Monterey County, CA Public Health Rules: Bed-Bug Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered properties
- Apartment houses and hotels renting furnished beds
- Standard
- Bedding kept clean, dry, sanitary, insect-free
- Linen changes
- Required before each new hotel guest/tenant
- Related infestation rule
- §18.15.030(A)(12) covers broader pest infestation
- Enforcement
- Building Official/Health Officer as Enforcement Official
Summary
Monterey County Code § 18.15.040(E) requires every apartment house or hotel in the unincorporated area that rents out furnished beds to keep mattresses, sheets, blankets, and bedding clean, dry, and sanitary, and free from lice, bedbugs, or other insects; bed linen must be changed before a new hotel guest or dwelling-unit tenant occupies the space.
E.Bedding. In every apartment house or hotel subject to this part, held out for rent and furnished with a bed and bedding, every part of every bed, including the mattress, sheets, blankets, and bedding shall be kept in a clean, dry and sanitary condition, free from filth, urine, or other foul matter, and from the infection of lice, bedbugs, or other insects. The bed linen in a hotel shall be changed before a new guest occupies the bed. In every dwelling unit where linen is furnished, the linen shall be changed before a new guest occupies the dwelling unit.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 56).
Full Breakdown
030(A)(12), which covers infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents as determined by the Health Officer. 040(E) does apply, every part of every bed, the mattress, sheets, blankets, and bedding, must be kept in a clean, dry, and sanitary condition, free from filth, urine, or other foul matter, and from the infection of lice, bedbugs, or other insects. The section also sets a linen-change rule: bed linen in a hotel must be changed before a new guest occupies the bed, and in a dwelling unit where the landlord furnishes linen, it must be changed before a new occupant moves in. 030.
Violations & Fines
Failing to keep furnished bedding free of bedbugs, lice, or other insects, or failing to change linen between occupants as § 18.15.040(E) requires, is a maintenance violation the Enforcement Official can act on under § 18.15.060(A)'s general duty-to-maintain provision, and a persistent infestation can support a separate substandard-building finding under § 18.15.030(A)(12), triggering the Enforcement Official's notice, order, and abatement authority under § 18.15.020.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Monterey County have a bed bug law for rentals?
Does this apply to my unfurnished apartment?
Who decides if there's an infestation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Monterey County
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