FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Critter Control litigation history
What Critter Control disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 3
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- $215K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
1) Galt Strategies LLC v. Critter Control et al. — breach of contract / trade secret / unfair competition; settled for $215,000 (Aug 2017). 2) Virginia Settlement Order — franchise registration violations; $23,500 penalty (Jan 2018). 3) SEC Settlement Order (Rollins/Northen) — accounting reserve manipulation; $8M civil penalty against Rollins (Apr 2022).
Item 3 (litigation) · 3 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (2)
Virginia Settlement Order
settledGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2018-01-25 · Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Securities and Retail Franchising · SEC-2017-00052
“… The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Division of Securities and Retail Franchising has concluded as part of an investigation (Case No. SEC-2017-00052) that grounds exist to allege Critter Control violated the registration and”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Galt Strategies, LLC. v. Critter Control, Inc., Kevin Clark, and franchisees ABCN Services, Inc., Animal Intrusion Prevention Systems Holding Company, LLC, Jezek, Inc. dba Critter Control St. Louis, Critter Control of Reno, LLC, Crico, Inc., and Salmick, Inc. dba Critter Control Greater Hudson Valle
settledfiled 2015-05-15 · DC-15-05281
“Galt Strategies, LLC. v. Critter Control, Inc., Kevin Clark, and franchisees ABCN Services, Inc., Animal Intrusion Prevention Systems Holding Company, LLC, Jezek, Inc. dba Critter Control St. Louis, Critter Control of Reno, LLC, Crico, Inc., and Salmick, Inc. dba Critter Control Greater Hudson Valley, DC-15-05281.”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The case was then settled on August 24, 2017 for $215,000. Virginia Settlement Order. The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Division of Securities and Retail Franchising has concluded as part of an investigation (Case No. SEC-2017-00052) that grounds exist to allege Critter Control violated”
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
In the Matter of Rollins, Inc. and Paul Edward Northen
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · Rollins, Inc. (our ultimate parent) and Paul Edward Northen (Rollins' former CFO) · filed 2022-04-14 · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
“… (“Northen”), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Order Instituting Cease-And-Desist Proceedings Pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings and Imposing a Cease-And-Desist Order (April 14, 2022).”Page 17 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Multiple litigation/settlements including trade secret misappropriation, state regulatory violations, and parent company SEC accounting order—suggests governance and compliance weaknesses
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?