FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Smash My Trash litigation history
What Smash My Trash 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 & 4 at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 6
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- Not extracted
- 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
4 disclosed cases: (1) Blanchat et al. arbitration - franchisees alleged misrepresentation under WA franchise law; arbitrator awarded plaintiffs $2,875,182.51 against franchisor, Haskin, and FastLane jointly; (2) Nathanson arbitration - settled, franchisor refunded $80,000 plus $67,475 truck deposit; (3) Allied Services/Republic Services v. Smash My Trash - franchisor's affiliate sued for property damage/interference, franchisor defending and counterclaiming, trial set for Jan 2023; (4) Ryan Haskin/Little Business v. Justin Haskin/SMT Holdings - sellers of parent company alleging misrepresentation of value, unspecified damages sought.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- 4 litigation cases including refund settlement
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?