FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Sign Gypsies litigation history
What Sign Gypsies 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
- 6
- 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
Six administrative proceedings by state regulators alleging violations of franchise disclosure and registration laws. All settled via consent orders or assurance of voluntary compliance between 2019-2021. No admission of liability in any case. Penalties and investigative costs totaling approximately $33,250 plus refund/rescission obligations.
Item 3 (litigation) · 6 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (3)
In the Matter of Sign Gypsies, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2021-08-19 · Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland
“Administrative Proceeding, filed by Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, against our affiliate Sign Gypsies, LLC and against us alleging that, between 2016 and 2019, we and our affiliate violated Maryland Franchise”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
In the Matter of Sign Gypsies, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2020 · Minnesota Department of Commerce
“Administrative Proceeding, filed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, against our affiliate Sign Gypsies, LLC and against us alleging that, between June 2019 and September 2020, we and our affiliate violated the Minnesota Franchise Act by offering and selling licenses that constituted franchises in Minnesota without required disclosures and registration.”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
In the Matter of: Sign Gypsies, LLC and Sign Gypsies Franchising, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2020 · Attorney General of the State of Illinois · 20-AVC-F002
“… Administrative Proceeding filed by the Attorney General for the State of Illinois against our affiliate Sign Gypsies, LLC and against us”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (3)
In the Matter of a Consent Order between the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation and Sign Gypsies, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · Sign Gypsies, LLC (our affiliate) · filed 2023-02-09 · California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation
“… before the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation for the State of California.”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Commonwealth of Virginia, ex rel. State Corporation Commission v. Sign Gypsies, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · Sign Gypsies, LLC (our affiliate) · filed 2020-05-06 · Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Securities and Retail Franchising · SEC-2020-00027
“… Administrative Proceeding filed by the State Corporation Commission’s Virginia Division of Securities and Retail Franchising against our affiliate Sign Gypsies, LLC (Case”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
In the Matter of Determining Whether there has been a violation of the Franchise Investment Protection Act of Washington by: Sign Gypsies LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · Sign Gypsies, LLC (our affiliate) · filed 2019-10-02 · Washington Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division · S-19-2747-19-CO01
“… Administrative Proceeding filed by the Washington Securities Division of the Department of Financial Institutions”Page 9 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.
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?