FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Instant Imprints litigation history
What Instant Imprints disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 3
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- None stated
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Three prior actions: (1) Gunther Graphics v. NFFI (2020) - franchise breach claim, judgment for franchisor, settled on appeal Feb 2024; (2) Lotfollahi v. Askar/IITI (2019) - shareholder fraud claims, settled Nov 2021; (3) Lotfollahi v. Askar/Bizup (2019) - shareholder derivative action, settled Nov 2021
Item 3 (litigation) · 3 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (1)
Gunther Graphics and Lori Francin v. No Frill Franchising, Inc and Gregg Chaisson
settledBrought by a franchisee · filed 2020-04-15 · District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado · 2020CV30839
“… On April 15, 2020, Gunther Graphics, Inc. filed a lawsuit against No Frill Franchising, Inc. and Gregg Chiasson in the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, Case No. 2020CV30839.”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
Hamid Lotfollahi v. Ralph Askar, John Tillger, II Transatlantic, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, 1184126 Ontario, Inc.
settledBrought by a third party · II Transatlantic, Inc. (IITI, our parent) · filed 2019-11-22 · Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego · 37-2019-00062129-CU-FR-CTL
“Hamid Lotfollahi v. Ralph Askar, John Tillger, II Transatlantic, Inc. Hamid Lotfollahi v. Ralph Askar, John Tillger, II Transatlantic, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, 1184126 Ontario, Inc., a Canadian Corporation (Case 37-2019-00062129-CU-FR-CTL) was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego, California on November 22, 2019.”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Officers and directors (individuals, not the company)
Concluded (1)
Hamid Lotfollahi v. Ralph Askar, Bizup, Inc. and DOES 1-20
settledBrought by a third party · Ralph Askar (our President) · filed 2019-08-02 · Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego · 37-2019- 00040181-CU-FR-CTL
“… A related case, Hamid Lotfollahi v. Ralph Askar, Bizup, Inc. and DOES 1-20 (Case: 37-2019- 00040181-CU-FR-CTL) was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego, California on August 2, 2019.”Page 14 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Multiple litigation cases including breach of contract and shareholder disputes signal operational friction and potential governance issues within franchisor leadership
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?