Apple Valley, CA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Municipal Code Ch. 8.34, Rental Housing Units
- Enforcing officer
- Town Manager or designee
- Structural code
- 2024 IPMC adopted by Ord. 573
- Misdemeanor penalty
- Up to $1,000 fine or 6 months jail
- Infraction fines
- $100 first, $200 second, $500 third
Summary
Apple Valley requires every rental housing unit in town to meet a Town-enforced maintenance, sanitation, ventilation and safety standard under Municipal Code Chapter 8.34, backed by the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code adopted in Chapter 8.28. The Town Manager enforces the standard, and landlords who fail to maintain compliant conditions risk revocation of the property maintenance certificate required to keep tenants in the unit.
It is the purpose and intent of this Chapter to establish a standard of maintenance for all rental housing units in the Town of Apple Valley; to provide for a system of continued regulation for the maintenance, sanitation, ventilation, use, occupancy, and safety of rental housing units within the Town of Apple Valley.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 19 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 8.34 of the Apple Valley Municipal Code establishes 'a standard of maintenance for all rental housing units in the Town of Apple Valley,' covering 'maintenance, sanitation, ventilation, use, occupancy, and safety' (§ 8.34.010). The Town Manager or a designee enforces the chapter (§ 8.34.020), and its definitions incorporate the state housing law found at California Health and Safety Code § 17920 et seq. (§ 8.34.030). The Town backs that standard with a separate structural code: Ordinance No. 573 (October 28, 2025) designates the 2024 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code as 'the Town of Apple Valley Property Maintenance Code' (§ 8.28.010), covering conditions inside every dwelling, not just rentals.
Local amendments in that chapter set specific physical requirements: screens on every door and window used for ventilation must be minimum 16-mesh with self-closing screen doors (§ 8.28.090); exterior stairways with more than four risers must meet current California Building Code standards for handrails and guardrails (§ 8.28.100); private pools, hot tubs or spas deeper than 18 inches must meet Title 24 safety standards unless covered under ASTM F 1346 (§ 8.28.080). The Town deleted the model code's heat-supply and occupiable-workspace sections outright (§§ 8.28.120, 8.28.150), so those specific mandates run through the state Building Standards Code instead.
Owners who let weeds, including tumbleweed and Russian thistle, accumulate on rental premises face a notice of violation and, on noncompliance, Town abatement at the owner's cost (§ 8.28.070).
Violations & Fines
Violating the rental maintenance standard is enforced under Municipal Code §§ 1.01.200-1.01.260: a misdemeanor carries up to a $1,000 fine and six months in San Bernardino County jail, or the Town Attorney may reduce a citation to an infraction ($100 first offense, $200 second, $500 third within a year). Unmaintained rental conditions can also be declared a public nuisance and summarily abated at the owner's expense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Apple Valley require landlords to keep rental housing in habitable condition?
Who enforces rental housing maintenance in Apple Valley?
What happens if a landlord ignores a maintenance violation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Apple Valley
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