Habitability and the Utah Fit Premises Act

The statute

Utah's residential habitability rules are in the Utah Fit Premises Act, Utah Code Title 57, Chapter 22. The passages that pest disputes usually turn on, quoted from le.utah.gov:

• 57-22-3(1) (effective 5/7/2025): "Each owner and the owner's agent renting or leasing a residential rental unit shall maintain that unit in a condition fit for human habitation and in accordance with local ordinances and the rules of the board of health having jurisdiction in the area in which the residential rental unit is located."
• 57-22-4(1)(a) (effective 5/5/2021): an owner "may not rent the premises unless they are safe, sanitary, and fit for human occupancy".
• 57-22-5(1)(b) (renter's duties): each renter shall "maintain the premises occupied in a clean and safe condition and shall not unreasonably burden any common area".
• 57-22-6(1)(b) (effective 7/1/2024): a "deficient condition" is one that violates a standard of habitability or a requirement of the rental agreement and "is not caused by: (A) the renter, the renter's family, or the renter's guest or invitee; and (B) a use that would violate: (I) the rental agreement; or (II) a law applicable to the renter's use of the residential rental unit".
• 57-22-6(1)(a)(i): the "corrective period" is "for a standard of habitability, three calendar days".

None of the sections quoted here uses the words pest or infestation. Where pests are in dispute, the questions are usually factual: what is there, how long it has been there, where it came from, and what the owner and the renter each did about it.

What I review

• Notices, work orders and resident communications about the condition.
• Pest control contracts, service reports, treatment records and follow-up inspections, for the unit and for the units around it.
• Photographs, specimens and inspection findings.
• Building layout and the shared spaces pests move through.

What I give an opinion on

• Identification of the pest and the extent of the activity.
• What the evidence says about source and timing, including movement between units.
• Whether the treatment and follow-up met the standard of care for that pest in that kind of building.
• Conditions in the unit or the building that supported the infestation.

Who does the review

Trenton S. Frazer, M.S., BCE #B3413, Bluffdale, Utah. Board Certified Entomologist since 2014; Utah commercial pesticide applicator. About twenty years in pest control, from field sales to VP of Operations and Senior Director of Quality Assurance.

Expert witness inquiries should include the jurisdiction, the posture and any operative deadlines, plus the parties for a conflicts check. CV and testimony history are provided at the point of engagement. (801) 477-0223 · [email protected]