(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Proposed PA House Bill 1620 (Fair Franchise Practices Bill) establishes that the franchisor owes a fiduciary duty to its franchisee, and is obligated to “exercise the highest standard of care” in terms bookkeeping, use of franchisee information, and administration and reporting of the franchise ad fund.
It states:
§ 906. Limited fiduciary duty.
Without regard to whether a fiduciary duty is imposed generally on the franchisor by virtue of a franchise relationship, the franchisor owes a fiduciary duty to its franchisee and is obligated to exercise the highest standard of care in all of the following:
(1) Performing bookkeeping, collections, payroll or accounting services on behalf of the franchisee. The franchisor may only use the information concerning the franchised business gained while performing the services under this paragraph for good faith and legitimate business purposes. As used in this paragraph, the term "good faith and legitimate business purposes" does not include competition with the franchisee.
(2) Administering or supervising the administration of an advertising or promotional fund to which the franchisee isrequired to make contributions. The following apply to a fund under this paragraph:
(i) The fund:
(A) shall be kept in a segregated account; and
(B) shall not be subject to the claim of a creditor of the franchisor.
(ii) The franchisor shall, at the franchisor’s own expense, provide an independent certified audit of the fund within 60 days following the close of the franchisor’s fiscal year. The audit shall fully disclose all fees, expenses or other payments from the fund to the franchisor.
What do you think of the Limited Fiduciary Duty provision of the proposed PA House Bill 1620 (Fair Franchise Practices Bill)?
Do you believe that making this provision law will be good for franchising?
Why or why not? Please share a comment below.
Go back to the main page: PA’s Responsible Franchise Practices Bill: Overview and Discussion
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PA RESPONSIBLE FRANCHISE PRACTICES BILL 1620? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
TAGS: Limited Fiduciary Duty, franchise legislation, PA House Bill 1620, PA Responsible Franchise Practices Bill, Fair Franchising Legislation, Franchise laws, Pennsylvania State Rep. Peter Daley
Keith Gross made a valiant - and expensive - effort to become Florida’s first elected…
Homefront Brands CFO Michael Joseph Dudan, brother of CEO Jeff Dudan, is reportedly facing charges…
Keith Gross’ defamation lawsuit against a former Communications Director in a past failed election bid could…
Congressional Candidate Keith Gross recently added another $5M of personal funds into his campaign, bringing…
The Wallaby Windows franchise was founded by Scott Marr, husband of franchise attorney & Congressional…
Gross Law, the Panama City Beach, FL law firm owned by an attorney running for…