Failed Termite Inspection: What Happens Next

A termite report with findings on it is a record of what one inspector could see, and the form it is written on has no pass box and no fail box. North Carolina’s structural pest control division tells lenders and buyers in print that “A so-called ‘clear’ report is not mandatory in order for the transaction to be completed.”

You are not out of time. Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says it plainly to homeowners: “never rush a treatment decision. It is always to your advantage to take an extra couple of days or weeks to obtain additional estimates and find contract terms to your liking.”

By the end of this you will know which of three separate things your report actually recorded, why the recommendation on it may have been triggered by missing paperwork rather than by anything living in the house, and what to ask the seller for first.

Is there such a thing as failing a termite inspection?

Not on the document itself. Form NPMA-33 offers two boxes and neither of them is a grade.

North Carolina’s guidance for home buyers goes further than neutrality. “Lending institutions and buyers need to realize that a ‘clear’ report is not to be sought. The function of the WDIR is to report the presence of all visible evidence of wood-destroying insect infestation.” A regulator telling lenders that the outcome they want is the wrong thing to want is unusual, and the reason it gives is ordinary arithmetic: “Most homes in North Carolina in excess of 10-15 years old will have some evidence of wood-destroying insects and could well have been damaged by such insects.”

There is one route a frightened buyer sometimes reaches for, and it is closed. Where evidence exists on a house, North Carolina says “the issuance of a subsequent report indicating ‘no evidence’ in such circumstances would be a violation of the structural pest control rules and could be considered to be fraud.” Whatever you do next, going shopping for a cleaner piece of paper is not on the list.

What did the report actually find?

Look at which of three numbered lines has writing on it, because a single checkbox covers all three.

Section II of the NPMA-33 has Box A, “No visible evidence of wood destroying insects was observed”, and Box B, “Visible evidence of wood destroying insects was observed as follows:”. Box B is one checkbox sitting over three separately numbered write-in lines:

1. “Live insects (description and location)”
2. “Dead insects, insect parts, frass, shelter tubes, exit holes, or staining (description and location)”
3. “Visible damage from wood destroying insects was noted as follows (description and location)”

Line 1 is something alive on the day. Line 2 is traces, which include frass, the sawdust-like droppings, and shelter tubes, the earthen tunnels subterranean termites build to cross open surfaces. Line 3 is damage, a record of something that happened rather than something happening. North Carolina adds that the report “must clearly indicate whether or not the insects have been or are in the wooden members.”

The heading above those lines carries its own limit: the report “is not to be construed as a guarantee or warranty against latent, concealed, or future infestations or wood destroying insect damage.” My full walkthrough of the form is at what a WDI report means, line by line.

Why does it recommend treatment when nothing was alive?

Because the rule the inspector was following turns on documents, not on insects.

Page 2 of the NPMA-33 prints it: “Treatment or corrective action should be recommended if live termites are found. If no evidence of a previous treatment is documented and evidence of infestation is found, even if no live termites are observed, treatment or corrective action by a licensed pest control company should be recommended. Treatment or corrective action may be recommended if evidence of infestation is observed, and a documented treatment occurred previously, unless the structure is under warranty or covered by a service agreement with a licensed pest control company.”

Read the middle sentence again, because it is the one that produces most of these reports. Old evidence plus no documented previous treatment gives a recommendation with nothing alive on the property. The third sentence then says what changes it: a documented treatment moves the recommendation from should to may, and an active warranty or termite bond takes it further still.

That is why the seller’s filing cabinet matters more here than the argument does. Section I of the form already puts the obligation in the right place: “Seller discloses to the buyer all information, to their knowledge, regarding W.D.I. infestation, damage, repair, and treatment history.”

Section III, where the recommendation is written, has no field for a price. Whatever number you were given came from somewhere else on the paperwork, and it is a quote rather than a finding.

Does damage on the report end the sale?

Not on its own, and the person who wrote the report is not the person who can tell you what it will cost.

The form says so under Section II: “NOTE: This is not a structural damage report. If box B above is checked, it should be understood that some degree of damage, including hidden damage, may be present. If any questions arise regarding damage indicated by this report, it is recommended that the buyer or any interested parties contact a qualified structural professional to determine the extent of damage and the need for repairs.” Elsewhere it adds that the inspector’s training and experience “do not qualify the inspector in damage evaluation”.

North Carolina hands the job over and then sets an expectation about older houses: “If damage is present, it is the buyer’s responsibility to ensure that it is repaired or evaluated, and acknowledged as of no structural consequence by a qualified contractor or engineer. Just as an individual is willing to buy a used car with a few dents; so a homeowner, lender, etc., must be willing to accept some wood-destroying insect damage in an older home.”

