What is the initial step parties must take to resolve a dispute with Stretch Zone, before mediation can be requested?
Stretch_Zone Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
This is a long-term business relationship. If a dispute arises at any time between the parties relating to this Agreement, the parties will follow the dispute resolution procedures set forth in this ARTICLE.
Section 17.1 INFORMAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Except for the matters involving the remedies in Section 17.4, the parties will attempt in good faith to meet in person to discuss and resolve the dispute. The party requesting the meeting will send a written notice to the other party detailing what the party believes to be the nature of the dispute including the facts and the provisions in this Agreement on which the dispute is based-and how the dispute may be satisfactorily resolved. The meeting will take place at our headquarters (currently Fort Lauderdale, Florida). At the meeting, each party will be represented by a person authorized to conclusively resolve the dispute on that party's behalf and to bind that party to any agreed-upon resolution. Discussions and exchanges of information and materials, if any, are confidential and must be treated as part of compromise and settlement negotiations for purposes of applicable rules of evidence. If the parties resolve the dispute at the meeting, they will immediately formalize that resolution by an agreement that they both sign at the time. This step must occur before either party can file a request for mediation. Any party that fails to attend or participate in the meeting, within 30 days of written request, may not begin any mediation under Section 17.2 to
resolve the dispute. If the parties cannot informally resolve the dispute, the party seeking formal resolution of the dispute must, before it may commence or initiate a legal or administrative proceeding relating to the dispute, submit the dispute to nonbinding mediation as described in Section 17.2.
Source: Item 8 — Receipts. Any sale made must be in compliance with § 683(8) of the Franchise Sale Act (N.Y. Gen. Bus. L. § 680 et seq.), which describes the time period a Franchise Disclosure Document (offering prospectus) must be provided to a prospective franchisee before a sale may be made. New York law requires a franchisor to provide the Franchise Disclosure Document at the earliest of the first personal meeting or ten (10) business days before the execution of the franchise or other agreement or the payment of any consideration that relates to the franchise relationship. (FDD pages 99–263)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Stretch Zone's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, before requesting mediation, the parties must first attempt to resolve the dispute informally. This involves a face-to-face meeting to discuss and resolve the issue. The party initiating the meeting must provide written notice to the other party, detailing the nature of the dispute, the relevant facts and agreement provisions, and the proposed resolution. This meeting is to be held at Stretch Zone's headquarters, which is currently located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Both parties must be represented at the meeting by individuals authorized to conclusively resolve the dispute and bind their respective parties to any agreed-upon resolution. All discussions, information, and materials exchanged during this process are confidential and treated as part of compromise and settlement negotiations. If the parties reach a resolution, they must formalize it immediately with a signed agreement.
Failure to attend or participate in the meeting within 30 days of the written request disqualifies a party from initiating mediation. If informal resolution fails, the party seeking resolution must then submit the dispute to nonbinding mediation before starting any legal or administrative proceedings.