Chapter 4.20 - APARTMENT NUISANCES

4.20.010 - Purpose and intent.#

It is the purpose and intent of this chapter to impose a legal duty upon Apartment complex owners to properly manage their properties to prevent them from deteriorating into havens for crime to the degree that a nuisance is created, ruining the safe, peaceful and quiet enjoyment of property of innocent Tenants and of neighboring properties. The chapter creates a system to notify owners of the problems reasonably attributable to their properties and imposes civil fines upon owners who neglect to take reasonable actions to address problems.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.020 - Acts include causing, attempting, aiding and abetting.#

Whenever any act or omission is referred to or made unlawful in this chapter, it shall include causing, attempting, permitting, aiding or abetting such act or omission.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.030 - Duty to properly manage.#

Every Owner of an apartment complex has a duty to provide adequate management to prevent the creation of a nuisance to innocent Tenants and to neighboring properties, resulting from multiple Incidents of Criminal conduct by Tenants and guests within a six-month period of time.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.040 - Nuisance declared.#

A.

Pursuant to Title 10, Chapter 8, Section 60, of the Utah Code, the City of South Salt Lake City Council declares that the quiet enjoyment of property is intolerably impaired and a public nuisance exists when, despite giving notice to the Owner and/or Manager of an Apartment complex:

1.

Seven or more Incidents of Serious criminal conduct occur at an Apartment complex within a six-month period of time. In any six-month period, each Incident of Serious criminal conduct in excess of seven shall constitute a separate nuisance and violation of this chapter;

2.

Fifteen (15) or more Incidents of Minor offense occur at an Apartment complex within a six-month period of time. In any six-month period, each Minor offense Incident in excess of fifteen (15) shall constitute a separate nuisance and violation of this chapter; or

3.

Five or more Incidents of Serious criminal conduct in combination with ten or more Incidents or Minor offenses occur at an Apartment complex within a six-month period of time. In any six-month period, each subsequent Incident of Serious criminal conduct in excess of five and each subsequent Incident of a Minor offense in excess of ten shall constitute a separate nuisance and violation of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.050 - Notice.#

A.

Timely notice of an Incident of Serious criminal conduct or Minor offense shall be given by providing the Owner and/or Manager of an Apartment complex a copy of relevant portions of the police report or citation pertaining to the Incident no later than ten days after the City's report of the Incident is prepared.

B.

Sensitive information that the City reasonably believes may create the risk of retribution against a Complainant or police informant, reveal police methods or tactics, result in the invasion of privacy of an individual or interfere with an ongoing police investigation may be redacted from the information provided.

C.

The notice shall contain the information upon which the City bases its conclusion that the Incident is linked to a Tenant or guest of the Apartment complex. An Incident occurring inside an apartment inside of an Apartment complex is prima facie evidence that it is linked to a Tenant or guest of the Apartment complex.

D.

The notice will contain information, if available, to assist the Owner and/or manger to identify the rental unit or units to which the Incident is related.

E.

The notice shall contain a statement that:

1.

Seven Incidents of Serious criminal conduct or fifteen (15) Minor offenses at an Apartment complex within a six-month period constitute a nuisance and will result in the imposition of civil penalties;

2.

Each Incident of Serious criminal conduct in excess of seven and each Minor offense Incident in excess of fifteen (15) in a six-month period of time will be considered to be a separate nuisance and result in a separate civil penalty; and

3.

After an Apartment complex has been the locale for a combination of five Serious criminal Incidents and ten Minor offenses within a six-month period of time, each subsequent Incident of either Serious criminal conduct or Minor offense in a six-month period shall be considered to be a separate nuisance and result in a separate civil penalty.

F.

Service of notice shall be complete upon being delivered personally or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested and regular mail to the Owner and/or Manager at the address furnished to the City on the business license application for the Apartment complex or the owner's address as reflected in the records of the Salt Lake County recorder or assessor's office. Service of notice is complete even if the certified or regular mail is returned as undeliverable, refused or unclaimed.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.060 - Reduction of penalty for obtaining good landlord certification.#

An Owner that has received a civil penalty for maintaining a nuisance [in] an Apartment complex and that, within sixty (60) days of receiving the penalty, obtains a good landlord certification, is entitled to a remittance of one-half the civil penalty and removal of the most recent Incident from its record. The opportunity for an Owner to receive a remittance of one-half of a civil penalty and removal of the most recent Incident is only available once per Landlord. This section does not permit a Landlord to enroll in the good Landlord program if the Landlord's status under that program is currently suspended or revoked.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.070 - Appeal.#

Any Owner that receives a notice under this part shall be entitled to request an administrative hearing as set forth in Section 2.22.040 of this code. The failure to appeal a notice of any Incident shall be deemed a waiver of the right to object to that Incident being counted against the owner. The administrative law judge shall consider only the Incident or nuisance for which an appeal was timely filed, and shall consider any non-appealed Incident as counting against the owner.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

4.20.080 - Defenses.#

A.

An Incident shall not be counted against the Owner of an Apartment complex who can demonstrate the following:

1.

The Tenant or guest was the victim of a crime, and that crime was not committed by another Tenant or guest to the rental property.

2.

Where, due to federal law or regulation, an Owner or Manager lacks sufficient basis to evict a tenant, it shall be a defense that the Owner or Manager has taken reasonable measures to prevent reoccurrence of nuisance behavior by a tenant.

B.

After eviction proceedings have been initiated against a tenant, a subsequent Incident caused by the Tenant or tenant's guest, while the eviction proceeding is pending, shall not be counted against the owner.

A civil penalty in the amount established in the consolidated fee schedule shall be assessed for each violation of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)

A civil penalty in the amount established in the consolidated fee schedule shall be assessed for each violation of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2013-14, 10-11-2013; Ord. No. 2025-05, § 1(Exh. A), 3-12-2025)