Ameri-Pride Pest Control Services, Inc., the Clearwater-based company operating as Prime-Scape Services, filed for Chapter 11 Subchapter V bankruptcy protection on August 21, listing estimated liabilities between $1,000,001 and $10 million against assets of no more than $50,000. The filing covers a company that markets itself as a 35-year-old full-service landscaping and property maintenance firm serving Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, and Polk counties.
The voluntary petition, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida under case number 8:26-bk-07498-ced, was signed by Timothy D. Lockhart, according to WhatNow. Buddy D. Ford represents the company in the case, per case records cited by the outlet, and the debtor is listed with an estimated 1 to 49 creditors. Florida Division of Corporations records show the current corporate entity was registered as a Florida profit corporation in February 2006, with Lockhart as registered agent, even as the business promotes decades of service under its brand names.
Chapter 11 does not necessarily mean Prime-Scape is closing or going out of business. The Subchapter V track, created to streamline reorganization for qualifying small businesses, lets a company keep operating while restructuring its debts under a court-approved repayment plan, and the filing indicates funds are expected to be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
Who Prime-Scape Owes and Who It Serves
Among the company's largest unsecured creditors are Lendistry, Rapid Finance, Marlin Leasing Corporation, Bay First Bank, The Fundworks, LLC, and FC Market Place LLC, a mix that points toward reliance on alternative lenders and merchant cash advance financing common among cash-strapped small businesses. Prime-Scape describes itself as fully licensed and insured, with a team that includes landscaping professionals, horticulturalists, irrigation technicians, landscape architects, designers, project managers, and an ISA certified arborist on staff.
The company's client list spans property managers, businesses, HOAs, municipalities, schools, hospitals, resorts, and multifamily properties across the Tampa Bay area. Its service lineup includes lawn maintenance, landscape design and installation, sod installation, irrigation, tree care, fertilization, disease control, pest control, and storm-related work, along with a specialty in new-construction landscape design. The Better Business Bureau of West Florida lists Prime-Scape Services with a C+ rating tied to an unhandled customer complaint, with files reflecting local operations under Lockhart dating to February 2006.
A Squeeze Familiar to Florida Landscapers
Labor costs are a central pressure point across the industry Prime-Scape operates in. Commercial landscape labor typically eats up about half of total operating costs, and 54% of commercial landscape companies cited staff recruitment and retention as a major business risk heading into 2026, according to Next Move Strategy Consulting. Monthly commercial maintenance contracts for Florida apartment complexes and HOA communities generally run between $1,200 and $8,000 depending on acreage and scope, per United Land Services — revenue that providers depend on to offset heavy equipment and payroll costs.
Prime-Scape's filing lands amid a broader wave of financial distress hitting Florida's court system. Bankruptcy cases in the Middle District of Florida jumped 38% in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2025, and the district ranked first nationwide in Subchapter V filings with 265 cases, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida. Separately, the district logged 23,442 total bankruptcy filings for the 12 months ending June 30, 2025, a 26.9% year-over-year increase that outpaced both Florida's statewide 23.5% jump and the national 11.5% rise, as reported by Florida Trend.
Other Landscapers Have Followed the Same Path
Prime-Scape is not the only regional landscaping company to seek this kind of relief recently. Wright Scapes, Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection on February 3, 2026, proceeding under Subchapter V, per case records cited by WhatNow, and Copper Ridge Landscape & Design, LLC entered bankruptcy proceedings in western Pennsylvania on March 5, 2026. Both cases reflect the same statutory framework now guiding Prime-Scape's reorganization.
Under Subchapter V rules, debtors must submit a proposed reorganization plan within 90 days of filing and can confirm that plan without unsecured creditor approval by committing all disposable income to payments over three to five years, according to the U.S. Trustee Program. The process eliminates the creditors' committees and disclosure statement requirements standard in traditional Chapter 11, which reduces legal costs and speeds up court confirmation. The statutory debt ceiling for the program reverted from a temporary $7.5 million pandemic-era cap back down to $3,424,000 in June 2024, restricting which small businesses can qualify.
That eligibility limit could soon shift again. On August 3, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026, which would permanently restore the Subchapter V debt limit to $7.5 million, according to Bernstein Shur. If the U.S. House passes the bill and it is signed into law, more businesses carrying debts between $3.4 million and $7.5 million would gain access to the streamlined reorganization process Prime-Scape is now using.
The case has been assigned to Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Caryl E. Delano, who was first appointed to the Middle District bench in 2008 and reappointed as Chief Judge in 2023, presiding over cases in both the Tampa and Fort Myers divisions. For now, Prime-Scape's petition remains an active voluntary filing, with the company continuing operations while it works toward a court-approved plan to address its outstanding obligations.
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