What must an Exit franchisee immediately do to distinguish its operations from Exit after termination or non-renewal?
Exit Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
[Item 23: RECEIPT]
(C) Franchisee shall immediately cease and refrain from using the System, or any parts thereof, and Franchisee shall immediately cease and refrain from holding itself out to the public in any way as a member of or as a former member of the System or as a Franchisee, Affiliate or operator of the System.
(D) Franchisee shall immediately distinguish its operations from that of EXIT, Subfranchisor, and of EXIT Affiliates so as to avoid every possibility of any confusion to the public.
(E) Franchisee, at its expense, shall make or cause to be made such changes in signs, telephone numbers, buildings or structures as EXIT or Subfranchisor may direct in order to distinguish Franchisee effectively from its former appearance and from other EXIT Affiliates.
The changes shall include a complete change in the trade name from that under which Franchisee conducted its business while affiliated with the System.
If Franchisee shall, upon request, fail or omit to make or cause to be made the changes within ten (10) days, then Subfranchisor shall have the right to enter upon the premises, without liability, and make, or cause to be made, the changes at the expense of Franchisee, which expenses shall be paid by Franchisee upon demand.
(F) Franchisee shall, at Subfranchisor's direction, file the appropriate forms to abandon and/or withdraw any assumed name certificate, to cease all activities with and claims to ownership of any trade or assumed name containing any Proprietary mark or to transfer the same to Subfranchisor, and/or to change the name of its corporation, partnership, or affiliate to eliminate any reference to the System.
(G) Franchisee shall immediately return to Subfranchisor all manuals, bulletins, instruction sheets, forms, marks, designs, signs, printed matter, and other material obtained by Franchisee under and pursuant to this Agreement, together with copies of the same that may have been made by Franchisee, or that are in its possession, custody or control.
(H) Franchisee shall immediately cause the local telephone company to change all of its telephone numbers and assign the numbers listed for the franchised real estate office to Subfranchisor.
(I) Franchisee shall immediately execute all documents necessary to assign all of its EXIT related domain names, internet web sites, web pages, and e-mail addresses to Subfranchisor or its designee.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 42–235)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Exit's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee must take several immediate steps to differentiate their business from Exit upon termination or non-renewal of the franchise agreement. This is to ensure that the public is not confused about the franchisee's affiliation with the Exit brand.
Specifically, the franchisee must cease using the Exit system and stop representing themselves as a current or former member of the Exit franchise network. The franchisee is required to make changes to signs, telephone numbers, buildings, and other structures as directed by Exit or its subfranchisor. These changes include adopting a completely different trade name from the one used while affiliated with Exit. The franchisee must also file the necessary paperwork to abandon any assumed names containing Exit's proprietary marks and transfer these names to the subfranchisor, if directed.
Furthermore, the franchisee is obligated to change their local telephone number and assign the listed number for the real estate office to the subfranchisor. All Exit-related domain names, websites, webpages, and email addresses must be transferred to the subfranchisor or their designee. Finally, the franchisee must return all manuals, bulletins, instruction sheets, forms, marks, designs, signs, printed matter, and other materials obtained under the franchise agreement to the subfranchisor.