Roelle v. Orkin Exterminating Co., Inc

In Roelle v. Orkin Exterminating Co., Inc. (Nov. 7, 2000), Franklin App. No. 00AP-14, 2000 Ohio App, the plaintiffs owned and occupied a single family residence in Columbus, Ohio, and were assignees of the prior owners' rights under a Limited Lifetime Renewable Termite Retreatment Guarantee (the "Guarantee") issued by Orkin Exterminating Company, Inc. ("Orkin") upon Orkin's treatment of the residence for termites in 1988. Each year thereafter, the prior owners and then the plaintiffs paid Orkin an annual fee to renew the Guarantee. After the initial termite treatment, the prior owners called Orkin for retreatment on six occasions between 1991 and 1993 . After purchasing the home, the plaintiffs called Orkin to the home 24 times between 1994 and 1999, resulting in an additional 14 treatments. The plaintiffs subsequently filed a complaint alleging, inter alia, violation of the CSPA. In part, the plaintiffs claimed that the Guarantee was illusory and constituted a deceptive and unconscionable practice under the CSPA. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on their claim that the Guarantee constituted an unfair or deceptive practice, based on the Guarantee's limitation of Orkin's liability to retreatment and release of Orkin from liability for structural damage caused by reinfestation. On appeal, we noted the Second Appellate District's previous holding that a pest control retreatment warranty similar to Orkin's "was inherently deceptive, because although the agreement styled itself a 'guarantee,' any assurance or warranty of value to the consumer was entirely negated by the subsequent exclusion from liability, so that the exception entirely consumed the initial premise." Id.