Tallahassee, FL Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

LDC § 3-486 adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, 2003 Edition, as amended, applying it to all existing residential buildings, structures, and premises as the minimum requirement and standard for habitability. Anyone who violates the IPMC is deemed guilty of violating the Land Development Code itself and is punished under § 1-7, the general penalty section. Section 3-487 declares the housing code remedial, meaning it must be read to protect public safety, health, and general welfare through structural strength, sanitation, adequate light and ventilation, and safety from fire and other hazards in dwellings, apartment houses, and rooming houses.

Section 3-488(a) requires every building, new or existing, to be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition, and any device or safeguard the IPMC requires must stay in good working order regardless of when the building was built or altered; the owner or their designated agent carries the maintenance duty set out in the housing code article, while tenants carry the maintenance duty the division assigns to them. Section 3-488(b) separately bars owners or occupants from using a residential property for open storage of inoperable vehicles, iceboxes, refrigerators, stoves, glass, building material, or rubbish, and requires the owner or occupant to keep the premises clean and remove abandoned items, weeds, dead trees, trash, and garbage once the enforcement official gives notice.