So much for being a “family state.” As Robert Gehrke pointed out, again: Utah is the only state in the entire U.S. where tenants behind in rent are given “72 hours to vacate an apartment or be forced to pay triple what they owe plus attorneys fees and interest”!
This is the case because of the high number of realtors in our state Legislature who pass laws to benefit themselves rather than the general public they are elected to serve. For a state that supposedly believes in helping the poor and needy, they ignore renters who are usually the poorest and neediest.
Many families with children are forced to skimp on food in order to pay rent. Once you’re in debt to a realtor/lawyer, digging yourself out is nearly impossible so many become homeless.
My own parents were renters their entire lives … could never afford a house. We moved on average every two years to avoid cockroaches, rain leaking into the pots we put on our bed at night, and unsanitary stairways … until one lucky day a friend of my dad let us rent one of his well-kept apartments.
At age 12 I thought my dreams had come true. I often wonder how our realtor legislators and their families can sleep at night in their fancy homes knowing full well they are tossing their fellow human beings onto the streets. So much for “do unto others.”
Beverly Terry, Salt Lake City