FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Manhattan Pizza litigation history
What Manhattan Pizza 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
1) VA State Corporation Commission v. Manhattan Pizza Company LLC and Jack Azar (2014) re unregistered franchise sales - settled with $15,000 penalty; 2) Franchisor named as defendant in 2021 personal injury lawsuit (resolved without liability); 3) Franchisor filed suit against Maryland franchisee in 2023 for unpaid royalties - default judgment entered
Item 3 (litigation) · 3 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (2)
Matter with no printed caption
judgmentBrought against a franchisee · filed 2023
“In 2023 Franchisor filed a lawsuit against a Maryland franchisee and Kishan Bikki pertaining to a claim for unpaid royalty fees for one of its two franchises.”Page 8 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Matter with no printed caption
concludedBrought by the franchisor · filed 2021
“In 2021, Franchisor was named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit brough against one of its franchisees and its delivery driver.”Page 8 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel. State Corporation Commission v. Manhattan Pizza Company, LLC, Tanaz, LLC d/b/a Luv’N’Berry, and Jack Azar
settledGovernment or regulatory action · Manhattan Pizza Company, LLC (MPC, our parent), Tanaz, LLC (affiliate) and Jack Azar (our President) · filed 2014 · Virginia State Corporation Commission · SEC-2014-00018
“… in the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Case No. SEC-2014-00018.”Page 8 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 incidents (2014 unregistered franchise sales, 2021 personal injury, 2023 royalty default judgment) indicate compliance and relationship issues
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?