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FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing

Holiday Inn litigation history

What Holiday Inn 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
38
Item 3, as counted in the filing
Largest disclosed settlement
$10.9M
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

Numerous suits by Holiday against licensees for unpaid fees/liquidated damages after termination (many resulting in counterclaims alleging breach of good faith, unreasonable standards, kickbacks from required vendors); several putative class actions alleging improper franchise practices/kickbacks under state deceptive trade practices and franchise acts, largely resolved in Holiday's favor or settled without payment; one historical settlement paid by Holiday of $10.9M (Lenexa Hotel matter); a confidential arbitration award against an IHG entity (Tsemex) and against IHG Hotels Limited in the Foremost Hospitality arbitration.

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?