"We had moved to Saratoga Springs before Kevin was called up," Dexter said. "We were not even unboxed when we got the news. I had just found out I was pregnant."

Dexter struggled through the pregnancy on bed rest and in the hospital with a lot of neighborly and LDS ward help.

And she managed to pay the $1,050 rent each month for the three-bedroom home she and her husband originally leased with an option to purchase.

"We can't buy the house because the appraisal isn't as high as the asking price ($154,900)," Dexter said. "Financially it's been tight, but I've never been late on the rent. I've managed properties, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better tenant than me."

Dexter said she's paid the $1,050 for November but doesn't have the other $450, the amount that is in arrears and being used to justify her eviction.

Dexter believes the landlords raised the rent to create a loophole around the $1,200 rent threshold in the relief act.

"It all seems very contrived," she said. "The JAG said they would protect us, this is supposed to be illegal." Leslie Slaugh, an attorney experienced in handling landlord-tenant cases, said a landlord is legally required to give a minimum of 15 days notice of a change in tenancy — whether that is a raise in the rent or advising a tenant they need to move out.

"The general rule is, unless you have a written contract, you have a month-to-month tenancy that can be revoked at any time as long as it doesn't violate any federal or state law," Slaugh said.

The Dexters' lease and option-to-buy agreement expired in November.

Slaugh said he did not know how the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act might affect the Dexter situation.

Maj. Lorraine Januzelli of the Judge Advocates Office said she had not been made aware of the Dexters' imminent eviction and planned to immediately dispatch a staff member to help Dexter.

Dexter said she has asked both Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both R-Utah, to help in getting a compassionate early leave for her husband.

Larry Shepherd, public information officer with Bennett's office, said there's been nothing granted as yet. "As you can imagine, there are a hundred stories out there just like this," he said.

---

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com