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- Senate committee rejected a proposal to ease eviction penalties in Utah.
- The bill aimed to allow judges discretion over treble damages in evictions.
- Sen. Blouin's proposal received mixed public feedback and was defeated 1-5.
SALT LAKE CITY – Without much discussion, a Utah Senate committee voted to kill a proposal aimed at reducing the penalties a renter can be required to pay when being evicted.
SB125, sponsored by Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, failed to pass out of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, 1-5, on a party line vote Thursday.
State law currently allows for treble damages in evictions, meaning a renter being evicted has to pay three times what they owe a landlord for rent or other costs.
Blouin initially sought to remove treble damages completely, but he revised his bill to give a judge the ability to decide whether to impose it or not.
"It becomes very expensive for folks," Blouin said. "It puts people in a tough position that are already struggling to get by."
Senators heard mixed public comments on the bill. Jacob Kent, an attorney who represents tenants, called treble damages a "ridiculous amount."
"They do tend to stick with the tenant for a very, very long time," Kent said.
But Nick Lloyd, an attorney who represents landlords, said the current policy is working.
"I think there's a direct correlation between having treble damages and our low eviction rate," Lloyd said, noting that the law communicates to renters the consequences they could face. "If you can't pay your rent, you should move on."
The Senate committee spent very little time discussing Blouin's proposal. Only Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, spoke about it and pushed Blouin on whether judges would ever award treble damages if the law didn't require them to do so.
Blouin replied it would be a "good thing" if they didn't.
McCay also asked about the damage a tenant could cause during an eviction, which Blouin acknowledged is within the tenant's control. But Blouin said a judge would still have discretion to impose steeper penalties for that.
All the Republicans on the committee, including McCay, then voted to prevent the bill from moving forward. Only Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, supported it.
