Signs Now / Signs By Tomorrow: Litigation & Risk
Business Services · FDD Items 3, 4 & 5
Moderate: Review
2 cases disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.
FDD Items 3 & 4
Litigation Metrics
- Cases disclosed
- 2
- Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
- Verdict score
- 43 / 100
- FranchiseVerdict composite · higher is better
- Rating
- C
- 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
- 88
- Government-backed loans issued
- Charge-off rate
- 12.7%
- vs 16% franchise average
- 5-yr charge-off rate
- N/A
- Defaults
- 9 loans
- Loans charged off or defaulted
- Total loan volume
- $18.8M
- Avg loan size
- $214K
- Participating lenders
- 51
FDD Items 5, 6 & 17: What You Give Up
Contract Risk Indicators
- Mandatory arbitration
- Required
- Disputes resolved outside court, limits your legal options
- 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
- Michigan
- State whose law governs disputes. Relevant if you're not based there
Extracted from FDD Item 3
Litigation Detail
Two cases: (1) Signs by Tomorrow of Siouxland, Inc. v. SGO - settled March 27, 2018 with franchise agreement extension and mutual releases; (2) Allegra Network LLC v. United Sign Ventures, LLC - pending arbitration filed August 18, 2016 for non-payment and non-compliance, with counterclaim filed September 30, 2016.
What drove the 43/100 verdict
Risk Score Breakdown
- 01MINORNo Item 19 disclosure
- 02MINORNet unit growth -13.3%
- 03HIGHStrong financials, only concluded litigation
Severity inferred from FDD text. Not a regulatory or legal classification
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.