FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

SBA-eligible · directory code S1132 since 2017

MOSQUITO SQUAD

Other · independent · est. —

Mosquito Squad is an outdoor pest-control service specializing in mosquito and tick reduction for homes and events. Technicians spray barrier treatments and offer special-event and tick-control programs on a recurring basis. A franchisee operates a seasonal service company managing treatment routes and crews.

MOSQUITO SQUAD net unit count grew +11.8% from 20202025 per its FDD Item 20.

New to franchising? Start here

A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.

Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:

  • Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
  • Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
  • Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).

The verdict

Proven & steady

Distress

6
STABLE

A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.

Exit rate · latest year

3.5%

fiscal 2025, per Item 20

Cost to open

$162K–$220K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

5.0%

20 loans resolved — directional only

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Fair
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Strong
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Fair
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Fair
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Strong

Systemwide units

2020–2025

+11.8%
221202023820212302022232202324120242472025

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2025, 8 of 226 franchised outlets left the system — a 3.5% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)202020212022202320242025
Outlets at start227221238228232241
Opened8215151914
Transfers29101814127
Terminations4310601
Non-renewals723134
Reacquired by franchisor1140000
Ceased — other reasons310473
Outlets at end221238230232241247
Net change-6+17-8+4+9+6

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 47 SBA-backed loans to MOSQUITO SQUAD franchisees since 2014. Only 20 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.

Charge-off rate

20 resolved · too thin to rate

Loss given default

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$531,487

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

57 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

12 vs 9

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

Loan performance by state

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO MOSQUITO SQUAD BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

The owner's side of the deal

FDD × federal loan record

Heavy debt load

A typical MOSQUITO SQUAD buyer since 2020 borrowed $531K through SBA — about $71K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $331K, that is 21.4% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.

Who finances it

United Midwest Savings Bank National Association

14.0% of this brand's loans

That lender charges off 35.2% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.

Who buys it

70.0%

first-time franchise owners

The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.

Does experience help here?

Not enough resolved loans to split

Computed from 47 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to MOSQUITO SQUAD franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $162K–$220K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.

To open (Item 7)

$162K–$220K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$50K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

10%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.

Royalty you'd pay / yr

$100K

10% of sales, before profit

Over a 10-yr term

$1M

royalties alone, excl. ad fund

This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.

Build a real pro-forma for MOSQUITO SQUAD with an independent CPA

Labor record

US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present

Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $4K in back wages for 20 workers. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.

Concluded cases

1

Back wages owed

$4K

Employees affected

20

Since 2020

1

Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual MOSQUITO SQUAD franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not MOSQUITO SQUAD itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2024.

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

Elevated

Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 76% of systems we score.

Risk percentile

76 / 100

Loan-corroborated

Modeled SBA charge-off

16.5%

Observed SBA charge-off

5.0%

Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (raises) · Net unit growth (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

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MOSQUITO SQUAD franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of MOSQUITO SQUAD franchises closed last year?

In MOSQUITO SQUAD's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 8 of 226 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 3.5%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.

How much does a MOSQUITO SQUAD franchise cost?

Per MOSQUITO SQUAD's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $162K–$220K (Item 7).

What royalty does MOSQUITO SQUAD charge?

MOSQUITO SQUAD charges an ongoing royalty of 10.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does MOSQUITO SQUAD disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — MOSQUITO SQUAD makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $331K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.

Is MOSQUITO SQUAD a good franchise to buy? Health score, exit rate & costs (2026) · Franchise Watch Desk