There are countless grounds for termination of a franchise agreement. Failure to pay royalties is most assuredly grounds of termination of the franchise agreement. Abandonment of the franchise business is another sure bet for termination of the franchise agreement. Not operating franchise business in compliance with franchise standards, transferring franchise assets without franchisor approval, under reporting gross revenues; these are all common grounds for terminating the franchise agreement.
What about not having enough money in the bank? Well that is what happened in one case. The case is 7-Eleven, Inc.et. al. v. Brinderjit Dhaliwal. Brinderjit Dhaliwal (“Dhaliwal”) is a 7-Eleven franchisee. He owned and operated a successful 7-Eleven franchise from 1997 to 2010, more than a dozen years. The lease on his location expires. He is forced to close the location. 7-Eleven gives him the option to take over a number of available locations free of an initial franchise fee or transfer fee. The locations available, which do not carry a waiver of the initial franchise fee, don’t work for Dhaliwal. He ends up buying a location in Rocklin, California. The initial franchise fee is $219,000.
Dhaliwal thinks it is going to be a great location! But, it does not work out that way. Projected sales don’t hit the mark. Under the 7-Eleven franchise agreement, Dhaliwal is required to maintain a net worth of $15,000. The profits are just not what were expected. The net worth of the franchise business repeatedly falls below the $15,000 threshold. 7-Elven sends Dhaliwal repeated default notices and ultimately terminates Dhaliwal’s Rocklin, California, franchise.
Why would a franchisor put a net worth requirement on the franchisees? And make it a terminable offense. I can think of several reasons. 1. The franchisor is worried about creditors taking over the franchise assets. 2. Insufficient cash flow may impede inventory levels, advertising expenditures, and staffing levels. That is not what the franchisor goes with. Get this. The franchisor argues: it has good cause to terminate a franchise if they fail to maintain a net worth of less than $15,000. This is a quote from the court’s decision: The reason for the net worth requirement, as clarified at hearing, was to ensure that the franchisee was fully invested in the operation of the store.”
Guess what? The court goes for it. The court grants a preliminary injunction in favor of 7-Eleven, ordering Dhaliwal to surrender the franchise premise and cease using the 7-Eleven name.
Lesson from the Court: Always have a reason. It does not have to be a good reason. It does have to be the best one, the logical one, but you must have one.
Grounds for termination of the franchise must be disclosed in the franchise document disclosure.
