FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Steri-Clean litigation history
What Steri-Clean disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 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
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
One pending arbitration (former Houston franchisee alleging breach, seeking damages, hearing scheduled fall 2024). Prior: Dimattina Holdings litigation/arbitration (fraudulent inducement claims by former franchisee; franchisor later won arbitration award of $157,454.75; separate post-judgment settlement paying franchisor $190,000); Etheridge lawsuit (former franchisee, various claims re: territory reassignment, settled for $50,000 paid by franchisor in 2019).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- 4 litigation matters incl. pending arbitration on 55-unit system
- Fraudulent-inducement claims history
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?