Johnson County, IA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Single-unit rental
- Occupant exterminates pests
- Multi-unit rental
- Owner handles 2+ infested units
- Owner-caused infestation
- Owner always responsible
- Enforcing office
- County Zoning Administrator / inspectors
- First-offense penalty
- Up to $750 civil citation
- Applies to
- Rentals in unincorporated county only
Summary
In unincorporated Johnson County, tenants in a single-family rental must exterminate rodents, insects or other pests on the premises themselves. In a multi-unit rental, the owner must handle extermination once two or more units are infested. If a landlord failed to keep the dwelling rodent-proof, the extermination duty shifts back to the owner regardless of unit count.
Every occupant of a single-family rental dwelling shall be responsible for the extermination of any insects, rodents or other pests therein or on the rental premises; every occupant of a rental dwelling containing more than one rental dwelling unit or rental rooming unit shall be responsible for such extermination within the unit occupied whenever said rental unit is the only one infested. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, whenever infestation is caused by failure of the owner to maintain a rental dwelling in a reasonably rodent proof or reasonably insect proof condition, extermination shall be the responsibility of the owner.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: the cited page had not changed since it was quoted.
Full Breakdown
10(C) of the Johnson County Rental Housing Code, adopted for the unincorporated area under Volume Two of the county's Code of Ordinances, splits rodent and pest control duties between tenant and landlord. An occupant of a single-family rental dwelling is responsible for exterminating insects, rodents or other pests in or around the dwelling. In a building with more than one rental unit, an occupant is responsible for extermination inside their own unit only if that unit is the only one infested; once a second unit turns up an infestation, the companion Sec.
10(C) also carves out a rodent-proofing exception: whenever the infestation is caused by the owner's failure to keep the dwelling reasonably rodent proof or reasonably insect proof, the extermination duty falls on the owner no matter how many units are affected. The Zoning Administrator and authorized county inspectors enforce the Rental Housing Code under Sec. 9(B), and can open an inspection on a tenant complaint or an observed condition. A related provision, Sec. 9(S), requires pipe passages, chutes and similar wall or floor openings in rental buildings to be sealed to block the passage of vermin, limiting how rodents move between units in multi-family rentals.
This chapter governs only rental dwellings in the unincorporated county; owner-occupied homes and rentals inside Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty or Tiffin fall outside its reach.
Violations & Fines
Rodent-control violations under the Rental Housing Code enforce through Chapter 8:8, incorporated by Sec. 8:7.12. The county can cite the responsible owner or occupant for a County Infraction: a civil penalty of up to $750 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for a repeat offense, or pursue a criminal charge carrying a fine up to $625 and up to 30 days in jail. Each day an infestation goes uncorrected counts as a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is responsible for exterminating rodents in a Johnson County rental?
When does the owner have to pay for extermination instead of the tenant?
Does this rodent-control rule apply inside Iowa City or Coralville?
What can Johnson County do if a landlord ignores a rodent infestation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Johnson County
Compare Johnson County to another location·View the Iowa public health rules overview
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