Utahns rally to aid soldier's family

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Six days and counting.

Unlike last December, the focus of the Kevin Dexter clan's calendar countdown isn't Christmas. Instead, the soldier's family must prepare for Monday — the day they must vacate their home because they cannot afford a $450-per-month rent increase.

Last week, the future looked bleak for the family of six, which was served with an eviction notice the day before Thanksgiving. Today, however, news from the Dexter home is filled with a little more cheer.

Word of the family's plight spread after a story was published Friday in the Deseret Morning News. Since the front-page story appeared, the family has been flooded with offers from people who have reacted as if Uncle Sam requested help and pointed directly at them.

Hundreds of dollars have been sent, either directly to Dexter's wife, Linda, or to an account set up at a credit union. Two attorneys said they'd take her case for free. Two real-estate agents also offered their services at no cost.

One man said he'd pay all the family bills until Staff Sgt. Kevin Dexter returns home in the summer. Volunteers also pledged to provide Christmas gifts for the family of six.

And, Linda Dexter said, a few well-meaning albeit misguided supporters even offered to beat up the landlord.

Still, some say the landlord's rights should not be forgotten. The owners of the Saratoga Springs home, Justin and April Summers, said the Dexters have known about the increase since September. They say tight finances of their own prompted the rent increase.

But Linda Dexter, a little embarrassed at the attention, wants people to be aware of the struggles suffered by families when the breadwinner is sent to war.

"If families think they are protected and they're not, that's a big problem," she said.

Dexter's husband left in February to serve in Iraq with the Utah National Guard's 1457th Engineer Battalion, leaving behind an ill, pregnant wife and three young children.

Linda Dexter labored through a difficult pregnancy, delivered a premature baby and struggled to pay the monthly rent, which rose Nov. 1 from $1,050 to $1,500.

Dexter thinks she's found another home in the same neighborhood to rent for the same amount of money — but her confidence in the system is shaken.

"We thought we were protected, and we're not," Dexter said. "This is supposed to be illegal."