How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Utah?

30 days. The clock starts on the day the renter both vacates and returns possession of the property — both must happen. There is no forwarding-address trigger in current Utah law.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Utah?

Missing the 30-day deadline costs the landlord nothing by itself. The renter must first serve a statutory 'Tenant's Notice to Provide Deposit Disposition'; only if the owner fails to act within five business days can the renter recover the full deposit, all prepaid rent, and a $100 civil penalty.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Utah?

No — Utah does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. No Utah statute requires deposits to be held in a separate or escrow account or to earn interest. Utah's security-deposit chapter (Title 57, Chapter 17, §§ 57-17-1 through 57-17-5) contains only five sections, and none addresses accounts or interest.

Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Utah?

Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Utah.

What are the security deposit rules in Utah?

Verified August 5, 2026 All Utah topics →

Utah sets no cap on residential security deposits, but a landlord must return the deposit balance — with an itemized written explanation of any deductions — within 30 days after the renter vacates and returns possession of the unit.

Cited to Utah Code § 57-17-3 (1)-(5) and 3 more Utah statutes · Verified August 5, 2026

Return may be by mail, hand delivery, or, since May 2025, electronically if the renter provided an electronic means. Utah is unusually explicit that part of a deposit may be made nonrefundable: that is legal only if there is a written agreement and the nonrefundable portion is disclosed to the renter in writing when the deposit is taken. The penalty regime is also unusual: a landlord who misses the 30-day deadline owes nothing extra until the renter serves a statutory 'Notice to Provide Deposit Disposition' — if the landlord then fails to comply within five business days, the renter can recover the entire deposit, all prepaid rent, and a $100 civil penalty, with attorney fees available only against a party the court finds acted in bad faith. A renter who skips the notice step is entitled to no statutory relief at all.

Utah security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	30 days
Deadline conditions	The clock starts on the day the renter both vacates and returns possession of the property — both must happen. There is no forwarding-address trigger in current Utah law. The 30 days run from 'the day on which a renter vacates and returns possession of a rental property' (57-17-3(2)). The owner must mail or deliver the deposit balance, any prepaid rent balance, and (if deductions were made) an itemized written notice to the renter's last known address, or electronically by a means the renter provided (electronic option added by HB 480, Ch. 275, 2025 GS, eff. 5/7/2025).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	If any deductions are taken from the deposit or prepaid rent, the owner must provide 'a written notice that itemizes and explains the reason for each deduction' (57-17-3(2)(c)). Permitted deductions: unpaid rent, damages beyond reasonable wear and tear, other costs and fees provided for in the contract, and cleaning of the unit (57-17-3(1)). Separately, 57-17-1 requires owners to either return deposits at termination or give written notice explaining why any refundable deposit is being retained.
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	No Utah statute requires deposits to be held in a separate or escrow account or to earn interest. Utah's security-deposit chapter (Title 57, Chapter 17, §§ 57-17-1 through 57-17-5) contains only five sections, and none addresses accounts or interest.
Pet deposits	No pet-deposit statute exists. Chapter 17 applies to 'deposits however denominated' (57-17-1), so a pet deposit follows the same rules: no cap, 30-day return, itemization, and the nonrefundable-if-disclosed-in-writing option under 57-17-2.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Yes
Penalty for violation	Missing the 30-day deadline costs the landlord nothing by itself. The renter must first serve a statutory 'Tenant's Notice to Provide Deposit Disposition'; only if the owner fails to act within five business days can the renter recover the full deposit, all prepaid rent, and a $100 civil penalty. Utah's penalty regime is conditional and weaker than most states'. The notice form and its four service methods are prescribed in 57-17-3(3)-(4), the five-business-day cure window in 57-17-3(5), and the recovery in 57-17-5(1). A renter who never serves the notice 'is not entitled to relief' (57-17-5(3)). Costs and attorney fees go to the prevailing party only if the court finds the opposing party acted in bad faith (57-17-5(2)); other actual damages remain recoverable either way (57-17-5(4)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	No duty to furnish a forwarding address to start the 30-day clock (the pre-amendment '15 days after receipt of the renter's new mailing address' trigger is gone). But to unlock the statutory remedies, the renter must serve the 57-17-3(3) notice, which must state an address where the owner may send the deposit and itemization.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Utah Security Deposit Laws (verified August 5, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/utah/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Utah statute in the citations section below.

Generate a Utah security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Utah rules as this page.

