Lakewood, NJ Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

1, the Responsibility of Owner for Maintenance section, folds rodent and vermin control into a broader dwelling-maintenance duty that runs to every owner in the township. Paragraph j requires the owner to make and maintain the dwelling reasonably vermin and rodent proof and to exterminate infestations, while paragraph o separately requires the owner to keep all crawl spaces and open areas under a dwelling in a clean, trash-free, vermin and rodent free condition that will not create an unsanitary or hazardous condition. The chapter's definitions describe 'infestation' as the presence of household pests, cockroaches, vermin, harmful insects, and rodent nesting places and conditions, and define 'extermination' as eliminating harboring places, removing food, dirt or waste that would sustain infestation, and using poisoning, spraying, trapping or licensed fumigation.

Related owner duties in the same section back up the anti-rodent scheme: paragraph f requires hallway and stairway floors kept free of garbage, refuse and junk; paragraph g extends that to porches, yards, alleys and areaways; and paragraph n requires tight-fitting window and door screens maintained to keep out flies, mosquitoes and other disease-bearing insects. Enforcement runs through the Board of Health's nuisance-abatement process in § BH3-3, which gives an owner written notice and at least five days to abate a violation before the Board can abate it itself and bill the owner.