Austin City Code Chapter 10-2 and Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 343 require property owners to control rats, mice, and other vermin. The Austin Code Department investigates complaints, issues abatement notices, and may perform city-led abatement charged as a property lien.
Austin requires owners and occupants to keep premises free of rodent harborage, including blocked openings, removed food sources, and sealed garbage containers. Chapter 10-2 (Public Health and Environment) of the Austin Code addresses rodent and pest control alongside related sanitation duties. The Austin Code Department investigates complaints and may issue a notice of violation requiring abatement within a set period, often ten days. Failure to comply allows the city to abate the nuisance and assess costs as a property lien under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 342. Restaurants and multifamily properties face additional inspection scrutiny by Austin Public Health. The state nuisance statute, Health & Safety Code Chapter 343, supplies parallel county-level authority when city action is insufficient.
Failure to abate rodent infestation after notice can result in fines up to two thousand dollars per day, city-performed abatement at the owner's expense, and a lien recorded against the property under TX Local Government Code Chapter 342 until paid.
Austin, TX
Austin Public Health inspects food establishments under City Code Chapter 10-3 and assigns a numerical score on a 100-point scale. Austin does not require po...
Austin, TX
Austin Code Department aggressively enforces property maintenance standards under City Code Chapters 6-1 (Public Health and Sanitation) and 13-1 (Minimum Pro...
See how Austin's rodent control rules stack up against other locations.
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