News

WILDWOOD — Apparently, condominium owners and an exterminating company have not been able to work the bugs out of a lawsuit that contended that improper inspection and treatment left residents’ homes ravaged by termites.

Bad soil, poor design, and inadequate materials — all have shared blame for the failure of New Orleans’ levees during Hurricane Katrina. Now, add Formosan subterranean termites.

OCALA – Pest-control giant Orkin has filed a federal lawsuit aimed at escaping a recent legal settlement that would require the company to pay an estimated $6 million to repair a termite- ravage condominium complex in Sumter County.

The Atlanta-based company (www.orkin.com) contends that it agreed only to pay $815,000 to the Sandalwood Condominium Association at Wildwood to settle an eight-year-old, breach- of-duty, court battle.

WILDWOOD – Pest-exterminating giant Orkin has pledged to repair a termite-ravaged condominium complex in Sumter County as part of a legal settlement that could cost the company an estimated $6 million in fix-up costs.

The company did not accept responsibility for pest damage at the Sandalwood Condominium Association at Wildwood, a 104-unit residential community near the intersection of State Road 44 and County Road 468.

In these hardbitten times, lawyer Pete Cardillo makes his living lying awake at night, trying to recall his termite trivia and making mental notes about wingspans, which is a little like counting sheep, only the sheep can’t make your home collapse.

April 19, 2008 After an investigation lasting nearly four years, the state of Florida has quietly reached a settlement with Orkin Inc. over allegations the pest-control company conducted inadequate termite inspections and made repairs without building permits.

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — Termites aren’t just out to eat the wood in your home. A new University of Florida study shows the voracious insects like to feast on your home’s insulation, too — making it nearly 75 percent less effective.