Martin County, FL Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Baseline duty
- All structures kept free of insect/rodent infestation
- Rental units
- Owner must exterminate before renting or leasing
- Multi-unit buildings
- Owner covers shared areas, occupant covers own unit
- Defect exception
- Owner responsible if infestation caused by structural defect
- Governing article
- Secs. 21.145-21.149, Ch. 21 Article 12
Summary
Martin County's Property Maintenance Code requires every structure to be kept free of insect and rodent infestation, with prompt extermination and reinfestation prevention, under Sec. 21.145, and assigns that duty to owners, occupants or both depending on whether the building is single-family, multi-unit, or a rental about to be leased.
Sec. 21.145. - Infestation. All structures shall be kept free from insect and rodent infestation. All structures in which insects or rodents are found shall be promptly exterminated by approved processes that will not be injurious to human health. After extermination, proper precautions shall be taken to prevent reinfestation. ... Sec. 21.149. - Occupant. The occupant of any structure shall be responsible for the continued rodent and pest-free condition of the structure. Exception: Where the infestations are caused by defects in the structure, the owner shall be responsible for extermination.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 62 | Land Development Regulations: Supplement 62).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 145 sets the baseline: all structures shall be kept free from insect and rodent infestation, and any structure found with insects or rodents must be promptly exterminated by approved processes that will not be injurious to human health, with proper precautions taken afterward to prevent reinfestation. The following sections divide up who is responsible. Sec. 146 puts extermination on the owner before a structure is rented or leased. Sec. 147 puts responsibility for a one-family dwelling, or a single-tenant nonresidential structure, on the occupant.
Sec. 148 splits the duty in a multi-unit building: the owner must exterminate the public and shared areas and the exterior property, but an occupant whose own unit gets infested because of their own failure to prevent it becomes responsible for that unit. Sec. 149 states the general rule for any occupant: they are responsible for keeping the structure they occupy in a continued rodent and pest-free condition, with one exception, if the infestation is caused by a defect in the structure itself, such as a gap in the exterior wall or a broken screen, responsibility shifts back to the owner.
Together, Article 12 (Extermination) of the Property Maintenance Code treats rodent control as a maintenance obligation tied to who controls the space and who caused the problem, rather than a blanket owner or blanket tenant duty, and it applies County-wide to every existing residential and nonresidential structure covered by the Property Maintenance Code.
Violations & Fines
A structure found infested, or an owner or occupant who fails to exterminate as required by Sec. 21.145 through 21.149, is a Property Maintenance Code violation subject to the notice-and-correction process in Sec. 21.77: written notice describing the violation and a reasonable deadline to correct it, followed by placarding and, if uncorrected, condemnation under Sec. 21.78 through 21.81.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has to pay for pest control in a Martin County rental, the landlord or the tenant?
In an apartment building, who handles rodents in the hallways?
What counts as a rodent-control violation under this code?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Martin County
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