Fitness Machine Technicians FMT: Litigation & Risk
Health & Fitness · FDD Items 3, 4 & 5
Moderate: Review
5 cases disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.
FDD Items 3 & 4
Litigation Metrics
- Cases disclosed
- 5
- Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
- Verdict score
- 71 / 100
- FranchiseVerdict composite · higher is better
- Rating
- A
- A / B / C / D / F verdict grade
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
- NC
- State whose law governs disputes. Relevant if you're not based there
Extracted from FDD Item 3
Litigation Detail
5 predecessor/affiliate matters: 4 regulatory consent orders against TMA Franchise Systems (predecessor to Mosquito Authority) for franchise registration violations in Maryland (2013), Rhode Island (2013), Virginia (2015), and Minnesota (2017); plus 1 Soccer Shots affiliate assurance of discontinuance re no-poaching provisions (2019). No pending litigation for current franchisor.
What drove the 71/100 verdict
Risk Score Breakdown
- 01MINORPredecessor company (TMA/Mosquito Authority) has four unregistered franchise sales regulatory violations across multiple states, indicating potential compliance and disclosure issues that may persist
- 02MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify the claimed $212,397.50 average net income or $466,910 average revenue figures
- 03MEDModest unit growth of only 9.1% YoY with 140 total units suggests limited brand momentum; saturation risk in service territory model
- 04MINORTiered royalty structure (6% then 5%) creates ambiguity on true take-home net income once corporate overhead is factored across declining margin tiers
- 05HIGHAffiliate litigation (Soccer Shots no-poaching settlement) indicates corporate culture issues with restrictive covenants that may impact franchisee autonomy
- 06MINORService-based franchise model highly dependent on owner involvement, labor costs, and local market saturation with minimal recurring revenue protection
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.