The minimum lease term, by rule

S.B. 201 also moved minimum lease terms out of the declaration and into the rulebook. Section 57-8a-209(1)(c): “An association may establish, by rule, a minimum lease term of six months or less.”

Six months is the ceiling on what a rule can reach. A longer minimum term remains a declaration-level restriction, adopted under the amendment machinery at § 57-8a-104 — a majority vote at a meeting with at least 51% of voting interests present, and not by the board. Our Utah short-term rentals page sets out how the rule route and the declaration route differ.

The grandfather clause, and its trapdoor

Section 57-8a-209(6)(a)(iii) preserves the position of associations formed before May 12, 2009 — but conditionally:

“…an association that is formed before May 12, 2009, unless, on or after May 12, 2015, the association: (A) adopts a rental restriction or prohibition; or (B) amends an existing rental restriction or prohibition.”

The exemption is forfeited by acting. An older association that touched its rental provisions after May 2015 — even to tighten them, even to tidy them — stepped out from behind the grandfather clause.

Grandfathering is not a rescue for an unlawful use

The state's HOA ombudsman drew that line in Advisory Opinion 2026-13 (Wiser v. Swan Creek Village Homeowners Association, March 30, 2026). An owner argued his short-term bookings predated the association's current restrictions. The office concluded: “[His] short-term bookings were in violation of the Governing Documents from the very beginning. Because his rentals were never legally permitted under the CC&Rs, he does not qualify for protection and must comply with the Association's current rental restrictions.”²

The same opinion upheld a rule shifting the association's legal fees onto a violating owner: “The Association's rule requiring a homeowner to pay for legal fees resulting from a violation is valid…Consequently, the Association did not violate the law by adopting the Rules.” A $314,000 fine in the same dispute had already been rescinded by the association before the opinion issued.

Renting part of a unit

The condominium side produced its own boundary case. In Advisory Opinion 2026-16 (Green v. Vivante Homeowners Association, April 14, 2026), an owner living in his own unit wanted to rent two bedrooms; the association allowed one. The office upheld the limit: “The Association limited Mr. Green to renting out only one bedroom due to concerns about neighborhood parking and the use of common areas and facilities. This restriction is legally valid…the Association's decision was a reasonable compromise that followed the law…”³

The condominium rental section, § 57-8-10.1, was itself amended in the 2025 session. It mirrors the community-association section on the exemptions, the 2009 grandfather date and the $200 fee — and carries no counterpart to § 57-8a-209(10), the internal accessory dwelling unit carve-out that bars a planned-community association from restricting an ADU rental.

What to watch next

Municipal short-term rental enforcement has moved separately. House Bill 256 of the 2025 session, effective May 7, 2025, lets a city or county that regulates short-term rentals use an online listing as evidence that a short-term rental occurred, paired with corroborating evidence.⁴ That is a zoning tool rather than a covenant one — a city citation does not enforce a declaration, and a declaration does not need a city ordinance — but in Park City, Summit County, Washington County and Moab the two now run alongside each other.