Eric S. Peterson
Eric S. Peterson is the executive director of the Utah Investigative Journalism Project, a non-profit, public service journalism and educational resource for the state and region. He has been an investigative reporter in Utah for the past decade and gained acclaim for breaking major stories about pay-to-play corruption allegations at the Utah Attorney General’s Office years before his competition.
Utah Renter Says She Was Forced to Pay a Legal Bill to Get Federal Rent Assistance
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah says checks from the Emergency Rental Assistance fund are better off going to landlords rather than renters directly.
Bill Would Raise Major Barriers To Sue for Asbestos Injuries in Utah
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. Experts say contractors and home renovators face most exposure risk.
Salt Lake and Other Utah Cities Used Most of a $10 Million Homeless Services Fund to Hire Cops
Co-published with Salt Lake City Weekly. What does it mean to have police "dedicated to homeless response"?
Clean Slates
Co-published with Salt Lake City Weekly. How to get an eviction off your record in Utah.
Taxpayers Spent Over Half a Million Dollars to Clean Homeless Encampments in Salt Lake County in 2021
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. Advocates say money would have been better spent on housing and services.
Murder on the River
Co-published with Salt Lake City Weekly. Critics say a lack of trust between police and the homeless community is to blame for an unsolved homicide in Utah.
Utah helped landlords, not renters. How that’s changing.
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. New guidance from the Department of the Treasury clarifies funding is meant to ‘achieve housing stability.’
In Utah, Bills Helping Renters Face Uphill Battle in Legislature Dominated by Real Estate Industry
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. But legislation expunging eviction records shows bipartisan support.
Salt Lake Apartment Complex Hikes Rent After Receiving the Most Federal Aid in Utah
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. Tenants of a Utah apartment complex said property managers “wouldn’t fix anything,” while increasing the rent and filing lawsuits against …
Report: Utah Disbursed 39% of Federal Rental Assistance by Fall Deadline
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. The state will continue paying landlords for application assistance but stop funding advocacy groups.
For Utah renters, a 3-day eviction notice often shows up before federally mandated 30-day notice
Co-published with The Salt Lake Tribune. Eviction notices can be a tactic of harassment or intimidation, renters and activists say.
Three Ways Utah Could Reinvent Evictions
Co-published with the Utah Investigative Journalism Project and The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah could use federal funds for eviction prevention programs—instead of just paying landlords’ legal …