FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
BFT litigation history
What BFT 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
- 24
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $17.0M
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Extensive Item 3 disclosure covering the Xponential Fitness franchise family: multiple franchisee lawsuits/arbitrations alleging pre-sale disclosure violations, fraud, and FDD misrepresentations against various Xponential brands including BFT (AKT Lawsuit, EA Lawsuit, Nickle Acquisition Lawsuit naming BFT, Zaltsman arbitration, Rumble Marina, JSP Group, Waughland arbitration, McGill wage class action, 4LMVMT arbitration, AHC Lawsuit); five pending securities class/derivative actions against parent XFI (Taylor General, WBP Pension Fund, Akande, Ayers, Nelson) plus related Shoals Technologies derivative/securities suits involving a director shared with XFI; and multiple state/federal regulatory consent orders/enforcement actions for FDD disclosure violations (California DFPI $450,000 penalty, Washington DFI, FTC $17 million redress order, Virginia SCC $20,000 penalty re CycleBar/Row House, Maryland Securities Commissioner $75,000 penalty); one concluded lawsuit by Predecessor resulting in a $6.5 million settlement in its favor.
Disclosed in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Timothy Weiderhoft, Xponential's COO North America, and his wife filed a personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition (Case No. 2:23-bk-05397-BKM, D. Ariz.) on August 9, 2023 after an unrelated restaurant venture failed during COVID-19; discharge granted December 20, 2023.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Going concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability or restructuring at parent company level
- Active litigation across multiple jurisdictions with specific allegations of fraudulent inducement and disclosure violations — suggests systemic franchisor credibility issues
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?