Terminix Lawyer

Terminix Attorney

If you trusted Terminix to protect your property from termites, and you have termites, they failed to honor the termite bond you both signed and agreed to. Pursue compensation from Terminix for its bad-faith business practices and negligence with the help of an attorney who knows exactly how Terminix operates. Tom Campbell, otherwise known as “Termite Tom,” of Campbell Law, P.C., is the top Terminix lawyer of the southeast.

About Termite Tom Campbell and Campbell Law, P.C.

At Campbell Law, P.C., we have been advocating for victims of unfair business practices for over 25 years. our practice has focused exclusively on serving clients who have suffered losses because of fraudulent or negligent termite exterminator companies like Terminix.

Termite Tom Gets Results

Although people do have the right to represent themselves in arbitration with Terminix, working with us routinely results in better settlements. According to Terminix’s own in-house reporting, our clients cost them 5,000% more than clients who represent themselves.

We Are Focused on Termite Claims

As a law firm, we generally do one thing, and we do it exceptionally well. We have helped thousands of families and property owners get through the nightmare that results from a termite bond that wasn’t upheld. We pride ourselves on our successes in this line of legal cases in an effort to pursue justice. To date, we have helped more than 19,000 clients secure the compensation they deserve for their losses.

We Know How Terminix Works

Because we focus on termite claims solely, we are already keen on the games Terminix and other pest control companies play. Over the years, we have built an extensive evidential library of exhibits that allow us to support our clients in their decision to sue Terminix for termite damage. In our arsenal of evidence, we have internal manuals from pest control companies, an extensive contact list of witnesses, many of whom used to work in the pest control industry, and other professionals whom we can call on for testimony or statement as we build a client’s case.

No matter how challenging your case may be, we are ready to help you stand up to Terminix, and we are well-equipped to do it. We serve clients in FIX THIS LIST  Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia. We work tirelessly for all of our clients, wherever they are.

What Are Termites?

Termites are small insects that feed on wood. They are extremely common; at least one variety of termite can be found in almost every U.S. state. There are 79 species of termites, but only 28 are considered invasive. Various categories of termites include subterranean, dry wood, and damp wood. Subterranean termites live in colonies underground, eating wood that sits on the ground. Dry and damp wood termites live in either dry or damp rotting wood.

Termites are small, less than half an inch in length, and they can have wings or not, depending on the variety and the role a particular termite plays in its colony. They are cream-colored to dark brown, and the winged ones exhibit four translucent wings of equal length. They are easy to mistake for flying ants. Some termites also have large jaws, similar to a carpenter ant.

Termites are most active when it is warm outside, and their activity tends to increase in the evening and at night, especially if the weather has been particularly hot.

Understanding the Termite Life Cycle

In order to understand how infestations happen, it is necessary to understand the termite life cycle and how they structure their colonies. Termites begin life as eggs, which then hatch and become nymphs. The nymphs grow until they reach adulthood, at which point they begin eating wood, reproducing, and feeding the nymphs of the colony. This is how termites propagate and grow their numbers.

Termites have a surprisingly long lifespan. Regular worker termites can live for up to two years, and it is not uncommon for a termite queen to live for 25 years. The survival of a colony depends on the survival of the queen. A queen termite can lay tens of thousands of eggs per day, so as long as a queen survives extermination attempts, there are thousands of new nymphs and workers to replace any that are killed.

When termites establish a colony in the ground under a wooden structure, feeding on it from below, or when they establish a colony inside the walls of a building, it can be difficult to fully eradicate the colony. This is why termite treatment must involve a very thorough inspection and a comprehensive eradication plan.

What Damage Can Termites Cause?

Termites are a major cause of structural damage in homes and other buildings throughout the United States. If a home or business is made of wood, there is potential for termites. Every year, people in the United States spend around $2 billion just treating termite infestations. Even more is spent on repairing the damage caused by termites.

Given their small size, the enormity of the damage that termites can cause in a home or other structure is staggering. Termites eat wood, and they burrow through it in order to do that. As they eat through wood, critical structures can be significantly weakened, leading to potential and eventual collapse of the structure.

