Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Utah law says, what's specific to Salt Lake City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- No Utah section we read multiplies holdover rent. Any premium rate comes from your lease.
- A court enters the rent plus three times the damages assessed (§ 78B-6-811(3)).
- A month-to-month lease needs notice 15 calendar days before the period ends; a fixed term needs none (§ 78B-6-802(1)).
- The side that wins, tenant or landlord, gets costs and reasonable attorney fees (§ 78B-6-811(5)(a)).
- Salt Lake City bars ending a tenancy because you asked for repairs in good faith (§ 18.96.130(A)).
Step by step
How it plays out
- Lease endsA fixed term endsA fixed term ends without notice when it expires (§ 78B-6-802(1)(a)). Any premium rate for extra days comes from your lease.
- Notice servedNotice ends a periodic tenancy15 calendar days or more before a month-to-month period ends; not less than five calendar days for a tenancy at will (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)).
- Court caseJudgment for rent and damagesThe court or jury assesses damages; judgment is for the rent plus three times those damages (§ 78B-6-811(2)(b), (3)).
- After judgmentExecution and fees followExecution issues immediately after judgment (§ 78B-6-811(4)(a)). The prevailing party gets costs and reasonable attorney fees (§ 78B-6-811(5)(a)).
Count it for your dates
15 days before: the last day to act
What it means: The owner's notice must be served on or before this date for staying past the end of that period to be unlawful detainer. Applies to a month-to-month or other periodic tenant (15 calendar days or more); a tenant at will is owed not less than five calendar days; a fixed term ends without notice when it expires (Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i)). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: Before your lease ends, as soon as you know you need extra days
Ask to stay past your end date
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Utah compares
Statutory holdover rent multiplier, state by state
2x3xNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 27 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Holdover Clause
This page is for Salt Lake City renters who need to stay a little past the end of their lease, or who found a holdover charge in the lease they signed. The most important point: no Utah section we read sets a multiple of rent, so any premium rate for extra days comes from your lease paragraph.
Read it before your end date. If you need more time, ask your landlord in writing whether you can stay and what you will owe, and keep the answer.
What renters assume
Utah law triples rent for a holdover, so the triple rate in my Salt Lake City lease must be the legal rate.
What is actually true
The three in § 78B-6-811(3) multiplies the damages a court or jury assesses. The rent goes into the same judgment at its own amount. A premium rate in your lease is a term of the lease.
Ten of the 27 rows in the comparison on this page carry a 2: New York City, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, Newark, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. Louisville's row carries a 3, labelled "Up to 3 months' rent (willful)".
Sixteen of the 27 rows carry no multiplier, and Salt Lake City is one of them. Twelve of those sixteen labels read No multiplier, Philadelphia reads "No statutory multiplier", and Austin reads "No cap - lease controls".
Salt Lake City's label matches Las Vegas: "No rent multiplier (3x damages)". The comparison measures a multiple of rent, while § 78B-6-811(3) applies its three to the damages assessed and enters the rent once.
The row therefore draws no rent multiple, and the three sits in its label instead. Louisville's three counts months of rent on a willful holdover, while Salt Lake City's multiplies assessed damages.
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Salt Lake City, UT
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“If the Lessee retains possession”
The clause starts working the moment you stay on. In Utah, when staying on becomes unlawful depends on the tenancy. Under § 78B-6-802(1)(a) a fixed term “shall be terminated without notice at the expiration of the specified term or period”. A month-to-month tenant is in unlawful detainer after a period ends where the owner served notice 15 calendar days or more before it, under § 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i).
See the example
“from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate”
This is the line Utah's statute multiplies. § 78B-6-811(2)(b) has the jury or court “assess the damages resulting to the plaintiff from” forcible or unlawful detainer, and § 78B-6-811(3) enters judgment “for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages assessed”. The rent goes in once at its own amount; the damages are trebled.
