FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2024 filing
Ascend Hotel Collection litigation history
What Ascend Hotel Collection disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2024 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
- 7
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $779K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2024
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
3 pending matters: (1) Norma Knuth class action in Canada re destination marketing fees; (2) Jai Sai Baba multi-plaintiff RICO/franchise law suit (stayed, in arbitration); (3) T&T Management breach of contract/data misappropriation. Resolved: Wydredge (settled 2014), Sender Kohl ($85K settlement 2021), Highmark Lodging ($779K judgment against Choice 2024), Dahya Investments (mixed award). Large volume of 2023 royalty collection arbitrations by franchisor against franchisees.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Multiple active class action lawsuits regarding destination marketing fees and discriminatory practices indicate systemic franchisor issues affecting profitability
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?