What is the length of the franchise term for an Epcon Communities franchise?
Epcon_Communities Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
anklin County, Ohio. | | | w. | Paragraphs 17 | Subject to applicable state law, Ohio law applies and you | | | Choice of law | and 18 | waive your right to a jury trial. | |
Market Hold Agreement
| | Provision | Article or Section in Market Hold Agreement | Summary | |----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | a. | Length of the franchise term | Section 2 | Reserved Market Area will be held for 6 months. | | b. | Renewal or extension of the term | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | c. | Requirements for franchisee to renew or extend | Not Applicable | Although the term "renewal" does not apply to the Epcon franchise, the term renewal generally means that the franchise relationship is extended for an additional term of years. | | d. | Termination by franchisee | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | e. | Termination by franchisor without cause | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | f. | Termination by franchisor with cause | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | g. | "Cause" defined curable | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | h. | "Cause" defined non curable | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | i. | Franchisee's obligations on termination/nonrenewal | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | j. | Assignment of contract by franchisor | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | k. | "Transfer" by franchisee defined | Section 5 | Market Hold Agreement is not assignable to any other party without our consent. | | l. | Franchisor approval of a transfer by franchisee | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | m. | Conditions for franchisor's approval of a transfer | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | n. | Franchisor's right of first refusal to acquire franchisee's business | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | o. | Franchisor's option to purchase franchisee's business | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. | | p. | Death or disability of franchisee | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| Provision | Article or Section in Market Hold Agreement | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| q. | Non-competition covenants during the term of the franchise | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| r. | Non-competition covenants after the franchise is terminated or expires | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| s. | Modification of the Agreement | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| t. | Integration/merger clause | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| u. | Dispute resolution by arbitration or mediation | Not Applicable | Not Applicable. |
| v. | Choice of forum | Not Applicable | Subject to state law. |
| w. | Choice of law | Section 6 | Subject to state law, Ohio law applies. See State Addenda. |
ITEM 18. PUBLIC FIGURES
ECFL does not use any public figure to promote its franchise.
ITEM 19. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPRESENTATION
The Federal Trade Commission's Franchise Rule permits a franchisor to provide information about the actual or potential financial performance of its franchised and/or franchisor-owned outlets, if there is a reasonable basis for the information, and if the information is included in the disclosure document. Financial performance information that differs from that included in Item 19 may be given only if: (1) a franchisor provides the actual records of an existing outlet you are considering buying; or (2) a franchisor supplements the information provided in this Item 19, for example, by providing information about possible performance at a particular location or under particular circumstances.
Item 19 includes historical sales information regarding Epcon Communities projects that sold Units in projects in 2024. The information below is historical information from projects developed by our franchisees and our affiliates, Epcon, Epcon Indiana, Epcon Georgia and Epcon Carolinas. Projects developed by our affiliates, Epcon, Epcon Indiana, Epcon Georgia and Epcon Carolinas, are sometimes referred to in this Item 19 as "Epcon Corporate" projects. During 2024, there were 45 franchisees in operation out of a total of 74 franchisees in the Development System,1 and 23 Epcon Corporate owned outlets that were in operation. A franchisee is defined to be in operation in 2024 if they closed the sale of at least one Unit in 2024. There were a total of 60 projects in operation in 2024.
The data presented in the following sections is compiled from only single-family detached Units closed by franchisees and Epcon Corporate during 2024. We do not offer to new franchisees the right to develop attached Units except in very limited circumstances and then only to existing franchisees who have developed attached Units in the past. New franchisees may only develop detached Units. Even so, of the 625 Units closed by franchisees in 2024, 546 were detached Units. Because we permit new franchisees to only sell detached Units, we have not included data for attached Units in this Item 19.
1 Franchisees may have multiple franchise agreements so this number may not match the total number of franchised locations in Item 20.
A. Franchisee Projects
The data used to calculate the information presented below is from sales data for Units being sold in 57 projects that were built by franchisees for detached Units. This data is collected each month in the form of a monthly closing report, either directly from the franchisee or as obtained by searching county property records where the project is located. Twenty-seven (27) franchisees2 reported closing data in 2024. We have reported data for 546 total detached Unit closings across 57 projects from 27 franchisees and used that data for purposes of preparing this Item 19. No data from franchisees was excluded from Item 19 as a result of their termination or as a result of the closure of their franchised businesses during their first year of operation.
Source: Item 17 — RENEWAL, TERMINATION, TRANSFER AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION THE FRANCHISE RELATIONSHIP (FDD pages 55–69)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Epcon Communities Franchise Disclosure Document, the length of the franchise term varies depending on the specific agreement. For the standard Non-Disclosure and On-Line Information Access Agreement, the term lasts from the effective date until termination. The Market Hold Agreement, however, specifies a term of 6 months for the reserved market area. The Copyright & Assignment Agreement states that the length of the franchise term is not applicable to that agreement. Finally, the Mortgage remains in effect until terminated by Epcon Communities.
This variation in terms means that prospective Epcon Communities franchisees must carefully review each agreement to understand its duration and termination conditions. The standard franchise agreement does not have a fixed term, but rather lasts until terminated, which could be influenced by various factors outlined in Section 14 of the agreement. In contrast, the Market Hold Agreement provides a relatively short, fixed term, which is important for franchisees planning their initial market entry and development strategies.
The absence of a fixed term in the standard franchise agreement provides both risks and benefits. Epcon Communities can terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause, which introduces uncertainty for the franchisee. However, it also allows flexibility if the franchisee wishes to exit the agreement, although this would likely involve certain obligations as outlined in Section 14 regarding the use of Epcon Communities' intellectual property.
It is important to note that the term 'renewal' does not apply to the Epcon Communities franchise in the traditional sense, as there is no fixed term to renew. Instead, the franchise relationship continues until terminated. Prospective franchisees should seek clarification from Epcon Communities regarding the typical duration of franchise relationships and the factors that might lead to termination, to better assess the long-term viability of the franchise.