Wingate Inns: Litigation & Risk
Lodging · FDD Items 3, 4 & 5
Elevated Risk
14 cases disclosed in FDD Items 3 and 4.
FDD Items 3 & 4
Litigation Metrics
- Cases disclosed
- 14
- Total from FDD Items 3 and 4
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor or officer bankruptcy
- Verdict score
- 68 / 100
- FranchiseVerdict composite · higher is better
- Rating
- A
- 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
- 30
- Government-backed loans issued
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- vs 16% franchise average
- 5-yr charge-off rate
- N/A
- Defaults
- 0 loans
- Loans charged off or defaulted
- Total loan volume
- $71.0M
- Avg loan size
- $2.4M
- Participating lenders
- 11
FDD Items 5, 6 & 17: What You Give Up
Contract Risk Indicators
- Mandatory arbitration
- Not required
- You retain the right to sue in court
- Franchisor can compete
- Yes
- Franchisor can open competing locations in or near your territory
- Right of first refusal
- No
- Franchisor can match any purchase offer when you try to sell
- Governing law
- New Jersey
- State whose law governs disputes. Relevant if you're not based there
Extracted from FDD Item 3
Litigation Detail
1 pending case against the franchisor (Canadian class action re destination marketing fees); 7 pending cases against parents/affiliates (antitrust/price-fixing suits re revenue management software, resort/hotel fee class actions, a breach-of-contract dispute, and a suit vs LuxUrban involving bankrupt counterparties); 2 resolved cases against the franchisor (a $575,000 settlement received from defendants in a NJ breach-of-contract suit, and a franchisee fraud/rescission suit settled in 2016); 4 resolved cases against parents/affiliates (resort-fee/TCCWNA class settlement, a $7,000 antitrust settlement, a call-recording privacy class settlement, and an FTC data-security consent order with no monetary relief).
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.