FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
City Express by Marriott litigation history
What City Express by Marriott 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
- 17
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $52.0M
- 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
Multiple matters: (A) 2018 Starwood data security breach MDL and related administrative investigations/regulatory actions in US, UK, Turkey, Canada, Australia; (B) Resort/destination fee investigations and DC lawsuit (settled 2025); (C) Portillo antitrust class action, Segal antitrust class action, Hall negligence ($16M verdict, settled 2025), Marriott v Lucky Cleveland arbitration ($1.95M awarded), SRG v Discover credit card proceeds dispute; (D) Several concluded cases including Rahman Property System Incident (settled), HPT arbitration, two Puerto Rico resort fee suits (settled individually), Cityfront Hotel Associates (settled 2017), Todd Hall (settled).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Going concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial viability questions at corporate level
- Extensive litigation portfolio including data security class action, state AG investigations, antitrust claims, and contractual disputes indicates systemic corporate governance problems
- Marriott brand association provides some credibility, but litigation suggests parent company distance or weak oversight
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?