The Inspection Boys® (Area Representative)
Bottom line
- Total investment $155K – $313K including a $150K franchise fee, 50.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated AVOID with a risk score of 85/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one The Inspection Boys® (Area Representative) unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
-85%
Negative
Overview
About
The Inspection Boys provides residential property inspection services (home inspections, radon testing, etc.). As an Area Representative, the franchisee recruits and manages individual Unit Franchisees within a territory, collecting 50% of royalty fees paid by those sub-franchisees while the parent company retains operational/brand control and 50% of royalties. Day-to-day involves recruitment, training oversight, territory marketing, and franchisee support.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
AVOID: Financially distressed franchisor with going concern doubt, CEO litigation, zero financial transparency, single unit system, and unprotected territory presents extreme investment risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 85 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — parent company cannot demonstrate ability to continue operations
- 02HIGHExtreme litigation exposure: CEO John T. Hewitt personally named in pending investor litigation, trademark disputes with Liberty Tax, stockholder claims, and government consent orders indicate systemic legal/compliance problems
- 03MEDRevenue and profitability completely undisclosed — no Item 19 financial performance representation; impossible to validate ROI on $155k-$313k investment
- 04MINOROnly 1 known franchise unit with unknown growth trajectory — indicates either new concept or severe system contraction; no evidence of scalability or demand
- 05MINORArea Representative model with 50% royalty on sub-franchisee fees creates multi-tiered revenue dependency and recruitment-driven economics
- 06MINORNo territory protection despite $150k franchise fee — direct competition risk and inability to build defensible market position
- 07HIGH$150k upfront fee with 10-year commitment to company facing going concern issues creates recovery risk if franchisor fails
- 08MINORLiberty Tax trademark/competition disputes suggest brand confusion, IP vulnerabilities, or market positioning problems in inspection/tax services space
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
21 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Inspection Boys® (Area Representative) · FDD (2025) PDF