GLOSSARY
Franchise registration states
Registration states are the U.S. states that require franchisors to file their FDD with a state regulator before selling there — the reason FDDs are publicly retrievable at all.
About a dozen states — California, Minnesota, New York, and others — review and keep franchisor filings, and several publish them. Everywhere else, the FDD changes hands privately between franchisor and prospect, which is why public franchise data clusters around the registration states.
A brand's absence from registration-state archives usually means it doesn't (or can't) sell there, not that it hides — but a brand that withdrew from registration states after selling there is worth asking about directly.
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