Rhode Island Eliminates Franchise Advertising Filing and Changes FDD Delivery Period

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation Securities Division (the “Department”) has amended its Rhode Island Franchise Investment Act, 19 R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-28.1-1 et seq., to eliminate its requirement that franchise advertising materials created or used by the franchisor be filed with the state and to change the waiting period for delivering a franchise disclosure document (“FDD”) to a prospective franchisee to 14 calendar days.  The Department issued Franchise Bulletin Number 2016-1 [PDF] summarizing these changes.

Franchisors should be aware of these changes if they offer or sell franchises in Rhode Island, as the changes will not only affect the offering and selling of franchises (by no longer requiring advertising be filed with the state and changing the delivery period), but the receipt pages of your FDD may need to be updated to account for the 14 calendar day delivery period.

Advertising Filing

Effective June 27, 2016, Rhode Island has eliminated the franchise advertising filing requirement by amending 19 R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-28.1-12.  Previously, franchisors offering or selling franchises in Rhode Island had to typically file their advertising materials with the state and pay a filing fee at least 5 business days prior to using or publishing the advertisement.  Rhode Island has eliminated this filing requirement and its associated fee. 19 R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-28.1-12 now reads:

§ 19-28.1-12 Advertising.

No person may publish in this state any advertisement offering to sell a franchise required to be registered under this act unless they maintain the advertising materials for five (5) years, consistent with § 19-28.1-13.

Franchisors must still keep required records of their Rhode Island advertising materials for 5 years, consistent with 19 R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-28.1-13.

Delivery of FDD

Also effective June 27, 2016, franchisors are required to provide the FDD to prospective franchisees at least 14 calendar days prior to the signing of any binding agreement by a prospective franchisee or at least 14 calendar days prior to the direct or indirect receipt of a franchise fee, whichever comes first.  The 14 calendar day requirement is consistent with federal law under the Amended FTC Rule. Previously, Rhode Island required franchisors to provide the FDD to prospective franchisees at least 10 business days before signing the franchise agreement or accepting a franchise fee, or if earlier, at the time of the franchisor’s first personal business meeting with the prospective franchisee. 19 R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-28.1-8 now reads:

§ 19-28.1-8 Delivery requirements.

(a) It is unlawful to sell any franchise in this state without first providing a copy of a disclosure document reflecting all material changes together with a copy of all proposed agreements relating to the sale of the franchise, unless otherwise provided in subsection (b), to the prospective franchisee, not less than:

(1) [Deleted by P.L. 2016, ch. 153, § 2 and P.L. 2016, ch. 159, § 2].

(2) Fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the execution of an agreement or payment of any consideration relating to the franchise relationship.

(b) The delivery requirements in subsection (a) do not apply to the offer or sale of a franchise which is exempt under § 19-28.1-6(2), (3), (6), or (8).

The change to Rhode Island’s delivery requirement will make it easier for franchisors offering or selling franchises in the state, as they do not have to juggle between the 10 business day/first personal meeting rule on the one hand and the 14 calendar day requirement under federal law on the other.  However, franchisors should review the receipt pages attached to their FDD to revise any references to Rhode Island’s previous delivery requirement prior to making their annual renewals this year.