FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Pet Wants litigation history
What Pet Wants 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 4
- 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
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
1) Commonwealth of Virginia v. F.C. Franchising Systems (affiliate) - disclosure failure, settled 2021 ($8,000 penalty); 2) CA Commissioner v. multiple affiliates including Pet Wants - non-disclosure of officer bankruptcy, Consent Order July 2021; 3) CA Commissioner v. multiple affiliates including Pet Wants - CPA registration failure, Consent Order Dec 2021 ($5,000 penalty); 4) Pet Wants v. Intihar et al. (Hamilton Cty. OH, Sept. 2025) - franchisor suing franchisee for breach of non-compete, pending with counterclaim
Item 3 (litigation) · 4 matters disclosed · 1 pending listed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Pending (1)
Pet Wants Franchise System, LLC v. Intihar, et al.
pendingBrought against a franchisee · filed 2025-09-03 · Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas · A2504341
“… (Hamilton Cty. Ohio Common Pleas Ct., Sept. 3, 2025), Case No. A2504341.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Concluded (2)
Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation v. C.T. Franchising Systems, Inc.; F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc; G.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.; T.B. Franchising Systems, Inc.; Pet Wants Franchise System, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2021-07-20 · California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation
“We and our affiliates entered into a Consent Order with the California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation on July 20, 2021 resulting from an officer/director’s failure to inform us of a 2012 personal bankruptcy filing.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation v. C.T. Franchising Systems, Inc.; F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc; G.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.; T.B. Franchising Systems, Inc.; Pet Wants Franchise System, LLC (filed 2021-12-13)
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2021-12-13 · California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation
“We and our affiliates entered into a Consent Order with the California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation on December 13, 2021 acknowledging that the certified public accountant that audited our financial statements was not registered as a public accounting firm in Ohio as required by Ohio accounting regulations.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
Commonwealth of Virginia v. F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.
settledGovernment or regulatory action · F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc. dba Fresh Coat (FCFSI, our affiliate) · filed 2021-03-03 · Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Securities and Retail Franchising · SEC-2020-00036
“… Case No. SEC-2020-00036. Our affiliate, F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc. dba Fresh Coat (“FCFSI”), entered into a Settlement Order with the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Division of Securities and Retail Franchising on March 3, 2021.”Page 11 of the 2026 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 disclosures including officer bankruptcy concealment, auditor registration violations, and active breach of contract lawsuit signal governance and compliance 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?