Does Epcon Communities need to approve the location of a franchisee's project?
Epcon_Communities Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
eement with us. You may not relocate your initial market area without our consent, which may be withheld or conditioned in our sole discretion.
Market Area Agreement
The Market Area for your site will be determined by us and will be depicted on a map attached as an exhibit to the Market Area Agreement. Your Market Area Agreement will also include the location of your project, which must be approved by us.
Once you sign your Market Area Agreement, as long as you are in compliance with its terms and those of the Franchise Agreement, the Market Area is exclusive to you and ECFL agrees not to grant to another franchisee or licensee the right to develop an Epcon Communities project within your Market Area, and agrees that ECFL and its affiliates, will not develop an Epcon Communities project within your Market Area.
The exclusivity rights granted to you to a particular Market Area under the Market Area Agreement will automatically terminate on the earliest of the date that you are not in compliance with your Franchise Agreement and Market Area Agreement, the date you complete all of the buildings in your project, the date on which your rights to use the Development System are terminated and the date that you allege that you have rights in our copyrighted works . When your exclusive rights to the Market Area end, ECFL and its affiliates may construct, or ECFL may license or franchise the rights to construct, a project using the Development System in your Market Area.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 48–50)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Epcon Communities' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the location of a franchisee's project must be approved by Epcon Communities. The specific location will be included in the Market Area Agreement.
The Market Area Agreement defines the geographic area where the franchisee can develop their Epcon Communities project. This area is determined by Epcon Communities and is depicted on a map attached to the Market Area Agreement. The agreement grants the franchisee exclusive rights to develop within that area, preventing Epcon Communities from granting similar rights to other franchisees or developing projects themselves within the franchisee's designated market area, as long as the franchisee complies with the terms of both the Franchise Agreement and the Market Area Agreement.
If a franchisee has not identified a project location when signing the Franchise Agreement, they will initially sign an Initial Market Area Agreement. The franchisee then has 18 months to identify a suitable location and enter into a Market Area Agreement with Epcon Communities. If a location is identified and Epcon Communities agrees to it, the franchisee is required to sign the Market Area Agreement. Failure to identify a location within the given timeframe can lead to termination of both the Initial Market Area Agreement and the Franchise Agreement.
The FDD also states that a franchisee cannot relocate their initial market area without Epcon Communities' consent, which may be withheld or conditioned at their discretion. This highlights the importance of selecting an appropriate location initially and the potential restrictions on changing it later. If a franchisee wants to develop additional Epcon Communities projects, they must sign a new Franchise Agreement and Market Area Agreement and pay the applicable fees.