FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Trublue litigation history
What Trublue 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 3
- 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
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Three regulatory settlement/consent orders: Virginia SCC settlement with Fresh Coat over non-disclosure of an officer's personal bankruptcy (refunds + $8,000 penalty); California DFPI consent order over the same bankruptcy non-disclosure across TBFS and affiliates; California DFPI consent order over the auditing CPA not being registered in Ohio ($5,000 penalty).
Item 3 (litigation) · 3 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (2)
Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation v. C.T. Franchising Systems, Inc.; F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc; G.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.; T.B. Franchising Systems, Inc.; Pet Wants Franchise System, LLC
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2021-07-20 · California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
“We and our affiliates entered into a Consent Order with the California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation on July 20, 2021 resulting from an officer/director’s failure to inform us of a 2012 personal bankruptcy filing.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation v. C.T. Franchising Systems, Inc.; F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc; G.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.; T.B. Franchising Systems, Inc.; Pet Wants Franchise System, LLC (filed 2021-12-13)
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · filed 2021-12-13 · California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
“We and our affiliates entered into a Consent Order with the California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation on December 13, 2021 acknowledging that the certified public accountant that audited our financial statements was not registered as a public accounting firm in Ohio as required by Ohio accounting regulations.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
Commonwealth of Virginia v. F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc.
settledGovernment or regulatory action · F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc. dba Fresh Coat (FCFSI, our affiliate) · filed 2021-03-03 · Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Securities and Retail Franchising · SEC-2020-00036
“… Case No. SEC-2020-00036. Our affiliate, F.C. Franchising Systems, Inc. dba Fresh Coat (“FCFSI”), entered into a Settlement Order with the Virginia State Corporation Commission's Division of Securities and Retail Franchising on March 3, 2021.”Page 11 of the 2026 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?