Senior Helpers: Litigation & Risk
Healthcare · FDD Items 3, 4 & 5
Moderate: Review
4 cases disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.
FDD Items 3 & 4
Litigation Metrics
- Cases disclosed
- 4
- Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
- Verdict score
- 75 / 100
- FranchiseVerdict composite · higher is better
- Rating
- A
- A / B / C / D / F verdict grade
7(a) FOIA data · FY2020–present
SBA Loan Performance
Aggregated from public SBA 7(a) loan disclosures. Charge-off rate is the share of loans that were charged off or settled for less than the full balance.
- Total 7(a) loans
- 147
- Government-backed loans issued
- Charge-off rate
- 7.9%
- vs 16% franchise average
- 5-yr charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- Defaults
- 5 loans
- Loans charged off or defaulted
- Total loan volume
- $60.1M
- Avg loan size
- $409K
- Participating lenders
- 40
FDD Items 5, 6 & 17: What You Give Up
Contract Risk Indicators
- Mandatory arbitration
- Not required
- You retain the right to sue in court
- Jury trial waiver
- Waived
- You give up the right to a jury trial
- Non-compete
- 2 yrs
- Post-termination restriction on similar businesses
- Franchisor can compete
- Yes
- Franchisor can open competing locations in or near your territory
- Right of first refusal
- Yes
- Franchisor can match any purchase offer when you try to sell
- Governing law
- Maryland
- State whose law governs disputes. Relevant if you're not based there
Extracted from FDD Item 3
Litigation Detail
Four disclosed matters: (1) Nienart v. SH Franchising/franchisee (NJ, 2016) - caregiver negligence claims, settled for $150,000; (2) Beck v. Foreman Care Corp./SH Franchising (IN, 2018) - negligent caregiving/property damage/theft claims, settled for $150,000; (3) WA Attorney General "no-poach" provisions investigation (2019) - resolved via Assurance of Discontinuance requiring removal of non-solicitation clauses nationwide; (4) Johns v. ACK Home Care/SH Franchising (OH, 2024) - FLSA/wage claims, settled by franchisee for $42,000 with no franchisor contribution.
Litigation data from FDD Items 3, 4, and 5. SBA data from public 7(a) FOIA records (FY2020–present). Not legal advice. Consult a franchise attorney before signing any franchise agreement.