Contributed by Liz Sigety
One more step forward . . . In Senate Bill 6172, Washington State has approved amendments to its Franchise Investment Protection Act. These amendments better align the Act with the Federal Trade Commission’s Franchise Rule.
The most significant amendment deals with the time period between the furnishing of a franchisor’s disclosure document and the execution of a binding agreement with, or any payment by, the franchisee. The amendment eliminates Washington’s ten (10) business day time period and replaces it with the FTC’s fourteen (14) calendar day rule.
The amendment also adds the requirement of an additional seven (7) day period after furnishing any revised agreement containing alterations made unilaterally and materially by the franchisor – also like the FTC Rule. Wording in the Act has also been updated, such as the change from “offering circular” to “disclosure document” and some notice periods and other technical amendments are included in the amendments, but the main impact is to align these disclosure periods to the FTC rule.
These common sense amendments will streamline the disclosure process in the state of Washington. The text of the amended Act as passed can be found here (PDF).