FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Always Best Care Senior Services litigation history
What Always Best Care Senior Services disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 & 4 at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 5
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $154K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Three 2016-2017 AAA arbitrations by former Area Representatives (MelDon Corp $85,000, CPP of DuPage $125,000, ESA Wealth Management $153,500 settlements); 2012 FTC consent order re: assisted living placement representations; 2010 Maryland Securities Commissioner consent order re: unregistered franchise offering ($35,000 assessment); two 2025 franchisor-initiated actions against a terminated franchisee (Paulus) for past-due amounts/trade secret theft.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Multiple litigation incidents over 14 years including recent 2024 franchisor lawsuit for past-due amounts and 2012 FTC consent order, suggesting compliance and collection issues
- Protected territory language vague—unclear if territorial exclusivity is truly enforced given litigation history and franchise compliance concerns
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?