These insects consume a large volume of the wood while leaving the outside of the structure intact, which may cause damage to go unnoticed for a long time. Meanwhile, they can leave your home or business vulnerable to water leaks in the walls, subflooring, ceiling, or roof structure. It doesn’t take long for mold and mildew to take root in a home, especially in the South.

Signs of Termite Infestation

Because termites live underground or inside wooden structures, infestations are not always obvious until the damage is extreme. There are several signs that homeowners and other property owners can watch out for if they suspect that Terminix isn’t doing their job properly. Some of these signs are listed below:

• Wood that sounds hollow. If you suspect you may have a termite problem, walk around the interior and the exterior of the structure and try knocking on any wood. It should feel like solid wood when you knock on it. Examples might be hardwood flooring or a staircase, banisters, support beams, or door frames. If wood that should be solid sounds hollow when you knock on it, termites may be to blame.
• Holes. Termites sometimes leave behind small boreholes in wood. If you have an infestation, you may see some of these holes in hardwood floors, door frames, or other wooden surfaces.
• Frass. Frass is the word for termite droppings. They look like tiny, gray pellets, and if you have an infestation, you’ll find them in piles near wooden structures in your home.
• Windows or doors sticking. Damage from termites, or water-induced swelling brought on by termite damage, can cause windows or doors to stick when you try to open or close them.
• Wings. Termites shed their wings, and large numbers of termites may leave piles of wings around your home. Termite wings are all the same length and translucent, unlike ant wings, which are of unequal length.
• Bubbling paint. Termites in your walls might eat the outer layer of drywall, which is usually made of a cardboard-like substance. When they do, they can cause the paint to bubble out away from the other side of the wall. The same phenomenon can happen with wallpaper.
• Mud tubes. Mud tubes are one of the most telling signs of a termite infestation. Subterranean termites build tubes from the ground to wooden structures, often sticking them to concrete foundations. They lead from the colony’s underground structure to their food source, which may be your walls and subfloor.

In addition to all of these signs of termite activity, you can be certain you have a problem if you see large numbers of live termites in or around your home. Termites tend to engage in swarming behavior. When termites swarm, large numbers of them attack an area of wood. If you see this inside or on the outside of your home, this is a sign of an infestation.

How Do Pest Control Companies Like Terminix Act in Bad Faith?

Pest control companies like Terminix advertise complete, guaranteed solutions for pest problems, including termite infestations. They claim to be able to assess the extent of your problem, find out where the termites are coming from, and employ multi-level treatment plans to eradicate current infestations and prevent future ones.

When you hire a pest control company, especially one with a long history and a big name, like Terminix, you expect to get the service you pay for. Unfortunately, pest control companies have a penchant for defrauding customers by promising services they don’t actually provide properly. Some ways that a pest control company, such as Terminix, could improperly serve you as a customer are listed below:

• Failure to apply treatment properly. Each chemical treatment designed to address termite infestations comes with specific instructions. For these treatments to be effective, they must be applied correctly, in sufficient amounts, and with the correct timing. Pest control companies miss the mark by missing spots, not applying enough treatment, or saying they’ve treated areas they have not.
• Failing to provide treatment. In some cases, Terminix employees may say they have completed a treatment when they have not. This is clear-cut deception, but it does happen.
• Failure to conduct a full inspection. As previously discussed, it can be difficult to determine the full extent of a termite infestation. However, this is one reason why homeowners hire professionals. If an infestation is not fully treated, it can easily rebound, leading to more structural damage. Furthermore, homeowners who believe the problem has been addressed may not be on the lookout, leading to even more damage.
• Failure to report damage. When Terminix has treated your home for termites, and there is a recurring infestation, they promise to repair damage that occurs after their treatment. This is one of the ways they guarantee their work. However, sometimes Terminix might downplay or fail to report damage to a homeowner, thereby avoiding the expense of repairing it.

What You Can Do

Discovering that your termite treatment plan has failed and that you still have termites in your home can be incredibly stressful. For some homeowners, this revelation comes as a very unpleasant and unwelcome surprise. You may have even put the problem out of your mind, assuming that Terminix had taken care of it. In the meantime, termites have continued to burrow deeper into your home and cause potentially catastrophic structural damage.

