Franchise Facts Report → brands → REF
REF franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk
REF is a business services franchise with a low initial investment range of $66,560 to $84,275.
Everything below is free, read straight off REF's registered filing. The $99 report is the part a single FDD can't give you: the fee and churn detail, and where every number lands against business services peers.
The numbers above tell you what REF discloses. The report tells you whether that's good:
- What the missing Item 19 means here — how many business services franchisors do disclose, so you know whether this silence is ordinary or not.
- Where every number ranks — investment, fees, royalty, earnings and churn against business services median and quartile. This is the part no single FDD, and no AI reading one, can produce.
- What's driving the medium risk read — the specific figures behind it, not the label.
- The litigation, split properly — beyond the count above: each case, and which ones franchisees brought against the franchisor rather than the reverse.
- The questions to ask before you sign — drawn from what REF's own filing leaves open, in the words to use on the call.
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Compare 3 brands — $249 See a sample reportFigures above are as disclosed in REF's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 641944 — check it yourself. The Item 19 figures, where each number ranks against peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
REF franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: REF does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for REF — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (many business services franchisors do disclose), and the full report reads the risk signals REF's FDD does contain — fees, litigation, and outlet churn — against peers. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Business services franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
REF lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
REF's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does disclose 1 legal proceeding in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against REF itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. The full REF report lists each case with what it was about and how it ended, separates franchisee disputes from corporate and securities matters, and flags the ones a franchisee started — the split that actually matters, because franchisees suing their franchisor is the signal a buyer is looking for.
REF closures & failure rate
Before you sign, REF will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what REF's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a business services of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. REF's outlet tables are read directly from the FDD in the full report. The actual closure and termination counts, and how REF's churn ranks against business services peers, are in the full report.
What the fee, litigation and churn signals imply, every number ranked against business services peers, and the litigation and churn detail — delivered instantly, yours to keep.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Who owns REF?
REF's franchise is offered by REF USA Corporation — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Business services franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing REF is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
REF franchise — frequently asked
Who owns REF — who is the franchisor?
REF's most recently filed FDD (2026) names REF USA Corporation as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a REF franchise cost?
REF's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $66,560 – $84,275. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against business services peers.
How much profit does a REF franchise make?
REF makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for REF at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labor and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does REF disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — REF's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing; the report focuses on the verifiable risk signals instead.
Are there lawsuits against REF?
REF's most recently filed FDD (2026) discloses 1 legal proceeding in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against REF itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing. The full report lists each case, separates franchisee disputes from corporate and securities matters, and flags the franchisee-initiated ones.
Is REF a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from REF's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against business services peers, which is what the full report is for. Our read on this filing is medium risk, stated free above. For $99 you get the figures driving that read, the actual Item 19 earnings (absent from this FDD — and how unusual that is for the category), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
A REF franchise is a $66,560 – $84,275 decision you make once, on a ten-year agreement, usually with a personal guarantee behind it. For $99 you get an independent read of the document that decides it: what the absent Item 19 earnings imply, and how unusual that absence is for the category, every figure ranked against business services peers, the litigation split into franchisee and corporate matters, the churn behind the outlet count — and the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign. If it tells you nothing new, reply within 14 days and we'll refund it.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Compare 3 brands — $249Get a free email when something changes on REF or business services: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same registries every report is built on.