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Register before a covered offer or sale
The Attorney General says offerings in or from New York must be registered before offer or sale unless exempt. General Business Law (GBL) 681(3) has alternative branches: a substantially prescribed marketing plan plus a required direct or indirect fee, OR substantial brand association plus that fee. Both plan and brand elements are not required in every arrangement.
Fee exclusions, area/subfranchise roles, uninterrupted renewals and state connections also matter. Part 200.1 adds fee and advice/training meanings. The actual rights, payments, support, offer/acceptance locations and proposed operation determine which branch or exemption needs examination.
Use the earliest applicable buyer event
GBL 683(8) requires the offering prospectus—the seller’s required buyer-disclosure information—and proposed agreements at the earliest applicable event below. Consideration means the relevant money or other value. The statute and the currently linked agency addendum use different day wording; that difference is not resolved here.
| Source and event | Timing stated in the source |
|---|---|
| GBL 683(8): first personal meeting | The defined first face-to-face meeting to discuss a sale or possible franchise sale is an independent trigger. |
| GBL 683(8): binding franchise or other agreement | At least ten business days before the agreement. |
| GBL 683(8): receipt of consideration | At least ten days before receipt; the statute does not say business days here. |
| Attorney General addendum, revised April 2, 2024 | Uses ten business days alongside execution or related payment. |
| Independent federal disclosure requirement | Fourteen calendar days where it applies; this does not remove an earlier state meeting or payment trigger. |
Renewal, changed information and advertising
The agency guide directs annual renewal within 120 days after the franchisor’s fiscal year end. A fiscal year is its accounting year. The guide distinguishes timely pending renewal from expired registration: after expiry, no covered offers or sales within or from New York until renewal is submitted and accepted for filing.
The renewal package includes an updated Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), marked changes, accountant consent, franchise-sales information, prices, credit terms and audited financial statements.
Part 200.5 separately requires prompt notification by an application to amend material prospectus changes, including the stated fee, significant adverse business/obligation/agreement/product or model, and financial changes. Do not wait for annual renewal.
The agency guide requires two advertising copies through FRED, the North American Securities Administrators Association’s franchise filing system, at least seven days before intended use. The advertising companion explains that separate submission.
Read waivers and side documents too
GBL 687(4)–(5) addresses waiver of statutory compliance and required releases, assignments, novations, waivers or estoppels relieving statutory duty or liability. These can surrender, transfer, replace or prevent assertion of rights; the signing context and exact wording matter. The provisions do not decide every later negotiated settlement.
The addendum also addresses preserved renewal/transfer rights, choice clauses and the stated limits on claim-waiver or reliance-disclaimer effects in commencement questionnaires and acknowledgments.
Scope
- The ten-day versus ten-business-day payment wording is preserved, not resolved.
- Coverage, exemptions and state connections depend on the actual offer; this is not a complete operating-law review.
Next step
Before scheduling the first sales meeting or accepting money, establish registration/exemption status and resolve the applicable delivery dates, including the statute/addendum difference.
Sources & review notes
New York Attorney General
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Submission; renewals; advertisements
At least seven days before its intended use, any advertisement must be submitted
Narrow cited passages reviewed. This is not a complete jurisdictional survey.
New York Attorney General
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Opening registration instruction and currently linked resources
A franchisor must register its offerings before offering or selling any franchises
Read actual current agency page. In/from-New-York and exemption wording matters. No statutory definition reconstructed from this sentence.
New York Attorney General
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 200.1,200.5,200.8; related source context
a franchisor shall promptly notify the Department of Law
Read complete definitions 200.1, material-change 200.5, annual-report 200.8 from actual official PDF currently linked by agency. PDF uses legacy prospectus language; agency current filing guide supplies FRED channel. Full current GBL 681 body was access-blocked, so fee/marketing-plan inputs are not presented as the complete statutory franchise test. Follow-up: the complete current official Senate reader bodies for GBL 681, 683 and 687 were subsequently recovered and read; see b3-state3-ny-definition-recovered, b3-state3-ny-disclosure-recovered and b3-state3-ny-rights-recovered. Historical direct-fetch failures remain access evidence, not a current missing statutory review.
