FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Champs Chicken litigation history
What Champs Chicken disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 3
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- $2K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Three Item-3 matters disclosed: (1) TravelCenters of the Ozarks/Wilmoth Enterprises v. Champs Chicken Franchising (Cole County, MO, 2022) — breach of contract over rebate payments, in preliminary stage; (2) Illinois Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (2016) — sold franchises while registration suspended, paid $2,000; (3) Washington Consent Order (2017) — sold franchises without a current permit, paid $3,000.
Item 3 (litigation) · 3 matters disclosed · 1 pending listed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Pending (1)
TravelCenters of the Ozarks, Inc. and Wilmoth Enterprises Inc. v. Champs Chicken Franchising, LLC
pendingBrought by a franchisee · filed 2022-07-01 · Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri · 22AC-CC01009
“… in the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri (Case No. 22AC-CC01009).”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Concluded (2)
Consent Order S-16-2008-17-CO01 (Washington Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division)
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2017-01-18 · Washington Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division · S-16-2008-17-CO01
“On January 18, 2017, Champs Chicken entered into Consent Order S-16-2008-17-CO01 with the State of Washington, Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division (the “Securities Division”).”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
People of the State of Illinois v. Champs Chicken (Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, File No. 16-AVC-F006)
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2016-08-08 · Illinois Attorney General · 16-AVC-F006
“On August 8, 2016, Champs Chicken entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, File No. 16- AVC-F006 with the People of Illinois by and through Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois (“Attorney General”).”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “pay the sum of $2,000 to the State of Illinois, pursuant to the penalty provisions of the Illinois Franchise Disclosure Act (815 ILCS 505/7) Securities Division.”
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Active litigation regarding rebates suggests franchisor-franchisee financial disputes and broken promises
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?