San Jose, CA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Under the San José Housing Code, "infestation of insects, vermin or rodents" is listed as an inadequate-sanitation condition that makes a building substandard, which the code separately declares a nuisance. The code then divides responsibility: a tenant must exterminate insects, rodents, or other pests "whenever the dwelling unit is the only one in the building infested, and the building is reasonably insect and rodent proofed," and must not store items that harbor pests. The owner, agent, or manager is responsible for correcting any condition that makes the building substandard, including building-wide infestations, and for keeping shared and common areas clean and sanitary, even if a lease also puts some duty on the tenant.