Utah’s three-day right to cancel
For most home-improvement contracts signed in your home, you have three business days to walk away — for any reason, with your deposit returned. Most homeowners never learn they had it.
Under the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule and Utah consumer-protection law, when a contract is signed at your home — the classic kitchen-table close after a sales visit — you generally have three business days to cancel. No penalty, no explanation owed, deposit refunded.
The contractor is required to tell you about this right and hand you two copies of a cancellation form along with the contract. The three-day clock doesn’t start until they do.
How to use it
Cancel in writing — sign and date one copy of the cancellation form, or send your own written notice — before midnight of the third business day. Keep proof you sent it. The contractor then has ten days to return your money.
When it doesn’t apply
Contracts signed at the contractor’s office or showroom usually aren’t covered — the rule protects the in-home sale. Emergencies are the other exception: for a true emergency repair, you can waive the right in a signed, dated statement so work can start immediately — and once you’ve signed that waiver, you can’t cancel later. If a contract you signed at home is missing the required notice entirely, your window to cancel may extend well past three days — keep your paperwork.
Before you sign
- Look for the cancellation notice and two forms in your contract packet.
- To cancel: written notice before midnight of the third business day.
- Missing forms can extend the window — keep everything.