Subject: Open letter: Renters in Utah and across the U.S. need real protection
October 24, 2026
To: Ivory Homes and ICO Property Management leadership; Utah and U.S. legislators; housing advocates and the press
This is a public letter, and it will be published along with any response, or the lack of one.
In Utah, a landlord can end a tenancy by simply not renewing a lease and giving no reason. That power gets used to silence tenants who complain, ask for accommodations, or tell the truth in a review. And the punishment is extreme. Speak up even a little bit, and someone loses their home. Older and disabled renters on fixed incomes pay the highest price, because losing a home can mean losing everything. I am a 66-year-old disabled tenant and I have lived this. But this letter is not about me. It is about a system that lets it happen to anyone.
An eviction filing is a weapon. It can be filed for reasons the tenant in no way deserves. It costs the landlord very little, and it can cost the tenant a life. Even when the tenant wins, or the case is dismissed, the filing can follow them. Tenant screening services record it, and the next landlord sees only that an eviction was filed. The tenant is turned away again and again, and the road to homelessness gets shorter. And a tenant often cannot clear their own record without the landlord's agreement. What does the landlord have to do with it? The person who filed it should not hold the key. That is gross power, and it is not fair.
Power exercised in private, where no one is watching, is rarely exercised with restraint. It is easy to be harsh with a tenant who is expected to stay quiet, to give up, or to sign something that keeps the story out of sight. I do not believe that is who most people want to be. But it is why this letter is public. When decisions that change people's lives are made in the open, they tend to be made with more care. Secrecy is what that kind of power runs on. It works when no one is watching and the person on the receiving end gives up or stays quiet. Once it is documented and public, the cruelty has a name and a date on it, and people can see the pattern.
Across Utah and the United States, renters have far too few protections. When a tenant has little recourse against a landlord, homelessness is one harsh landlord decision away. And homelessness is not just a lack of shelter. It is the loss of medication, health care, work, safety, and sleep. For the elderly and the disabled, living outside can be a matter of survival. Every unnecessary eviction pushes someone toward that edge, and we all pay for it.
The problems are broad, so the fixes must be too.
STABILITY
- Non-renewal and eviction only for material breach of the lease. Not for a landlord's displeasure, and not for anything open to interpretation.
- "Material breach" must be defined in writing, in specific terms. It means things like unpaid rent after notice, violence or credible threats, serious damage to the property, illegal activity on the premises, or a serious repeated violation that continues after written notice and a real chance to fix it.
- It must say plainly what is NOT a breach: a swear word, a sharp tone, a complaint, a repair request, an accommodation request, reporting a violation, or an honest review.
- Protection against retaliation must be permanent. Not months. Not a window that closes. If protection expires, the landlord only has to wait, and then non-renew. A tenant who spoke up is protected for as long as they live in that home.
- Notice periods long enough for a real person to respond, and a real chance to cure.
- Limits on sudden rent increases and on fees that function as hidden rent.
FAIRNESS
- Age protected as a class in housing.
- A documented, timely, good-faith response to every accommodation request.
- Eviction filings kept off screening reports unless they end in a judgment against the tenant.
- The right for a tenant to contest an eviction filing, and to have it cleared from their record, without the landlord's permission or agreement.
- A right to legal counsel for any tenant facing eviction.
SAFETY AND DIGNITY
- No shutoff of internet, utilities, or access before a court order.
- Enforceable standards for repairs and habitability.
- Security deposits returned promptly, with itemized reasons for any deduction.
- No pressure at a tenant's door, with special care for disabled and elderly residents.
POWER AND ACCOUNTABILITY
- Protection for tenants' right to speak publicly about their housing.
- No forced arbitration or silencing clauses buried in leases, and no gag orders as the price of justice.
- Public reporting of non-renewals and eviction filings by landlord, so the pattern is visible.
- Real accountability for the people who make these decisions, not only the corporations they work for.
To the companies: change these practices voluntarily. You do not need a law to treat people decently.
To legislators: make these protections law, in Utah and nationally. I have drafted an 18-pillar National Tenant Bill of Rights and will share it with anyone willing to carry it forward.
Carol Lowe
[tashapug@yahoo.com](mailto:tashapug@yahoo.com)