People who bought a Premier Martial Arts franchise would split $1.85 million and most of them would get a way out of their contracts under a settlement the Federal Trade Commission announced on October 5. The deal is still a proposal. The FTC filed it with a federal court in Tennessee, and the court has not yet entered it.
What the FTC says Premier sold
The FTC’s announcement names two companies: Premier Franchising Group, the franchisor of Premier Martial Arts, and Franchise Fastlane, the firm that used to sell the franchises. The agency alleges that more than 200 people, including veterans, paid an initial franchise fee of $49,500 or more after hearing that a martial arts studio could be run semi-absentee, in under 15 hours a week.
Those are the FTC’s allegations. The companies settled, and the agreement is a stipulated order, meaning both sides signed it and asked the court to approve it. The Commission voted 2-0 to authorize the case, and the filing went to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Who gets the right to cancel
The cancellation term is the part that matters most to anyone still holding a Premier franchise agreement. The order gives franchisees 60 days from receiving notice to cancel their agreements without penalty. It says the notice will be emailed within seven days after the court enters the order, so the 60-day clock starts at receipt, not on the day the FTC announced the deal.
Not every franchisee is covered. The order excludes legacy franchisees, franchisees who are settling plaintiffs and transferees, which is why the FTC’s case page says “certain franchisees” are given the option to cancel rather than all of them. The case page does not define those groups, so anyone unsure where they fall will need the order’s own wording.
The court has to enter the order before the $650,000 payment comes due seven days later and before the 60-day cancellation clock starts on the franchisee’s notice.
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A franchisee who gets the notice, is covered and wants out has 60 days from the day it arrives to decide. That is the only window the order describes.
Where the $1.85 million comes from
The $1.85 million is a combined figure. Franchise Fastlane would pay $1.2 million. Premier Franchising Group agreed to a judgment of $3,875,424 that is suspended once it pays $650,000, and the two amounts add up to the $1.85 million the FTC describes. The stipulated order for Premier Franchising Group says the payment is due within seven days after the court enters the order, and that the money is to be used for consumer relief, such as redress.
The FTC has not published a per-person amount. The case page does not say how the money will be divided among the more than 200 people named in the allegations, and no claim form is open, because the order has not taken effect.
Why the case is still open
The FTC’s case page lists the matter as pending, last updated October 6, with the complaint and both proposed orders posted: one for Premier Franchising Group and one for Franchise Fastlane. It does not say when the judge will act. Until the court does, the $650,000 is not yet due, the notices have not gone out and the cancellation right has not begun.
The case also rests on a federal rule. The FTC’s Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to give every potential buyer a disclosure document with 23 specific items. The FTC alleges the companies made misleading statements about the Premier Martial Arts opportunity and violated that rule.
Before the 60 days start
The free source for every document is the FTC’s case page for Premier Franchising Group and Franchise Fastlane, linked above. It carries the complaint and both orders, and the order for Premier Franchising Group is where the definitions of who may cancel are written. Franchisees should read that order, not a summary of it, before deciding anything.
Once the court acts, the notice is meant to arrive by email, so a franchisee should watch the inbox and spam folder for it and note the date it lands. That date is when the 60 days begin. It also helps to gather the franchise agreement, the receipts for the $49,500 fee or more, and any statements the sales firm made about weekly hours and income, since those are the points the FTC’s allegations center on.
A lawyer who handles franchise contracts can say how a cancellation affects a lease, a loan or equipment tied to the studio. The FTC’s announcement says what the order requires of the companies, and the order, not any outside summary, controls what a franchisee may do next.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
