SALT LAKE CITY — Sergio Bernabeu moved to Salt Lake City from Texas at the end of last year. It took him more than two months to find a place to rent, he said.
“Looking into affordable housing, it was a big challenge," said Bernabeu. "My lease is due in December, and I'm already looking, you know, right now, so six months prior to the end of the lease. I'm already looking for another place.”
Wednesday night, Salt Lake City’s Housing Stability Division hosted a ‘Renter Resource Fair' with about a dozen different organizations like NeighborWorks and the Disability Law Center.
“Sometimes it's hard to get on the phone or online and look up 12 different organizations to find out what you need," said Erik Fronberg, Housing and Consumer Protection Analyst. "So we brought everybody here to be in one place at one time.”
Renters might not know how much free legal aid is out there for them, he said.
“If you're starting a new lease, and you're taking a look at that document, and it's multiple pages, and it's using legal language that you don't understand, you can reach out to folks like People's Legal Aid, or Utah Legal Services, and they can actually get someone to walk through that lease with you, explain what your responsibilities are as well as what your rights are," said Fronberg.
The city is planning to host another resource fair for renters in October and make it into a quarterly event.
