non-criminal legal problems for people with low incomes. Good for a quick question when you can't get to a clinic.

Utah State Bar Virtual Legal Clinic

A 30-minute phone or email appointment with a volunteer attorney. A volunteer attorney contacts you within 3 business days of your request. Some Spanish-speaking attorneys are available. It covers general civil matters, so say up front that your problem is a landlord-tenant issue.

How to reach them: call the Bar at 801-297-7049 or fill out the online form at the link above. Appointments are on weekdays.

BYU Community Legal Clinic (online, statewide)

What it covers: general civil matters, including landlord-tenant problems and debt collection. No family law. It serves low-income people, with no strict income cutoff. Spanish is available.

When: Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., by appointment only, over Zoom.
How to book: email communitylegalclinic@law.byu.edu.

Street Law Legal Site, University of Utah Pro Bono Initiative (Salt Lake City and online)

What it covers: consumer, employment, housing, and discrimination questions. No criminal or family law.

When: online by appointment on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. In person, walk-ins only, on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The 2nd Tuesday meets at the Columbus Adult Education Center (1860 S 300 E), and the 4th Tuesday at the Horizonte Instruction and Training Center (1234 S Main St).
How to book: email probono@law.utah.edu or call 801-581-5418.

Timpanogos Legal Center, Ogden clinic (Weber County)

What it covers: landlord-tenant issues, along with domestic violence, protective orders, and family law.

When: 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., by appointment, at 2261 Adams Ave., Ogden.
How to book: call 801-394-9456 starting the Wednesday morning before the clinic. Appointments go first come, first served until they're filled.

Disability Law Center

Utah's designated protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities. Services are free and statewide. If you think your housing rights have been violated, you can call them, for example if a landlord refuses a reasonable accommodation or modification because of a disability. Their website has a tenant resource center with housing information.

What they offer: information on disability law and your rights, mediation and negotiation, and, in some cases, representation in administrative hearings and court. Because their time and resources are limited, they focus on cases that can help many people, but they offer information or referrals to everyone who contacts them.

How to reach them:
Phone: 800-662-9080
Online: online intake form. Staff contact you within 5 business days.
Office: 960 South Main Street, Salt Lake City

Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Division (UALD), Fair Housing Unit

The state agency that enforces the Utah Fair Housing Act. A housing discrimination complaint filed with UALD that alleges state and federal violations is automatically filed with HUD too. You don't need an attorney to file.

Two things to know: the Disability Law Center advises filing with UALD within 180 days of the discriminatory act, so don't wait. And complaints based on source of income (such as a landlord refusing your voucher) generally can't be filed with HUD, so UALD is the place for those.

How to reach them:
Phone: (801) 530-6800 (Utah Relay: 711)
Complaint form: the Fair Housing Intake Questionnaire on their page (link above)
Office: 160 East 300 South, 3rd Floor, Salt Lake City

HUD: report housing discrimination

The federal government's complaint portal for housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. For source-of-income complaints, use UALD instead (see above).

Utah Community Action: Landlord Tenant Mediation

Helps tenants and landlords work through conflicts, which may help tenants keep their housing and avoid eviction. The Utah Courts list it as a statewide option. If you received a 3-day pay or vacate notice, fill out the tenant mediation application on their page.

How to reach them:
Phone: 801-214-3109
Email: mediation@utahca.org

Utah Dispute Resolution

A nonprofit with volunteer mediators. Mediation is free or low cost, and no one is turned away because they can't pay. Landlord-tenant disputes are one of the areas they cover. Bilingual mediators are available in several languages. They also run small claims mediation programs in Salt Lake County, Provo, and Park City.

How to reach them:
Phone: 801-532-4841
Office: The Law and Justice Center, 645 South 200 East, Salt Lake City

Mountain Mediation Center (Summit and Wasatch counties)

Sliding-scale mediation, including landlord-tenant disputes, in English and Spanish. Free mediation is available for small claims cases and appeals at the Silver Summit courthouse.

How to reach them: 435-336-0060

Utah 2-1-1

A free information and referral line. The Utah Courts point renters here for a list of programs that could help with rent, and for help finding housing.

How to reach them: dial 2-1-1 or visit the website.

Utah Community Action: rent and deposit assistance

Rent and deposit assistance for people who qualify, which varies with available funding. You'll need to show proof of income, so have these ready when you call: income verification, a valid ID, and your current lease.

How to reach them:
Intake line: (801) 359-2444, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Office: 1307 S 900 W, Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City Tenant Resource Center

For tenants in Salt Lake City. Community Navigators from the Community Development Corporation of Utah give renters personal help finding resources for housing stability. The program also includes a Relocation Assistance Fund for Tenants (RAFT), which provides financial help to low-income households facing displacement under qualifying circumstances, such as development at or near their home. See slc.gov/renters for the city's renter resources.

How to reach them:
Phone: 801-893-3779
Walk in: 501 East 1700 South, Salt Lake City (Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Call to confirm hours.)

HUD-approved housing counselors

Housing counseling agencies approved by HUD can give advice tailored to your situation, including help preventing eviction.

How to reach them: call (800) 569-4287 or search for a counselor near you on HUD's Utah page.

Your local public housing authority

Public housing authorities (PHAs) run Section 8 vouchers and public housing. If you have a voucher or live in public housing and have a problem with your unit, your manager, or your landlord, contact your PHA first. HUD's Public and Indian Housing Information Resource Center also takes these calls at (800) 955-2232.

Find your PHA: HUD publishes a contact list of every housing authority in Utah. Large ones include Housing Connect (Salt Lake County), the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, the Housing Authority of Utah County, the Housing Authority of the City of Ogden, Weber Housing Authority, and Davis Community Housing Authority. The HUD Utah office is at (801) 524-6070.

Good to know:

• The Utah Courts say tenants in government housing have more protections, including public housing, Section 8, and other government programs. They point these tenants to Utah Legal Services for free help.
• If a landlord refuses your voucher, that may be source-of-income discrimination under Utah law. Contact UALD (above) or legal aid.

Your local health department or building inspector

Sometimes calling your local health department or city or county building or code enforcement office gets repairs made. If an inspector finds code violations, your landlord can be ordered to fix them. Utah Legal Services notes that evicting you for calling an inspector would be retaliation, though retaliation can be hard to prove in court. See the Your Rights page for how retaliation works in Utah.

How to find them: search online for your city or county name plus "code enforcement" or "health department housing complaint." Housing offices are different in every city and county, so there isn't one statewide number.

For the formal repair process, see If your landlord won't fix something.

Wasatch Tenants United

A tenant union in the Salt Lake area. Members organize and offer mutual aid. Their website lists help for urgent situations, such as an eviction or illegal lockout, and links to rental assistance, mediation, and free legal help. Contact information is on their website.

Utah Tenants Union

A tenant-led group that helps renters understand their rights. Their site has a list of questions to ask a landlord before you sign a lease. Contact information is on their website. Spanish is spoken.

Utah@EASE

Free legal help for veterans, active duty servicemembers, and National Guard and Reserve members. Covered issues include property and landlord problems, consumer fraud, and predatory lending.

How to reach them: veterans should contact their local veterans service officer for a referral. Active duty, National Guard, and Reserve members should contact their JAG office.