What constitutes abandonment of a Remax office, leading to a breach of the continuous operation agreement?
Remax Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You agree that you will operate the Office continuously during the Term, and that you will not voluntarily abandon, surrender, transfer control of or lose the right to occupy the Premises or fail to actively operate the Office under the RE/MAX System for a period in excess of 5 consecutive business days ("Abandon" or "Abandonment") unless your failure to do so is caused by Force Majeure, as defined in Subsection 15.AA.
Source: Item 22 — Contracts (FDD pages 108–334)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Remax's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees must operate their offices continuously during the term of the agreement. Abandonment occurs if the franchisee voluntarily abandons, surrenders control, loses the right to occupy the premises, or fails to actively operate the office under the Remax system for more than five consecutive business days.
However, this abandonment clause has an exception. The failure to operate continuously for more than five consecutive business days is not considered abandonment if it is caused by a Force Majeure event. The FDD specifies that Force Majeure is defined in Subsection 15.AA, but the details of that subsection are not included in the provided documentation.
If a Remax franchisee is found to have abandoned their office, it constitutes a material default of the franchise agreement. This gives Remax the right to terminate the agreement immediately upon delivering notice, without providing an opportunity to cure the default. This can have significant financial and operational consequences for the franchisee.