§2804 Notification of Termination or Nonrenewal of Franchise Relationship

Summary

Before ending or refusing to renew a franchise, the franchisor (the company) must give the franchisee (the person who runs the franchise) a written notice by certified mail or in person. That notice must come at least 90 days before the date the ending or nonrenewal takes effect, unless giving 90 days’ notice would not be reasonable. The notice must say the company’s intent, explain why, give the effective date, and include the short government summary of these rules. If 90 days isn’t reasonable, the company must give notice as soon as it reasonably can. For leased locations, the company may not start a new franchise at that site for a 30-day period that begins when the notice was delivered or, if later, on the termination date; the company may repossess and run the site if the contract allows and it is reasonable. For some special kinds of terminations (those under sections 2802(b)(2)(E) or 2803(c)(2)), the company must give 180 days’ notice and must promptly send a copy of the notice plus a plan for withdrawing fuel marketing in the area to the Governor of each affected State. The Secretary of Energy was required to prepare and publish a simple summary of these rules in the Federal Register not later than 30 days after June 19, 1978; if that summary was not yet published when a notice had to be given, the summary may be provided up to 5 days after it is published.