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A63/100FDD 2022

Southern Solar — Litigation & Risk

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Lower Risk

No litigation cases disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.

Source: FDD Items 3–5

FDD Items 3 & 4

Litigation Metrics

Cases disclosed
0
Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
—
Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
Overall risk score
63 / 100
FranchiseVerdict composite
Rating
STRONG
STRONG / MODERATE / CAUTION / AVOID

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
Texas
State whose law governs disputes — relevant if you're not based there

What drove the 63/100 rating

Risk Score Breakdown

  1. 01MEDOnly 1 disclosed franchisee unit with unknown growth trajectory — inability to demonstrate system expansion or multi-unit success
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations (going_concern: false) — franchisor refuses to disclose typical earnings, making ROI validation impossible
  3. 03MINORRoyalty structure front-loaded at 5.5% on first $4M in revenue — franchisees must achieve $1.04M+ annual sales just to break even on $65K franchise fee + $170-240K startup in year one
  4. 04MEDExtremely limited franchisee base (n=1) creates survivorship bias — cannot assess failure rates, churn, or real-world performance variability
  5. 05MINORTiered royalty scaling ($4M-$8M-$12M thresholds) suggests franchisor expects high-growth units but provides no evidence current franchisee is hitting those milestones

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.