How to Report Rats in Jacksonville and What Happens Next

To report a property that is attracting rats in Jacksonville, call 630-CITY (904-630-2489) or use the city's MyJax online portal. The city's Municipal Code Compliance Division enforces the Property Safety and Maintenance Code, Chapter 518 of the Ordinance Code, and its own description says properties that provide "uncontrolled breeding places" for pests are declared nuisances. An officer can send the owner a notice, and nuisance conditions generally have to be corrected within 15 days.

Code enforcement deals with property conditions: overgrowth, trash, debris, unsafe structures. It doesn't trap or remove rats from inside your home. If the rodents are in your house, you'll still need a provider, and if you rent, your landlord. This guide covers who handles what, what happens after you call, and the places in the area where 630-CITY doesn't apply.

Which complaints go to 630-CITY

Jacksonville and Duval County share a consolidated government, so most of the county is inside the City of Jacksonville and uses the same customer service line. 630-CITY is the number listed by Municipal Code Compliance for reporting a violation that isn't on your own property. The city also runs MyJax, an online portal at myjax.custhelp.com, which the city describes as "your online connection to city services and information."

Municipal Code Compliance lists the kinds of conditions it handles. Those that matter for rodents include:

• Properties that provide uncontrolled breeding places for pests, which the division treats as nuisances
• Excessive growth of weeds, grass or noxious vegetation
• Accumulated garbage, rubbish or debris, including on vacant lots
• Failure to maintain minimum residential and commercial property standards
• Unmaintained pools and blocked drainage or sewer lines

So if the house next door has a yard full of junk and rats running along the fence, or a vacant lot on your street is overgrown and full of debris, 630-CITY is the place to start.

What to say when you report

Give the officer enough to find the problem and see it. A good report includes:

• The exact address, or the nearest address and a description for a vacant lot
• What you see: rats running, burrows, piles of trash, overgrowth, an open shed full of debris
• When you see it, since rats are most active at dusk and night
• How long it has been going on
• Photos, if you can take them safely from your own property or the street

Keep a note of the date you reported and any reference number you get. If conditions don't change, you can follow up with that number.

What happens after a report

The division's own description lays out the process. An officer inspects the property. If there is a violation, the city mails a notice to the owner using the address on the Duval County Property Appraiser's tax rolls, which is why the division asks owners to keep that address current.

Nuisance conditions must be corrected within 15 days of the notice unless the notice sets a different deadline. If the owner doesn't fix the problem, the city can issue a citation, refer the case to the Special Magistrate, or abate the nuisance itself and place a lien on the property for the cost.

At a Special Magistrate hearing, the officer and the owner both speak, and the magistrate sets compliance deadlines. The division says the magistrate may issue fines of up to $250 per day for noncompliance. Owners can appeal within the deadline in the notice, usually 15 or 30 days.

That timeline is the reason to report early. A case that goes to a hearing can take weeks or months, and rats don't wait.

When the Health Department is the right call

The Florida Department of Health in Duval County investigates sanitary nuisances. Its page lists them as nuisances related to improperly stored and collected garbage, mosquito breeding, and faulty plumbing that results in improperly collected and disposed sewage. You can reach the program at 904-253-1280.

The health department page doesn't mention rodents directly. If the rat problem next door comes from overflowing garbage or a sewage leak, the health department may be the better fit. If it comes from overgrowth, debris or a run-down building, Municipal Code Compliance handles it. If you're not sure, call 630-CITY and describe it.

For a restaurant or food business with rodents, the state handles complaints. See the restaurant violations guide.

Keep your own records

Code cases can take time, so a simple record helps if you need to follow up or if neighbors report the same property. Keep a running note with the date of each report, any reference number, the name of anyone you spoke with, and what changed after each step.

Photos taken from your own property or the street, with dates, show whether conditions are getting better or worse. If rats are coming from the property into your yard, note burrows, droppings or damage on your side too.

If several neighbors are affected, each household can report. A neighborhood or homeowners association can also contact the city on behalf of residents. Share what you know, but stay on your own side of the fence and don't enter the property to take photos.

Places 630-CITY doesn't cover

Four municipalities in Duval County run their own city governments: Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin. Each handles its own code enforcement. Nearby areas in other counties are separate too:

• Orange Park is a town in Clay County with its own code enforcement
• Fleming Island and Middleburg are unincorporated Clay County
• Ponte Vedra Beach, Nocatee, Fruit Cove and St. Johns are unincorporated St. Johns County
• Fernandina Beach and Yulee are in Nassau County

If you live in one of those places, contact that city or county's code enforcement office instead.

If the rats are in your home

Code enforcement goes after the conditions on someone else's property. It won't solve rats already inside your attic or walls. For that, you need trapping inside and sealing of the entry points.

If you own the home, the rat control and mouse control pages explain the work. If you rent, Florida law puts rat and mouse extermination on the landlord in most rentals other than single-family homes and duplexes. The tenant and landlord guide explains the statute and the steps to take. Tenants can also report housing conditions that violate the city's property maintenance code to 630-CITY.

Common questions

Related reading

• Tenant and landlord rules
• Trash and property rules
• Rat Control
• How to get rid of rats