What is the required action regarding site selection after signing the Counselor Realty agreement?
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, after signing the Franchise Agreement, a franchisee must select a site for their office within 180 days. Once a proposed site is identified, the franchisee must notify Counselor Realty, who then has 30 days to review and either approve or reject the site.
If Counselor Realty rejects the initial site, the franchisee is given an additional 60 days to find an alternative location that meets Counselor Realty's approval. Failure to secure an approved site within this extended timeframe will result in the automatic termination of the Franchise Agreement. In such a case, Counselor Realty will refund the Initial Franchise Fee, but will deduct any expenses they incurred during the site review process.
Once a site is approved by Counselor Realty, the franchisee must open their Counselor Realty business at that location within six months. Failing to open within this six-month period also leads to automatic termination of the Franchise Agreement, and in this scenario, the Initial Franchise Fee will not be refunded to the franchisee. Counselor Realty retains the discretion to grant extensions to these deadlines, providing some flexibility in the site selection and opening process. However, the document explicitly states that Counselor Realty's consent to a site does not guarantee the site's availability, suitability, or the future success of the Counselor Realty office or business.