Broward local guide

How to Report Rats in Fort Lauderdale and What Happens Next

Updated November 4, 2026

Fort Lauderdale handles rat complaints through code compliance and LauderServ. Here's which office covers what, how to file a report that gets acted on, and where the health department and the state come in.

In Fort Lauderdale, a rat problem caused by a neighbor's property goes to the city's Community Enhancement and Compliance Division. You can call 954-828-8000, submit a LauderServ service form online, or use the LauderServ app on Android or Apple phones, and the city asks you to attach photos if you have them. The city's code cases show it cites properties for rodents and vermin, for outdoor storage that may become infested by rodents, and for trash, overgrowth and overflowing dumpsters.

Other Broward cities, like Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Plantation and Hollywood, run their own code enforcement, so the right office depends on the address. Restaurants are a state matter. This guide walks through each channel. It's general information, not legal advice.

First, figure out whose rules apply

Broward County is made up of many separate cities and towns, and each one handles its own code complaints. A house on a Rio Vista canal is a City of Fort Lauderdale matter. A house a mile north in Wilton Manors is a Wilton Manors matter, even though the street looks the same. The mailing address can be misleading, since some neighborhoods outside city limits still use a Fort Lauderdale mailing address.

If you aren't sure, call the Fort Lauderdale number and give the exact address. Staff can tell you whether it's inside city limits. For other cities, search the city's website for code enforcement or code compliance.

How to report in the City of Fort Lauderdale

The city's Community Enhancement and Compliance page lists these ways to report a problem:

• Phone: 954-828-8000. The division answers Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the city describes the same number as its 24-hour neighbor call center.
• LauderServ: an online service form, or the LauderServ app on Android and Apple devices. Attach photos.
• Email: CEnhancement@fortlauderdale.gov, with your name and address. The city notes that emails are public records.
• In person or by mail, using the division's complaint form

You'll need to give your name

The city's page explains that under Florida law (CS/SB 60, effective July 1, 2021), a code inspector can't start enforcement based on an anonymous complaint. The exception is when there's reason to believe the violation is an imminent threat to public health, safety or welfare. So for an ordinary rat, trash or overgrowth complaint, plan on giving your name and contact information.

What Fort Lauderdale cites properties for

The city's code enforcement special magistrate agendas list the violation behind each case. On a July 2021 agenda, these sections came up again and again in cases tied to rats and trash:

• Sec. 9-276(c)(3): rodents, vermin and other pests at a property
• Sec. 18-1: outdoor storage creating a public nuisance, in wording that covers storage that is or may become infested by rodents, vermin or wild animals
• Sec. 18-12(a): overgrowth, trash, rubbish and debris on a property or its swale
• Sec. 24-27(b): garbage containers left roadside overnight after collection day
• Secs. 24-28 and 24-29(a): inadequate garbage service and overflowing dumpsters at multifamily buildings

What happens after you report

An inspector looks at the property and documents what they find. When a violation isn't fixed, the case can go before the city's special magistrate, a hearing officer who handles code cases. The 2021 agenda shows cases marked as complied, cases presented as recurring violations, and hearings to impose fines on owners who didn't comply. The city's page doesn't spell out deadlines or fine amounts, so don't count on a fixed timeline.

Code enforcement goes after property conditions. None of the city pages reviewed for this guide describe the city trapping rats on private property. If rats are already in your house, that's work for a pest control provider, even while the city deals with the neighbor's yard.

The health department's role

The Florida Department of Health in Broward County handles sanitary nuisances. Its page lists examples like untreated or improperly treated human waste, garbage, dead animals and odors harmful to people, broken or poorly kept septic tanks, and conditions capable of breeding flies, mosquitoes or other arthropods. Rodents aren't listed as their own complaint category, but a pile of rotting garbage feeding rats is the kind of condition the page describes. The Environmental Public Health office lists 954-412-7335 and Post.CHD06@FLHealth.gov.

Broward also has a Health and Sanitary Control Board, set up by the county commission under Chapter 15, Article XIV of the county code, to hear administrative complaints on environmental health issues, including food service and sanitary nuisances. Most residents won't deal with the board directly. It's where serious cases can end up.

Restaurants and food businesses

Restaurants answer to the state. Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, inspects food service establishments and takes complaints about them. If you saw a rat inside a restaurant, report it to DBPR. If the problem is a restaurant's overflowing dumpster behind your house, that's also a city code issue under the dumpster sections above. Restaurant rodent violations in Florida covers the inspection side.

How to file a report that gets acted on

Code staff work from what you give them. Make it easy:

1. Give the exact address of the problem property, not just the street
2. Describe the condition: trash piles, overgrowth, outdoor storage, an overflowing dumpster, burrows along a shared wall
3. Attach dated photos through LauderServ
4. Say how long it's been going on and whether rats are crossing onto your property
5. Keep your confirmation number and follow up if nothing changes

Renters: start with the landlord

If you rent and the rats are inside your unit, tell the landlord in writing first. Florida law puts extermination of rats and mice on landlords in most buildings other than single-family homes and duplexes. If that doesn't work, code compliance can cite the property for rodents under Sec. 9-276(c)(3). Tenant and landlord rodent rules explains the law.

Fix your own side while you wait

A report about a neighbor can take a while. Meanwhile, close the gaps rats use to reach your house and take away their reasons to visit. Keep your garbage bagged inside the city cart with the lid shut, pull the cart back after pickup, pick up fallen fruit and get stored items off the ground. Trim limbs back from your roof. If rats are already inside, a rodent inspection will find the entry points.

Related services: Rodent Inspection, Rat Control, Condo & Apartment Rodents