Richmond requires owners and occupants to keep premises free of rats and mice and to eliminate harborage; the city can order extermination and bill the owner for noncompliance.
Under the Richmond property maintenance and code-compliance provisions in Chapter 11, owners and occupants must keep buildings and yards free of rodent infestation. Trash must be stored in rodent-proof containers, holes around foundations and pipes sealed, and overgrown vegetation cleared. Code Compliance inspectors respond to complaints and can order treatment by a licensed pest operator. Repeated violations on the same property may be abated by the city, with cleanup costs and administrative fees placed as a lien on the property under Richmond's nuisance-abatement procedures.
Failure to abate a rodent harborage after notice can result in civil penalties, city-ordered extermination billed to the owner, and a tax lien against the property.
Richmond, VA
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See how Richmond's rodent control rules stack up against other locations.
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