One lender does impose a hard consequence. On a VA file, the circular states that “MPR repairs identified on a wood destroying pest inspection report must be completed prior to guaranty”, which puts the work before the guaranty rather than after the keys. The rest of that is in my guide to the VA loan termite inspection.

What was left out before any of this?

Section IV lists it, and what is on that list changes what the findings are worth.

North Carolina puts the consequence bluntly: “The PCO is not responsible for any evidence that may have been inaccessible at the time of the inspection.” A report that skipped the attic for want of a ladder is quiet about the attic rather than clear about it, and the form allows a second visit, for a fee, to any area later made accessible. The full version of that question is in my guide to a termite inspection for home buyers.

One list on page 2 is not about your house at all. Item 4 names conditions that promote infestation, including earth to wood contact, faulty grade, improper drainage and firewood against the structure. That advisory is preprinted on every blank copy, so its presence is not a finding. Anything an inspector actually saw belongs in Section V. Fixing those conditions is termite prevention rather than treatment, and the two get quoted together often enough to be worth separating on your own copy.

Who decides what happens next?

You and the seller. The inspector has finished.

North Carolina states the handover: “His job is to tell you, or your (his) client, that the wood-destroying insect infestation is present. His obligation is then fulfilled. It is up to the seller or buyer to contract for a treatment if necessary.” Its advice on the next step is procedural rather than tactical: “The buyer and seller should discuss these options and agree on a treatment plan before the treatment is performed.”

The choice of treatment also changes what you are left holding. North Carolina notes that “If a prior treatment has been performed, or if a warranty is not desired, a spot treatment may be satisfactory. However, if the termite infestation is widespread or a warranty is required, a complete treatment of the structure is usually recommended.” That is the difference between a spot treatment and a full liquid barrier treatment, stated in terms of the warranty rather than the chemistry, and the coverage level that warranty comes at is a decision of its own: repair or retreatment only. On a VA file, veterans “may also pay for any repairs required to ensure compliance with MPRs”, and VA encourages negotiating those costs with the seller. The general version of that argument is in who pays for a termite inspection.

What you actually put to the seller, and what each of the four available asks leaves you holding on the day you get the keys, picks up where this page stops: negotiating after a termite finding. The short version is that the strongest ask on that list is usually a document rather than a number.

Before signing anything, the University of Kentucky’s extension entomology service is worth quoting at whoever is hurrying you: “Take your time when selecting a company. Termites damage wood slowly; the amount of damage caused by taking an additional day, week, or month to make an informed decision generally is inconsequential. Avoid firms that try to pressure you into signing a contract immediately with specials or scare tactics.”

Here’s what I’d actually do

I would ask the seller one question before I asked for a single dollar: do you have records of a previous treatment, and is there a service agreement on the house?

My read of the form’s recommendation rule is that this is the only question that can change the finding without anyone touching the building. Old evidence with paperwork behind it is a different document from old evidence without it, and the difference is decided by a file, not by an inspection. Asking for documents also reads very differently across a negotiating table than asking for a credit.

Second, I would find out what was not looked at. My printable inspection and report check walks that section against what you saw on the day, which is the one part of a report nobody but you can verify. If a major area was listed as inaccessible for a reason somebody can fix, I would get it opened up and looked at before deciding anything, and expect that visit to cost something.

Third, if there is writing on line 3, I would get a builder or an engineer to look at the wood. The pest control company has told you what it is required to tell you. What it is worth is a different trade’s question.

Then I would get a quote from a company that did not perform the inspection. Not as an accusation against the first one. A number with nothing beside it is not information.

I have not seen your house, your report or your contract, and all three matter. What I am confident about is the order: what was inspected, then what was found, then what anybody thinks it costs.

Sources

• Form NPMA-33: Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report — National Pest Management Association, hosted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, form dated 2019-07-01. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• A Home Buyer’s Guide for Wood Destroying Insect Information Report (WDIR) — North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Structural Pest Control Division, undated. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Conducive Conditions and Contracts for Wood Destroying Organisms (FDACS-P-02044) — Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, revised June 2020. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Termite Control: Answers for Homeowners (ENTFACT-604) — University of Kentucky Department of Entomology, revised March 2026. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Circular 26-22-11: Pest Inspection Fees and Repair Costs — Veterans Benefits Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, published 2022-06-15. Accessed 2026-08-06.