Real estate franchisor Cendant Corporation has prevailed against a variety of claims arising out of a prospective subfranchise arrangement in Greece. Katsiavrias v. Cendant Corp., 2009 WL 872172 (D.N.J. Mar. 30, 2009). A prospective franchisee sued Cendant after not receiving exclusive subfranchise rights to Greece. Earlier, after sending a letter of intent to the potential subfranchisee, Cendant had heard nothing. It then went so far as to inform the party of a competing offer for the subfranchising rights before signing with another company. In evaluating Cendant’s summary judgment motion, the federal court in New Jersey found that “[b]ecause the parties did not intend to be bound until after a formal written agreement was executed and because the parties failed to agree on essential terms, any alleged agreement is unenforceable.” The court similarly found no evidence supporting the prospective franchisees’ other claims, and therefore granted Cendant’s motion for summary judgment in its entirety.
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