The squatters rights Utah law recognizes are narrow, and an owner has two lawful ways to get the house back.

How do you remove squatters from a house in Utah?

Tell them to leave, then give a sworn complaint to the local police under 78B-6-817. If the occupant claims a lease, is a current or former tenant, or is family, the police route closes and the case goes to district court. To use the police route, you or your authorized agent must be able to swear that:

• the person entered unlawfully and is still there
• the house was not open to the public when they entered
• you told them to leave
• they are not a current or former tenant under a written rental agreement you authorized
• they are not an immediate family member of the owner
• no lawsuit about the house is pending between you

The statute prints the complaint itself: 12 lines to initial, signed under penalty of perjury, with proof that you own the house or may act for the owner, and a copy of your ID. Once the officer is satisfied, law enforcement must serve a notice to immediately vacate “without delay” and put you in possession. The officer can then stand by while you change the locks and move the occupant’s belongings to or near the property line.

In an eviction, 78B-6-810 also requires a hearing within 10 business days of an answer if either side asks. Which claim fits a squatter (the chapter covers forcible entry and forcible detainer as well as unlawful detainer) is a question for a Utah attorney.

Take a hypothetical Clearfield house, a 1950s brick rambler your father owned, empty since he died in the spring. Your sister is the personal representative, with the right to take possession of the estate’s property and a duty to protect it (75-3-708). The estate sale cleared the furniture in September. In November she finds a new padlock on the side gate, a broken rear window, and a man asleep in the back bedroom. She does not go in. With an officer there she tells him to leave, then files the complaint with her ID and the court’s letters showing she acts for the estate. If the officer is satisfied, she changes the locks while the officer stands by. If the man produces a lease from someone online, the officer may decline, and a court case adds weeks before the Davis County sheriff or a constable removes him. The window and back-door lock cost $2,000 to replace, over the $1,500 line in 76-6-106.2, so she photographs the damage and reports it.

What should an owner never do to get squatters out?

Never remove them yourself by force, threats or a lockout. Let an officer serving a notice, or a court order, do the removing.

• Do not force them out. Utah defines forcible entry to include turning out the person in actual possession by force, threats or menacing conduct (78B-6-801), and a court trebles forcible entry damages (78B-6-811). Confronting a stranger in an empty house is also how people get hurt.
• Do not change the locks or haul out their things first. The police procedure allows both after the notice is served, with an officer present. If the person turns out to be a tenant, a lockout without a court order is unlawful (78B-6-814).
• Do not cut the heat or water to drive them out. Utah Courts lists shutting off utilities among the things that are illegal to do to a tenant. In a Utah winter it is also your pipes that freeze, and the Utah Insurance Department’s claims guidance says frozen-pipe damage may not be covered when it comes from failing to keep the house warm.
• Do not take money or work to let them stay. Rent, labor or anything else of value can make the person a tenant.
• Do not sign the complaint unless every line is true. It is sworn under penalty of perjury.

Can you sell a house with squatters in it?

Yes, you can sign a deed with someone inside, but the occupant does not leave because the deed changed hands. The new owner has to use the same police complaint or court case you would have, so the buyer prices in the removal and what they cannot see yet: the state of the rooms, and whether it ends in court.

Removal is a legal process a sale does not skip, so for most owners the better order is to finish it first, then sell. Once the Clearfield house is locked and the window fixed, your sister has a vacant estate house in fair shape that might sell for about $380K. If the estate can carry it for a season, an agent will usually net more than a cash offer, ours included. Our post on selling a vacant house in Utah puts a monthly number on carrying one through a winter, vacancy insurance included, and selling an inherited home in probate covers what the estate needs before anyone can sign. If the house needs more work than the estate can fund, vacant or boarded, it is the kind we buy anywhere in the state, and the houses we buy across Utah sets out the rest.

How do you keep squatters out of a vacant house?

Make it plain that entry is forbidden and someone is watching. Under Utah’s criminal trespass statute, 76-6-206, notice against entering can be given in person, by fencing built to keep intruders out, or by signs likely to be seen, and trespass in a dwelling is a class A misdemeanor.

• Post it and lock it. Signs at the doors and gates, a padlock on the side gate, and broken glass boarded the day you find it.
• Visit every week, or have a neighbor do it. Ask them to call you if they see a light on or a car in the drive, and to stay away from the door.
• Search the address on rental sites. A house advertised for rent by someone who does not own it is how some occupants arrive holding a lease.
• Keep paying the property tax, and keep the receipts. Adverse possession needs the occupant to have paid it.
• Tell your insurer the house is empty. Ask in writing what changes while nobody lives there.

Questions people ask

How long does it take to remove squatters in Utah?

It depends on the route. Under the police procedure in Utah Code 78B-6-817, an officer who verifies your complaint must serve a notice to immediately vacate without delay. A court case takes longer: 3 business days to answer the summons, an eviction trial within 60 days of service unless both sides agree otherwise, and 3 calendar days to leave after an order of restitution is served.

Can squatters claim ownership of a house in Utah?

Almost never. Adverse possession in Utah takes seven years of continuous occupation and proof that the occupant paid all the property taxes for that time (Utah Code 78B-2-214), and the law presumes the record owner is in possession until that is shown (78B-2-208). An owner who pays the tax bill and acts within months is far from that line.

Do I need a lawyer to remove squatters?

Not always. You can give the police complaint yourself, and Utah Courts publishes eviction forms for owners who represent themselves, though a company other than a DBA needs someone to represent it. If the occupant shows a lease, claims to own the house, or is family, see a Utah attorney first; Utah Courts’ finding legal help page lists free help and the State Bar’s lawyer search.

Will my insurance cover damage squatters cause?

Often. The Utah Insurance Department says just about every homeowner’s policy covers vandalism and theft, though a policy’s conditions and exclusions decide what it pays on a house nobody lives in, so read the vacancy clause before you count on it. Call the insurer as soon as you find damage, photograph it, and make only the repairs that stop further damage until the insurer inspects.

Should I call the police or file an eviction?

Call the police when the person moved in without anyone’s permission, has never been your tenant, and is not family. File in court when they have or had a lease, paid rent or worked to live there, or when the officer declines to decide. Removing a real tenant without a court order is unlawful under Utah Code 78B-6-814, so if you are unsure which you have, ask a Utah attorney.

Most owners should finish the removal before they sell, because no buyer can skip it either. Once the house is empty and secured, if it is in decent shape and you can carry it for a season, list it with an agent. If it needs work you cannot fund, a written cash offer is worth having next to the listing estimate. Get your cash offer: it costs nothing, and you are free to say no.