What is the exception to the nonrefundable Initial Franchise Fee for Counselor Realty?
Counselor_Realty Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
1.2 Site Selection. You must select a site for your Office within 180 days after you sign this Agreement. After you notify us of a proposed site for your Office, we will have 30 days to review the site and to notify you whether or not we consent to your operation of the Business at that site. If we reject the site you propose, you will have an additional 60 days to locate a site that is acceptable to us. If you fail to do so, this Agreement will automatically terminate and we will refund your Initial Franchise Fee, less our expenses associated with reviewing the proposed site(s). After we consent to an Office site you propose (if at all), you must open your Business at that site within six months. If you fail to do so, this Agreement will automatically terminate and your Initial Franchise Fee will not be refunded. We may, in our sole discretion, grant extensions of the deadlines described above. Our consent to a site is not a guarantee or assurance as to the availability, suitability or prospects of an Office or Business.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 32)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Counselor Realty's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the initial franchise fee is generally nonrefundable. However, there is an exception related to site selection.
If a prospective Counselor Realty franchisee fails to secure an approved site for their office within 180 days of signing the franchise agreement, they are given an additional 60 days to find a suitable location. If, after this extended period, Counselor Realty rejects the proposed site, the agreement will automatically terminate.
In this specific instance, Counselor Realty will refund the initial franchise fee to the franchisee, but will deduct any expenses Counselor Realty incurred while reviewing the proposed sites. This exception provides a limited degree of financial protection to the franchisee if the failure to find a suitable site is not due to the franchisee's lack of effort, but rather due to Counselor Realty's disapproval.