In Salt Lake County, rental costs rose by 37% as income grew by 18.5%. Rent in Davis County was up 42% while income was up less than 8%. In Weber County, rent shot up nearly 43% while the average income of renters was up 18.4%. Gardner Policy Institute, while rents in the state’s four most populous counties dipped slightly in 2022, between 20 they had increased significantly, far outpacing income growth. In March alone, according to a recent presentation to the Salt Lake Chamber, attorneys for landlords filed about 800 eviction cases against tenants who had fallen behind on their rent - the most in seven years and double the number filed two years earlier.Īnd chances are - with aid phased out, a continued tight rental market and inflationary pressures - we haven’t seen the peak.Īccording to a report last month from the University of Utah’s Kem C. In recent months, eviction filings have, predictably, been climbing. It’s not surprising that many who were teetering on the brink before are falling over the precipice. “Timing-wise,” McDonald said, “I don’t think the feds had any idea we’d run out of money at the same time that emergency allotment ended.” As eviction moratoriums have been lifted, Covid-era food assistance for low-income families were also being rolled back. He’s one of the lucky ones - because for many Utah renters, the expiration of the program came at an inopportune time. “We’re probably going to move out and find something else when the lease is up.” “We’re struggling, but still living here,” he told me recently. Losing the anticipated assistance left David and his family scraping to get by. Over two years, he said, the state and local partners spent right around $350 million on the Emergency Rental Assistance program. Nate McDonald, deputy director of the Department of Workforce Services, said the program had run out of money and the state needed to stop taking applications for new aid or extensions.

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