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MD Rodent Control
About 72.9% of Salisbury's occupied homes are rented, so a rat or mouse problem often starts with a question: does the tenant act, or the landlord? This page answers that, shows how to get the City to inspect a rental, and explains how trapping, removal and sealing clear rats and mice from a unit or a building.
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Statewide rules and background: Maryland rodent guide
Rodent control in Salisbury follows a set order. A pro inspects to confirm whether you have rats or mice and where they get in, traps and removes them through rat control or mouse control, and then closes the openings with rodent exclusion. If you rent, write to the landlord or manager before anything else, because the City code divides this work between owners and occupants.
About 72.9% of Salisbury's occupied homes are rented. About 35.4% of housing units are in structures of five or more units, while in Wicomico County as a whole, 70.0% of units are single-family detached homes.
About 32.7% of units were built in 2000 or later, so don't assume only an old house gets rats or mice. In a rented unit, the first step is a written note to the landlord or manager, with dates and the rooms involved.
Chapter 15.26 of the City code covers rental homes. It never mentions rodents, but it is the route for enforcing the property maintenance code, and Section 15.24.610 of that code says structures and exterior property must be kept free of rats and other rodents.
Sections 15.24.630 to 15.24.650 of the City's property maintenance code assign extermination like this.
| Situation | Who must act | Code section |
|---|---|---|
| Situation: Any structure, before it is rented or leased | Who must act: The owner exterminates inside it | Code section: 15.24.630 |
| Situation: A structure containing a single-family dwelling unit | Who must act: The occupant exterminates on the premises | Code section: 15.24.640 |
| Situation: Public or shared areas and exterior property of a structure with two or more dwelling units, a multiple occupancy or a rooming house | Who must act: The owner | Code section: 15.24.650 |
| Situation: In those same structures, when the infestation in an occupant's own space came from that occupant's failure to prevent it | Who must act: The occupants | Code section: 15.24.650 |
If your case fits none of these rows, such as mice in one apartment with no clear cause, ask the City's Code Enforcement how it reads the code.
Section 8.16.060 sets the rules for homes on City trash collection. It is a collection rule, not a rodent law, though it does require containers kept free of vermin.
Section 15.24.670 exempts apartment complexes that use a private collector from the City's per-unit trash receptacle rule. If your building has its own hauler or dumpster, ask the manager when and where trash goes out.
Buildings of five or more units hold about 35.4% of Salisbury's housing units. If you live in one, ask whether the mouse inspection can take in the building's shared areas and the neighboring units, not only yours.
Rat control pairs trapping with taking away food. If your home uses a City 95-gallon cart, keep its tight-fitting cover shut and follow the set-out and bring-in times in the cart checklist above.
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For sealing foundation cracks, pipe gaps and other openings once the rodents are out.
For trapping and taking out the rodents already inside.
For property managers and businesses, since the City's Code Enforcement applies the property maintenance code to every building in the city, not only homes.
Treating one apartment and treating shared areas and the outside of the building are different jobs. The rules table above shows how Section 15.24.650 splits them, so ask the pro to list which spaces the price covers.
If an inspection under Section 15.26.090 is coming, ask whether the pro can finish trapping and sealing before that date, and whether the timing changes the quote.
The provider sets the price after an inspection.
Your call reaches a trusted local pro. Ask how they handle each step.
1. Inspection
A trusted local pro checks inside and out. Ask about a free inspection.
2. Identification
Droppings, tracks and gnaw marks show whether rats or mice are inside.
3. Trapping and removal
Trapping removes the rodents already in the building.
4. Entry points
The gaps and openings rodents use are found and marked.
5. Exclusion
Sealing those openings keeps new rodents from following.
6. Cleanup
Ask what cleanup of droppings and nesting material the pro recommends.
7. Monitoring
Follow-up checks confirm the activity has stopped.
Yes. The City's rental chapter lets it inspect a unit after a complaint about code compliance, once the owner and occupants have notice, and the City's rule on keeping buildings free of rodents is part of that code. The checklist above names the department to contact. Note where and when you saw droppings or gnawing so the inspector knows where to look.
It can. Maryland's rodent manual says the white-footed mouse is even more adapted to climbing than the deer mouse, so ask the pro to check openings high on the walls as well as at floor level. A photo of droppings or a trapped mouse helps the pro identify it.
It can be. The City's landlord guide says units in larger rental buildings are inspected jointly with the Fire Marshal, and the checklist above gives the building size. If you manage one, ask which inspection applies before booking rodent work, so treatment and sealing are done before the visit.
Raise it in writing with the landlord or manager before you sign, and keep a copy. The rules table above shows who the City code expects to exterminate before a unit is rented. If nothing changes after you move in, you can ask the City to inspect, as the rental checklist explains.
Mostly the size of the job: one apartment, or the shared areas and the outside of the building too, and how many openings need sealing. A City inspection date can also shape the schedule. The cost section above lists these, so ask for a written quote that names every space it covers.
The rules table above has a row for this case and lists its conditions, so read it before you talk to the manager. Either way, tell the manager in writing so the shared areas can be checked at the same time as your unit.
Only from the evening before collection until late on collection day. The cart checklist above gives the exact times. Keep the lid shut, keep the cart clean, and store it out of sight of the street between pickups, as the City rules ask.
What happens next
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