TALLAHASEE, Fla. - State officials are pressing the Legislature to pass a new law they say will help them get tough on rogue pest-control companies that repeatedly defraud their customers, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is particularly concerned about soil pre-treatments at new construction sites to prevent subterranean termites.
Andy Rackley, director of the division of agricultural environmental services, said inspectors have caught companies applying diluted chemicals to some sites and filing paperwork certifying termite pre-treatment was completed in places where it wasn't done.
But Rackley said state regulators can't readily fine or shut down repeat offenders because state law requires clear evidence the company owners "knowingly" encouraged or facilitated fraud or improper practices by staff. Rackley said the current system, which was instituted in 1994, puts the legal burden on the lowest-level pest-control employees.
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Source: www.sun-sentinel.com