FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Fred Astaire Dance Studios litigation history
What Fred Astaire Dance Studios 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
- 1
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $5K
- 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
No franchisor-initiated litigation disclosed. One governmental action: a 2016 Virginia Settlement Order (Case No. SEC-2016-00057) with the Virginia State Corporation Commission's Division of Securities and Retail Franchising over an unregistered franchise sale in April 2015; franchisor paid $4,500 in settlement plus $3,000 for investigation costs. A separate long-standing 1964/1989 FTC Modified Consent Order (Docket No. 8560) governs prepaid lesson sales practices but is not a new litigation matter.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Historical FTC consent order (1964/1989) for sales practices and 2016 Virginia settlement indicate regulatory compliance issues with franchise sales tactics
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?