If you think you still have a termite problem after a Terminix treatment, here are the things you should do to address it.

• Ask for retreatment. Most pest control companies, including Terminix, attach guarantees to their work that require them to come back to a property and re-treat it in the event of a persistent or recurring infestation. Because this is likely part of your termite bond agreement, it is usually necessary to give Terminix the chance to retreat the property before taking any other action.
• Document your communication with Terminix. Keep a detailed record of all of your interactions with Terminix. This includes emails, phone calls, voicemails, text messages, documentation of your termite bond, and any other written or verbal communications. You should also keep careful records of any payments you have made to Terminix.
• Document the signs of termite activity. If you are still seeing evidence of termite activity, document it with photos and videos. Include time stamps wherever you can. If you must file a claim for damages, this evidence can support your assertion that Terminix did not solve your termite problem.
• Keep track of expenses. If your home becomes unlivable, or if you otherwise lose money because of being unable to use your property normally, document those losses. This could include hotel stays, fuel costs, or any other added expenses arising from the unsolved termite problem.

Along with this list of “do’s,” there is also one very important “don’t.” If Terminix has failed to take care of your termite problem by improperly applying their treatments or by failing to assess the severity of your infestation, do not try to treat your property for termites yourself. Although it is possible to buy treatment products, in the course of trying your own treatment, you may destroy the evidence you need to demonstrate that Terminix acted in bad faith.

Can I File a Claim Against Terminix?

If you hired Terminix to take care of a termite problem or complete preventive treatment for your home, and you have a persistent or new termite problem, you may have grounds to file a claim if you believe Terminix acted in bad faith. If you suspect that Terminix employees did not complete treatments when they said they did, hid the extent of damage, did not complete a thorough assessment, or otherwise failed to exercise due diligence, you may be able to pursue damages.

In situations like these, where a termite bond is purchased, disputes are usually resolved through a process called arbitration. During arbitration, both sides in a dispute can present their arguments and evidence, and a neutral third party, called an arbitrator, can review the information and make a decision, which is legally binding.

What Compensation Could I Receive?

When filing a claim for losses resulting from a situation like improper or insufficient termite treatment, the goal is to recover all of your financial losses. You could receive compensation for the following aspects of your case: 

• Cost of repairs. Termites can cause extensive structural damage, which can be very expensive to repair. You may be able to recover the cost of repairs for any damage that would not have occurred if Terminix had done its job.
• Cost of other treatment. If Terminix did not solve your problem, someone else needs to. You can ask for compensation to offset the cost of alternative treatment.
• Lost property value. Real estate is a significant investment, and structural damage can seriously affect the value of your property. Your compensation from Terminix may include whatever value you have lost in your home because of the termite problem.
• Breach of bond. You may also be able to collect breach of bond damages. Most pest control companies include some kind of warranty for their work, and you can ask for damages accordingly.
• Legal fees. Legal proceedings can be costly. Your settlement could include these costs, as well.
• Punitive damages
• Mental anguish

In some cases, an arbitrator may decide to award punitive damages, as well. These are damages that are designed to punish a defendant for egregious or malicious behavior and discourage the same behavior in the future.

Hire a Terminix Lawyer

If you need to pursue compensation from Terminix for their mishandling of your termite treatment, the first step is to hire a lawyer experience with Terminix cases. Your attorney can help you by reviewing the facts of your case, helping you gather any necessary evidence or documentation, and serving as the point of contact between you and Terminix or their legal representation. If your case does go to arbitration, your attorney can represent you during the hearing and advocate for your interests.

Contact Termite Tom at Campbell Law, P.C.

Standing up to large companies like Terminix can be daunting. They have a famous name, a national reputation, and a corporate legal department. However, that doesn’t mean you should accept bad business practices and personal losses because of their neglect. At Campbell Law, P.C., we are prepared to help you protect your rights and recover your losses. Contact us to discuss your case and get started.

Contact Termite Tom today.