New York Attorney General
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Complete 3-page addendum, especially items 3–7
at the earliest of the first personal meeting
Read complete actual PDF; internal revision date April 2, 2024 differs from URL upload directory 2023-04. Currently linked from official agency overview. Literal first-meeting/ten-business-day language retained alongside independent federal rule; direct current GBL 683 body was 403, so no silent reconciliation or universal deal permission. Rights/questionnaire text is qualified by actual law/wording; no new 2026 enactment inferred. Follow-up: the complete current official Senate reader bodies for GBL 681, 683 and 687 were subsequently recovered and read; see b3-state3-ny-definition-recovered, b3-state3-ny-disclosure-recovered and b3-state3-ny-rights-recovered. Historical direct-fetch failures remain access evidence, not a current missing statutory review.
Federal Trade Commission
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · section-436.2
at least 14 calendar-days
Current eCFR displayed through 2026-11-09; eCFR is authoritative but not the official legal edition.
New York State Senate, Open Legislation
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete § 681; especially subdivisions 3, 6–7, 11–12 and 18
and the franchisee is required to pay, directly or indirectly, a franchise fee, or
Complete actual public-reader body read. Page explicitly displays Viewing most recent revision (from 2014-09-22); that revision date is not treated as original publication or a new 2026 enactment. Two alternative franchise limbs are marketing-plan plus fee OR commercial-symbol association plus fee. Fee exclusions, area/subfranchise, renewal and territorial definitions are retained for actual-facts analysis. Saved exact reader response: research/raw/batch3/state3/ny-current-statutes-reader.json. Original direct HTTP failure remains historical; no successful local raw-HTML fetch/hash is claimed. Retrieval tool supplies known day precision, not exact request time.
New York State Senate, Open Legislation
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete § 683; particularly subdivisions 7–10 and 14–15
at least ten days prior to the receipt of any consideration
Complete actual public-reader body read, including tail in ny-current-statutes-reader-tail.json. Page displays most recent revision from 2014-09-22. Subdivision 8 separately says first personal meeting, ten business days before binding agreement, and ten days before consideration. The current AG addendum uses ten-business-day phrasing for the payment branch; preserve the literal distinction rather than silently harmonizing it. The independent federal 14-calendar-day duty remains separate. Amendment/acceptance and no-endorsement provisions are not transaction approval. Saved exact reader response: research/raw/batch3/state3/ny-current-statutes-reader.json. Day-precision retrieval only; no local raw-HTML hash claimed.
New York State Senate, Open Legislation
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete § 687; especially subdivisions 4–5
Any condition, stipulation, or provision purporting to bind any person acquiring any franchise to waive compliance
Complete actual public-reader body read. Page displays most recent revision from 2014-09-22, not a selected historical revision. Subdivisions 4–5 address waiver of statutory compliance and required release/assignment/novation/waiver/estoppel relieving statutory duty or liability. No conclusion about every later negotiated dispute, venue provision, cause of action or remedy. Saved exact reader response: research/raw/batch3/state3/ny-current-statutes-reader.json. Day-precision retrieval only; no local raw-HTML hash claimed.
Detailed rule records (5)
The Attorney General directs annual renewal submissions within 120 days after fiscal year end. If registration expires, covered offers or sales within or from New York must stop until renewal is submitted and accepted for filing.
Franchise registration guide | New York Attorney GeneralSubmit two copies of advertising to be used in offering or selling franchises via NASAA FRED at least seven days before intended use.
Franchise registration guide | New York Attorney GeneralGBL 681(3) uses alternative marketing-plan-plus-fee OR commercial-symbol-plus-fee branches. Apply its actual fee exclusions, area/subfranchise and offer/nexus definitions alongside the further Part 200.1 meanings; no actual model or exemption is decided.
New York franchise regulations,13 NYCRR Part 200 Franchise Regulation — current registration guidance New York General Business Law § 681 — DefinitionsKeep GBL 683(8)’s first-personal-meeting, ten-business-day agreement and ten-day consideration branches distinct. The current AG addendum’s payment wording uses ten business days; preserve that source difference alongside the independent federal clock. GBL 687(4)–(5) and the addendum supply their own qualified rights/release and questionnaire rules.
New York State Addendum to FDD — revised April 2, 2024 16 CFR §436.2: Federal disclosure timing New York General Business Law § 683 — Disclosure requirements New York General Business Law § 687 — Fraudulent and unlawful practices13 NYCRR 200.5 requires prompt amendment notification for material changes;200.8 and current agency guide separately govern fiscal-year reporting/renewal.
New York franchise regulations,13 NYCRR Part 200 Franchise registration guide | New York Attorney GeneralKeep this reading in your learning library.
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