§ 78B-6-801. Definitions.

(1) "Commercial tenant" means any tenant who may be a body politic and corporate, partnership, association, or company.

(2) "Forcible detainer" means:

(a) holding and keeping by force, or by menaces and threats of violence, the possession of any real property, whether acquired peaceably or otherwise; or

(b) unlawfully entering real property during the absence of the occupants or at night, and, after demand is made for the surrender of the property, refusing for a period of three days to surrender the property to the former occupant.

(3) "Forcible entry" means:

(a) entering any real property by:

(i) breaking open doors, windows, or other parts of a house;

(ii) fraud, intimidation, or stealth; or

(iii) any kind of violence or circumstances of terror; or

(b) after entering peaceably upon real property, turning out by force, threats, or menacing conduct the party in actual possession.

(4) "Occupant of real property" means one who within five days preceding an unlawful entry was in the peaceable and undisturbed possession of the property.

(5) "Owner:"

(a) means the actual owner of the premises;

(b) has the same meaning as landlord under common law and the statutes of this state; and

(c) includes the owner's designated agent or successor to the estate.

(6) "Tenant" means any natural person and any individual, including a commercial tenant.

(7) "Unlawful detainer" means unlawfully remaining in possession of property after receiving a notice to quit, served as required by this chapter, and failing to comply with that notice.

(8) "Willful exclusion" means preventing the tenant from entering into the premises with intent to deprive the tenant of entry.

Amended by Chapter 184, 2009 General Session
Amended by Chapter 298, 2009 General Session