TITLE 45
Towns and cities
CHAPTER 45-24.3
Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code
SECTION 45-24.3-6
§ 45-24.3-6 Responsibilities of owners and
occupants.
(a) No owner or operator or other person shall occupy, or let to another
person, any vacant dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure unless it and the
premises are clean, sanitary, fit for human occupancy, and comply with this
chapter and all applicable legal requirements of the state and the corporate
unit.
(b) Every owner of a multiple dwelling is responsible for
maintaining, in a clean and sanitary condition, the shared or public areas of
the dwelling and premises. Occupants of two (2) and three (3) family dwellings
shall share the maintenance of clean and sanitary conditions within the shared
or public areas of the dwelling and premises.
(c) Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure
shall maintain in a clean sanitary condition that part or those parts of the
dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure and premises that the occupant occupies
and controls.
(d) Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure
shall dispose of all his or her rubbish in a clean, sanitary, and safe manner.
(e) Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure
shall dispose of all his or her garbage and any other organic waste which might
provide food for insects and/or rodents in a clean, sanitary, and safe manner,
and if a container is used for storage pending collection it shall be rodent
proof, insect proof, and watertight.
(f) Every owner or operator of a dwelling containing four (4)
or more dwelling units shall supply facilities or containers for the sanitary
and safe storage and/or disposal of rubbish and garbage. In the case of single,
two (2) or three (3) family dwellings and structures it is the responsibility
of the occupant to furnish those facilities or refuse containers.
(g) The owner of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure is
responsible for providing and hanging all screens and double or storm doors and
windows where used for ventilation whenever they are required under the
provisions of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this
chapter, except where there is a written agreement between the owner and
occupant. In the absence of an agreement, maintenance or replacement of
screens, and storm doors and windows, once installed in any one season, become
the responsibility of the occupant.
(h) The owner of a dwelling or dwelling unit is responsible
for the providing and hanging of shades or other devices on every window of
every room used for sleeping and for every room equipped with a flush water
closet or bathtub, affording privacy to persons within those rooms. Once
installed in any one rental by the owner, replacements become the
responsibility of the occupant.
(i) Every occupant of a dwelling containing a single dwelling
unit and every occupant of a structure is responsible for the extermination of
any insects, rodents, or other pests therein or on the premises. Every occupant
of a dwelling unit, in a dwelling containing more than one dwelling unit, is
responsible for this extermination whenever his or her dwelling is the only one
infected. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, whenever
infestation is caused by a failure of the owner to maintain a dwelling in a
rodent-proof or reasonably insect-proof condition, extermination is the
responsibility of the owner. Whenever infestation exists in two (2) or more of
the dwelling units in any dwelling, or in the shared or public parts of any
dwelling containing two (2) or more dwelling units, extermination is the
responsibility of the owner.
(j) Every occupant of a dwelling unit or structure shall keep
all supplied plumbing fixtures and facilities in a clean and sanitary
condition, and is responsible for the exercise of reasonable care in their
proper use and operation.
(k) No owner or occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or
structure shall accumulate or permit the accumulation of rubbish, boxes,
lumber, scrap metal, or any other materials in a manner that may provide a
rodent harborage in or about any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure. Stored
materials shall be stacked neatly in piles elevated at least eighteen inches
(18") above the ground or floor. The provisions of this subsection do not apply
to firewood or kindling wood stored in or about any dwelling, dwelling unit, or
structure by the owner or occupant of that property; provided, that the wood is
stored for use within the dwelling, dwelling unit or structure, unless
prohibited by town or city ordinance.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1970, ch. 325, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 243, § 1.)