See the example
“court costs and attorneys fees”
The lease runs fees one way, toward the landlord. Utah's section runs them toward whoever wins: § 78B-6-811(5)(a) says the court “shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party”. A tenant who prevails in an unlawful detainer case is a prevailing party too, so a one-way fee line reads differently from the section.
See the example
“shall be 150% of the rental”
The premium is a term of the lease, not a Utah figure. The Utah sections we read set no multiple of rent, and § 78B-6-811(3) leaves the rent single in the judgment. Martin also marks two exits: a landlord “is certainly entitled to waive the right to assert damages for unlawful detainer”, and a retroactive new lease meant “there never was an unlawful detainer.”
See the example
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Utah Law on Holdover Clause
- When staying on becomes unlawful depends on the kind of tenancy.
Read the law's words
Under § 78B-6-802(1)(a) a fixed term "shall be terminated without notice at the expiration of the specified term or period", so a tenant who stays past the last day of the lease is in unlawful detainer. Under § 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i) a month-to-month or other periodic tenant is in unlawful detainer after the end of the period only where the owner served notice "15 calendar days or more before the end of that month or period", and under § 78B-6-802(1)(b)(ii) a tenant at will is in unlawful detainer after "the expiration of a notice of not less than five calendar days". - The rent is not tripled; the damages are.
Read the law's words
Section 78B-6-811(2)(b) requires the jury or court to "assess the damages resulting to the plaintiff from" forcible or unlawful detainer, and § 78B-6-811(3) says "The court shall enter the judgment against the defendant for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages assessed under Subsections (2)(a) through (2)(e)." Section 78B-6-811(5)(a) adds that the court "shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party", and under § 78B-6-811(4)(a) execution on an unlawful detainer judgment issues "immediately after the entry of the judgment." - Martin v.
Read the law's words
Kristensen shows how the damages are counted. The court said that "In an action under a tenancy at will, the plaintiff's damages are primarily measured by the fair market rental value of the property", that "the judgment must include an award of treble damages", and that "The statute leaves no room for a court-made exception." In that case a holdover from July 2008 to October 2015 produced damages of $224,534.10, trebled to $673,602.30, and the court noted that the statute provides "mechanisms for avoidance of that problem" through expedited resolution of the action. - A landlord can give the remedy up.
Read the law's words
Martin says that "An unlawful detainer plaintiff is certainly entitled to waive the right to assert damages for unlawful detainer. Such a waiver is enforceable, and forecloses the right to seek statutory remedies." The court also treated a new lease starting retroactively as reestablishing the tenancy, so that "there never was an unlawful detainer." Check the current text of § 78B-6-811 before relying on the figure: it was amended by Laws of Utah 2026, chapter 401, effective May 6, 2026.
Sources include Utah Code § 78B-6-811(2), (3); Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(a), (b); Martin v. Kristensen, 2021 UT 17; Utah Code § 57-22-7; Utah Code § 57-20-1 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Utah treats staying past your lease as unlawful detainer. When staying becomes unlawful depends on your tenancy (Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)):
- Fixed term. It ends without notice when the term expires (§ 78B-6-802(1)(a)).
- Month to month. The owner must serve notice 15 calendar days or more before the end of the month or period (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i)).
- Tenancy at will. The notice must be not less than five calendar days (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)(ii)).
In court, the jury or court assesses the damages from the unlawful detainer, and judgment is for the rent and three times those damages (§ 78B-6-811(2)(b), (3)). In Martin v. Kristensen, 2021 UT 17, the Supreme Court of Utah called the treble award mandatory and said damages under a tenancy at will are primarily measured by fair market rental value.
The court shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party (§ 78B-6-811(5)(a)), and execution issues immediately after judgment (§ 78B-6-811(4)(a)).
§ 78B-6-811 was amended effective May 6, 2026. Read the current text of § 78B-6-802 and § 78B-6-811 on le.utah.gov before relying on any figure here.
What's Specific to Salt Lake City
Our record of the Salt Lake City Code finds no city holdover rate or double-rent rule. What the city adds is a limit on why an owner may end a tenancy.
