Asp - America’s Swimming Pool Company: Litigation & Risk
Home Services · FDD Items 3, 4 & 5
Moderate: Review
1 case disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.
FDD Items 3 & 4
Litigation Metrics
- Cases disclosed
- 1
- Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
- Verdict score
- 40 / 100
- FranchiseVerdict composite · higher is better
- Rating
- C
- A / B / C / D / F verdict grade
7(a) FOIA data · FY2020–present
SBA Loan Performance
Aggregated from public SBA 7(a) loan disclosures. Charge-off rate is the share of loans that were charged off or settled for less than the full balance.
- Total 7(a) loans
- 44
- Government-backed loans issued
- Charge-off rate
- 27.8%
- vs 16% franchise average
- 5-yr charge-off rate
- N/A
- Defaults
- 5 loans
- Loans charged off or defaulted
- Total loan volume
- $9.2M
- Avg loan size
- $209K
- Participating lenders
- 17
FDD Items 5, 6 & 17: What You Give Up
Contract Risk Indicators
- Mandatory arbitration
- Required
- Disputes resolved outside court, limits your legal options
- Jury trial waiver
- Waived
- You give up the right to a jury trial
- Non-compete
- 2 yrs
- Post-termination restriction on similar businesses
- Franchisor can compete
- Yes
- Franchisor can open competing locations in or near your territory
- Right of first refusal
- Yes
- Franchisor can match any purchase offer when you try to sell
- Governing law
- MD
- State whose law governs disputes. Relevant if you're not based there
Extracted from FDD Item 3
Litigation Detail
1 pending arbitration: ASP Franchising SPE LLC v. PSL Pools LLC and Brandon Lee Grigsby, AAA Case No. 01-24-0004-6142, filed April 4, 2024 (franchisor as plaintiff, breach of contract/post-termination enforcement)
What drove the 40/100 verdict
Risk Score Breakdown
- 01HIGHActive litigation (April 2024) involving breach of contract and post-termination obligations suggests franchisor enforcement issues or franchisee disputes
- 02MINORSlow unit growth of 4.3% YoY in a mature 391-unit system indicates market saturation or franchisee underperformance
- 03MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot verify if average $146,355 net income is achievable for median franchisees
- 04MINORTiered royalty structure creates misalignment: franchisees earning $100k+ pay lower rates, suggesting franchisor may struggle at lower revenue tiers
- 05MINORHigh initial investment ($84k-$210k) relative to median net income ($146k) means 7-14 month payback period with zero margin for error
Severity inferred from FDD text. Not a regulatory or legal classification
Litigation data from FDD Items 3, 4, and 5. SBA data from public 7(a) FOIA records (FY2020–present). Not legal advice. Consult a franchise attorney before signing any franchise agreement.