Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Utah?
Utah requires no interest on a residential security deposit, and its deposit chapter is short enough to make the absence unmistakable.
Cited to Utah Code § 57-17-1 (return or explanation of retainage; the whole of Utah's holding rule) and 1 more cited source · Verified August 28, 2026
Title 57, chapter 17 is five sections long — three of them a single sentence each — and it covers four things: the landlord must return the deposit when the tenancy ends or give the renter written notice explaining why any refundable part is being kept (§ 57-17-1); a nonrefundable portion has to be disclosed in writing (§ 57-17-2); deductions must be itemized and explained, with the balance of the deposit and any prepaid rent mailed, delivered, or sent electronically no later than 30 days after the renter vacates and returns possession (§ 57-17-3); and a landlord who misses that duty owes the full deposit, the full prepaid rent, and a $100 civil penalty (§ 57-17-5). Nothing in the chapter names an account, an escrow, a bank, or a rate, and nothing outside it does either. Utah does not split the question the way its neighbours do: the Mobile Home Park Residency Act lets a park require 'a reasonable initial security deposit' (§ 57-16-7) and caps a common-facility deposit, without attaching interest or any custody duty, so a park space and an apartment get the same answer. The only monetary interest anywhere in these chapters runs toward the landlord: § 57-22-4(7)(b) caps the fees, fines, assessments and interest an owner may charge a renter.
Utah deposit interest at a glance
| Interest owed to the tenant | No — no statute addresses it |
|---|---|
| How the rate is set | No rate exists — there is no interest duty |
| Current figure | No published figure exists |
| Rate rules | No rate rules — no duty exists |
| Accrual and payment | No payment duty exists |
| Who and what is covered | No statutory conditions stated — see the summary and notes |
| Statute controls where or how the deposit is held | No statute addresses how the deposit is held |
| Interest-bearing account required | No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest |
| Custody rules | No statute addresses custody of the deposit |
| Penalty for violation | No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically |
| Local rules | None noted for this state |
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Utah Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/utah/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.
Check the verified Utah answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Utah law as this page.
Notes and caveats
- Five sections, and none of them names an account — Utah's deposit chapter is one of the shortest in the country. Section 57-17-1 is a single sentence — return the deposit at the end of the tenancy or explain in writing what is being kept — and §§ 57-17-2 and 57-17-4 are one sentence each. There is no § 57-17-6 and no decimal section: the chapter's whole content is the return duty, the nonrefundable-deposit disclosure, the itemization and 30-day clock, successor liability, and the penalty. Charts that give Utah an escrow or trust-account rule have imported another state's law.
- Park spaces are not a separate answer here — Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and California all treat manufactured or mobile home park spaces under a different statute from ordinary rentals, and in three of those states the park rule differs from the general one. Utah does not split: the Mobile Home Park Residency Act permits a reasonable initial security deposit and caps a deposit for use of common facilities, and neither provision attaches interest or a holding duty.
- The interest Utah does legislate runs the other way — Section 57-22-4(7)(b) of the Fit Premises Act limits what an owner may charge a renter — 'a fee, fine, assessment, interest, or other cost' greater than the amount agreed to — and § 57-22-4(8) preserves anything allowed by law or stated in the rental agreement. That is a ceiling on money flowing from renter to owner, not a deposit-interest rule, and it is the likeliest source of a keyword match in Utah's landlord-tenant chapters.
- The chapter is current — Sections 57-17-1, 57-17-2, and 57-17-4 have stood since the chapter was enacted by chapter 74 of the 1981 General Session. Section 57-17-3 was amended by chapter 275 of the 2025 General Session, effective May 7, 2025, and § 57-17-5 by chapter 401 of the 2023 General Session, effective July 1, 2024. Neither amendment added an account or interest duty, and no later version of any section in the chapter is queued.
Common questions: Utah deposit interest
Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.
- What is the Utah security deposit interest rate right now?
- No published figure exists.
- When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Utah?
- No payment duty exists.
- Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Utah?
- No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest.
- What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Utah?
- No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.
- Do any cities or counties in Utah have their own deposit-interest rules?
- None noted for this state.
Citations
- Utah Code § 57-17-1 (return or explanation of retainage; the whole of Utah's holding rule) (verified 2026) Official source
- Utah Code title 57, ch. 17 (Residential Renters' Deposits; the complete five-section chapter) · §§ 57-17-1 through 57-17-5 (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Direct read of the whole of Utah Code title 57, chapter 17 (Residential Renters' Deposits) in the Legislature's published code — §§ 57-17-1 through 57-17-5, the complete chapter, each at its current version — together with chapter 57-16 (Mobile Home Park Residency Act, all twenty-one sections), § 57-20-1, and chapter 57-22 (Utah Fit Premises Act, all nine sections): thirty-six sections in all, searched for interest, escrow, trust-account, separate-account and segregation terms, with all six occurrences of the word 'interest' examined in context. Currency taken from each section's own effective date and session credit, and from the code viewer's version list for every chapter 57-17 section, each of which holds one current version and no future-effective text.