Under § 18.96.130(A), an owner "may not terminate a rental agreement or bring or threaten to bring an eviction action" because you in good faith requested repairs, complained of code violations, joined a tenants' union, testified about the premises or exercised a legal right. Utah's § 57-22-7(1) and § 57-20-1(1) limit city rules; we take no position on how they apply.
Treat it as a lease term. No Utah section we read multiplies rent; § 78B-6-811(3) trebles the damages assessed.
Compare it to § 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i): notice served 15 calendar days or more before the month or period ends.
It should be. In Martin v. Kristensen a new lease starting retroactively meant "there never was an unlawful detainer."
§ 78B-6-811(5)(a) awards costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party, whichever side that is.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Utah Code § 78B-6-811(2), (3); Utah Code § 78B-6-802(1)(a), (b); Martin v. Kristensen, 2021 UT 17; Utah Code § 57-22-7; Utah Code § 57-20-1, read on web.archive.org. Read in the enrolled copy of H.B. 591 (2026 General Session), archived by the Wayback Machine on April 7, 2026, which the Legislature's passed-bills list records as Laws of Utah 2026, chapter 401, effective May 6, 2026, and which archived copies of the § 78B-6-802 and § 78B-6-811 pages dated May 19 and May 26, 2026 show as the current versions; le.utah.gov could not be reached directly, and FindLaw's copy of § 78B-6-811, marked current as of January 1, 2025, prints an older wording of the same trebling sentence. The Salt Lake City Code was read on American Legal Publishing as current through Ord. 40-26, passed June 16, 2026 (2026 S-21); confirm the current text before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A rent multiple presented as Utah law
Wording that credits doubled or tripled rent to Utah itself. No Utah section we read multiplies a holdover tenant's rent.
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The three attached to rent
A clause that borrows the statute's three and applies it to rent. § 78B-6-811(3) enters the rent once and trebles the damages assessed.
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A holdover rate with no notice first
A month-to-month tenant is owed notice 15 calendar days or more before the period ends (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i)). A clause that skips it deserves a second read.
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Attorney fees running one way
A clause that gives only the landlord fees. § 78B-6-811(5)(a) awards costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.
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A notice to leave after a repair request
§ 18.96.130(A) bars a Salt Lake City owner from ending a tenancy because you in good faith requested repairs or complained of code violations.
Your Rights as a Salt Lake City Tenant
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No Utah multiple of your rent
No Utah section we read multiplies holdover rent. § 78B-6-811(3) trebles the damages assessed and enters the rent at its own amount.
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Notice before a periodic tenancy ends
15 calendar days or more before a month-to-month period ends, and not less than five calendar days for a tenancy at will (§ 78B-6-802(1)(b)).
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Fees if you win
§ 78B-6-811(5)(a) says the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party, which can be the tenant.
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No ending a tenancy for asking for repairs
§ 18.96.130(A) bars an owner from terminating or threatening eviction because you in good faith requested repairs or exercised a legal right.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date and the holdover rate
Write down the date your term ends and the exact rate the holdover paragraph names. That rate is a term of your lease.
Work out which tenancy you hold
A fixed term ends without notice. A month-to-month tenancy needs notice 15 calendar days before the period ends, a tenancy at will five calendar days (§ 78B-6-802(1)).
Get any permission to stay in writing
In Martin v. Kristensen a retroactive new lease reestablished the tenancy, and the court said a landlord may waive damages for unlawful detainer.
Keep every notice and its date
Photograph any notice to leave and note the day it arrived. If it followed a repair request or a complaint, keep that too, for § 18.96.130(A).
Keep proof of every payment
Keep receipts for rent you pay after the term ends. The rent goes into any judgment at its own amount.
Get local advice early
Take the lease, every notice and any court papers to a Salt Lake City tenant lawyer or legal aid office. Execution issues immediately after judgment.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Holdover rules near Utah
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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