4,000 new area

homes affected by termite co.'s 'flagrant' abuses

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A Fayetteville pest control

company has been cited by the state Department of Agriculture for providing

inadequate service in termite treatments.

RSA Services Termite and Pest

Control is charged with not adequately treating more than 4,000 homes

in the south metro area for termites during construction of new homes.

The company has been in business

since 1995 and is a subsidiary of R.S. Andrews Enterprises Inc.

Agriculture Commissioner Tommy

Irvin said that affected homeowners would receive a letter from his department

informing them of the lack of termite treatment by the company.

In the letter, Irvin urges

the homeowners to have their property inspected soon since termite swarming

season is fast approaching.

"This service was performed

out of RSA's Fayetteville office. However, since this is such a flagrant

violation, we will investigate their other offices," Irvin said.

Irvin added the company will

be fined and he intends to meet with them March 6. When the company meets

with Irvin, the commissioner expects that any consent order will involve

going out and retreating the houses at no cost to the consumers.

Irvin explained the company

was pretreating the houses, but was not going in at the end of the construction

phase and doing backfill work.

"The problem is the dirt

covers up those chemicals and those varmints have a clear shot at the

house," he said.

In his many years in charge

of agriculture, Irvin said this is the biggest number of complaints ever

documented.

Most of the affected homes

are in Fayetteville, Newnan, Stockbridge, McDonough, Ellenwood, Jonesboro

and Rex.

The commissioner said many

people have been calling his office with new complaints and he plans to

make sure that each of the consumers gets adequate treatment.

But he urges residents to be

patient.

"The sheer volume of complaints

will take us at least a year to make sure they're done right with our

limited resources," he said.

Officials at RSA Services did

not return phone calls by press time.