FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Fantastic Sams litigation history
What Fantastic Sams 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
- 6
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $90K
- 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
1 pending arbitration (Fantastic Sams v. Yeretsyan, post-expiration non-compete, settled) and 5 prior actions: Linco/Martinez/Oppegaard (non-compete/trademark, settled with new franchise agreement); KAK Enterprises/Khan (non-compete, salon ceased operating); Eridon Enterprises/Hardaway (default/closure, counterclaims for breach/negligence/fraud, settled for $90,000 paid to franchisor); HopeWorks/Vasant (default/closure, counterclaims and separate CA state suit alleging misrepresentation, settled for $50,000 paid to franchisor); Halter/CMH Ventures (franchisee sought to invalidate non-compete, settled via amendment requiring franchisee to pay $25,000); F.S. Salons Sandy Springs/Stafford (non-compete violation, counterclaims for breach of contract/FTC Act/state consumer protection, settled for $53,500 paid to franchisor).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Ongoing litigation over disclosure adequacy suggests franchisor may have misrepresented opportunity to previous franchisees — risk of similar claims against new franchisee
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?