Notes and caveats

No cap, anywhere in the chapter — the maximum-deposit answer is empty because no cap exists anywhere in Title 57, Chapter 17, which runs only from section 57-17-1 through 57-17-5.
No account and no interest rules — by silence, not by text — the separate-account and interest answers are 'no' because the statutes are silent, not because any section expressly says a landlord may commingle the money or keep the earnings.
Part of a Utah deposit may be nonrefundable — 57-17-2 expressly permits nonrefundable deposit portions if stated in writing at the time the deposit is taken — a distinctive Utah feature that most states do not allow.
Stale-source trap: the old 'new mailing address' clock — the pre-amendment deadline of '30 days, or 15 days after receipt of the renter's new mailing address, whichever is later' still circulates from the old 57-17-3 and is visible in Justia's 2006 and 2010 archive editions. Current law is a flat 30 days running from vacate-plus-return-of-possession.
Stale-source trap: the $100 penalty is not automatic — many guides promise the $100 penalty and court costs automatically when a landlord misses the deadline. Under the current 57-17-5 (rewritten by H.B. 251, Ch. 401, 2023 GS, eff. 7/1/2024) the tenant's 'Tenant's Notice to Provide Deposit Disposition' and the five-business-day cure window that follows it are mandatory prerequisites, and fee-shifting requires a bad-faith finding.
What the 2025 amendment did — and did not — change — HB 480 (Ch. 275, eff. 5/7/2025) added only the electronic-return option and form tweaks. The 30-day number is unchanged.
Citation trap: two different 'Chapter 401's — the 2023 rewrite of 57-17-5 is Chapter 401 of the 2023 General Session — H.B. 251, Court Amendments, effective 7/1/2024 — the Legislature's own chapter lookup lists 57-17-5 among that bill's affected sections. Chapter 401 of the 2026 General Session is an entirely different law (H.B. 591, Nuisance Amendments). Utah chapter numbers restart every session, so a bare 'Ch. 401' citation is ambiguous without its session year.

Common questions: Utah security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Utah?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Utah?: 30 days. The clock starts on the day the renter both vacates and returns possession of the property — both must happen. There is no forwarding-address trigger in current Utah law.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Utah?: Missing the 30-day deadline costs the landlord nothing by itself. The renter must first serve a statutory 'Tenant's Notice to Provide Deposit Disposition'; only if the owner fails to act within five business days can the renter recover the full deposit, all prepaid rent, and a $100 civil penalty.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Utah?: No — Utah does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. No Utah statute requires deposits to be held in a separate or escrow account or to earn interest. Utah's security-deposit chapter (Title 57, Chapter 17, §§ 57-17-1 through 57-17-5) contains only five sections, and none addresses accounts or interest.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Utah?: Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Utah.

Statute citations

Utah Code § 57-17-3 (1)-(5) (verified 2026) Official source
Utah Code § 57-17-5 (1)-(4) (verified 2026) Official source
Utah Code § 57-17-2 (verified 2026) Official source
Utah Code § 57-17-1 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Utah Legislature site (le.utah.gov): the versioned section content files behind the xcode pages for Utah Code 57-17-1 through 57-17-5, 57-22-2, 57-22-3, 57-22-4, 57-22-7, 57-20-1, 78B-6-802, and 10-8-85.5, plus the chapter tables of contents for Title 57 Chapters 17 and 22 (negative checks). Every key figure re-read on law.justia.com's 2025 Utah Code mirror and matched verbatim: the 30-day deposit return clock and its vacate-plus-return-of-possession trigger, the five-business-day cure window and $100 civil penalty with the 57-17-3(3) notice prerequisite, the late-fee cap ('the greater of 10% of the rent agreed to in the rental agreement; or $75'), the 24-hour entry-notice default and its 'except as otherwise provided in the rental agreement' carve-out, the 57-22-4(9) no-cause-of-action clause, the 15-calendar-day month-to-month termination notice of 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i), and the 57-20-1 rent and fee control prohibition. Bill attributions and statuses verified against le.utah.gov's own bill-status JSON endpoint and enrolled/introduced bill texts: 2021 HB 68 (Ch. 98, late-fee cap and entry notice, eff. 5/5/2021), 2025 HB 480 (Ch. 275, electronic deposit returns, eff. 5/7/2025), 2026 HB 591 (Ch. 401, nuisance-only changes to 78B-6-802, eff. 5/6/2026). 2026 General Session (adjourned sine die March 2026, no carryover) checked: HB 478 (rent-increase/fee notice) and HB 516 both died 'House/ filed' 3/6/2026; no enacted 2026 law touches the four topics.