How long is squatters' rights in Utah?
Seven years under Utah Code section 78B-2-214, and only if the squatter paid every property tax on the land the whole time. Since May 7, 2025, a Utah owner can also hand police a verified complaint and have a trespasser removed without a court case.
If someone is living in your home now, the clock matters far less than getting them out lawfully, and that is where we can help.
- Statutory period
- 7 years
- What's different here
- every tax bill paid for the whole period, plus a 2025 police removal route
- Statute
- Utah Code §§ 78B-2-208, 78B-2-214
Someone living in your home in Utah? Dardaris helps you get them out.
Changing the locks or cutting the power turns the law against you. We hand it to people who remove squatters lawfully, for a living.
If they are moving in right now, call the police first. Once they have settled in, it takes a formal process, and that is where we come in.
Your contact at Dardaris
Dardaris is not a law firm and removes nobody itself. If you hire the specialist we introduce, they pay us a referral fee, and you deal with them under their own terms. We pass your details on only once you agree.
- Tell us what is happening, by email or on a call. Talking to us costs nothing.
- We put you in touch with a removal specialist who works through the court and the sheriff, never around them.
- Once the home is free, Dardaris manages the letting for you.
Utah sets a seven-year adverse possession period, but section 78B-2-214 adds a condition that does most of the work: the person claiming the land, and anyone they take over from, must have paid all taxes levied and assessed on it. Section 78B-2-208 starts from the opposite assumption, that the person with legal title is the one in possession, and lets a claimant rebut it only by showing the land was held against the title for at least seven years. A squatter who never paid the tax bill has no claim in Utah, however long they stayed.
Utah also changed how an owner gets a trespasser out. Senate Bill 55, in force since May 7, 2025 and codified at Utah Code section 78B-6-817, lets an owner or the owner's agent give law enforcement a verified Complaint to Remove Trespassers Unlawfully Occupying Real Property, signed under penalty of perjury. The owner states that the person entered unlawfully, that the property was not open to the public when they came in, that the owner told them to leave, that they are not a current or former tenant under a written rental agreement or an immediate family member, and that no lawsuit between them is pending. If the owner appears entitled to relief, police serve a notice to vacate without delay and put the owner in possession.
The route has limits and a price for misuse. After the notice is served, the owner may ask officers to stand by while the locks are changed and the occupant's belongings are moved to the property line. A person removed wrongly can sue for restoration of the home, actual damages, three times the fair market rent, court costs and attorney fees. A current or former tenant is outside the route: Utah Code section 78B-6-814 requires a court eviction.
Where Utah sits against the rest of the United States, in years
Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 5 have a shorter clock and 33 a longer one or none at all.
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 7 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
What are the squatting laws in Utah?
Utah's adverse possession law is Utah Code §§ 78B-2-208 and 78B-2-214: 7 years of continuous occupation and claim of the land, with every property tax paid. Squatting itself is criminal trespass. Since May 7, 2025, an owner can ask police to remove a trespasser under § 78B-6-817. The owner never changes the locks or cuts the utilities first, and a current or former tenant is removed through the courts.
How long is squatters' rights in Utah?
Seven years of continuous occupation and claim of the land, and the occupant must have paid all taxes levied and assessed on it. Utah Code § 78B-2-214 and § 78B-2-208.
What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Utah?
The statute names no deed requirement. It asks for seven years and every tax paid. A squatter who never paid the property tax has not met the test, and an owner who keeps paying the tax bill defeats the claim. Until then the person is a trespasser.
What is Utah's 2025 squatter removal law?
Senate Bill 55, Utah Code § 78B-6-817, in force since May 7, 2025. The owner or agent gives police a verified complaint, under penalty of perjury, saying the person entered unlawfully, was told to leave, is not a current or former tenant under a written rental agreement or an immediate family member, and has no pending lawsuit with the owner. Police then serve a notice to vacate without delay and put the owner in possession. A false statement exposes the owner to perjury and to a suit for three times the fair market rent.
Can I remove a squatter in Utah without a court order?
For a trespasser, yes, through the police complaint above, but not by yourself. Do not change the locks, remove belongings or cut the utilities before police have served the notice. For a current or former tenant, Utah Code § 78B-6-814 requires a court eviction. If you catch someone moving in, call the police at once.
Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Utah?
Yes. Removal specialists do it through the court and the sheriff. Changing the locks or cutting the power would put you in the wrong. Dardaris can put you in touch with one, and once the home is free, manage the letting for you.
Elsewhere in the United States
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- See every place
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.