How to Read Item 19 of an FDD: A Plain-English Guide

Item 19 is the section of a Franchise Disclosure Document where a franchisor may share financial performance information: what its locations actually generate. Reading it well is the difference between an informed six-figure decision and a hopeful one. The key is to look past the headline average, weigh medians and ranges, and understand exactly what any number does and does not include. Here is a plain-English guide to reading Item 19 the way a careful buyer should.

What is Item 19 in a Franchise Disclosure Document?

Item 19 is the financial performance representation in the FDD, the only place a franchisor is permitted to make earnings claims, and only if it discloses the supporting data. A franchisor is not required to include one, so an FDD with a detailed Item 19 is itself a signal of transparency. When it is present, it must state the basis for the figures: how many locations reported, over what period, and what the numbers represent.

What does Item 19 actually tell you?

A useful Item 19 gives you more than one number. Look for the average and the median, the high and the low, the number of locations included, and any breakdown by how long a location has been open. An average can be pulled upward by a handful of top performers, so the median (the middle location) often describes a typical owner’s result more honestly. The spread between the highest and lowest reporting location tells you how much outcomes vary.

How do you read Item 19 without fooling yourself?

Four habits keep you honest. First, read the median next to the average, not instead of it. Second, look at results by tenure: a location open five years is a different business than one open ten months, so a system that reports by cohort is showing you the ramp. Third, read the definition of every term. EBITDA, for example, often excludes truck payments, owner compensation, and other real costs, so it is not take-home pay. A number without its definition is not information yet.

Fourth, read Item 19 next to Items 5, 6, and 7. Gross sales tell you what comes in the door, not what stays. Item 7 gives the total investment range, Item 5 the initial franchise fee, and Item 6 the ongoing royalty and brand fund contributions. A location doing $1.1 million in gross sales is a very different proposition depending on whether royalties run 5% or 8%, and Item 19 by itself will never tell you that.

What does a transparent Item 19 look like?

The College Hunks Hauling Junk® 2026 FDD is a useful example of the level of detail to look for. It reports across 144 locations and breaks results down by tenure, which lets a buyer see both a typical result and the maturation curve.

Notice how the tenure rows tell a story a single average would hide: locations tend to build over years, not months. Revenue is only half the picture, so read it against what it actually costs to open a junk removal franchise. The revenue-potential page walks through the Item 19 revenue picture in full, with the required disclosures.

The same disclosure answers the question an average usually dodges: how many owners actually reached it. Of the 144 franchised locations, 50 (35%) achieved or surpassed the average gross sales figure, and 72 (50%) achieved or surpassed the median. So roughly two thirds of the system landed below the average, which is exactly what happens when a handful of large operations pull a number upward. That single line is the strongest argument there is for reading the median first, and it is the kind of detail worth looking for in any Item 19 you are handed.

What questions should you ask about any Item 19?

Bring these to any franchisor: How many locations reported, and what share of the system is that? Are these gross figures or profit? Does the breakdown separate new owners from mature ones? What does each defined term include and exclude? A franchisor that answers plainly is showing you how it will treat you as an owner, which is part of the path to ownership worth paying attention to. If you understand how the numbers are built, you also understand how the franchise model works.

Is a franchisor required to publish financial performance data?

No. The FTC Franchise Rule leaves the financial performance section of a Franchise Disclosure Document optional, which is why some brands publish one and others do not. A brand that omits it is not doing anything improper, and plenty of well-run systems choose not to. What it does mean is that you have fewer published figures to work from, so validation calls with existing owners carry more weight in that case than they otherwise would.

Who can you talk to besides the franchisor to check what you are being told?

Item 20 of the Franchise Disclosure Document lists current franchisees with contact details, together with owners who left the system in the past year. Those calls are the single most useful piece of diligence most buyers do, because franchisees describe ramp, staffing, and seasonality in terms no disclosure document captures. Talking to owners who exited matters as much as talking to the happy ones, and the list gives you both.

How often does a franchisor have to update its disclosure document?

Annually, and it must be amended when something material changes in between. The issuance date printed on the cover tells you which fiscal year the underlying data covers, which is worth checking before you compare two brands. A document issued early in the calendar year reflects the prior year’s operations rather than current conditions, so two brands’ documents are not always describing the same window.

Does a missing Item 19 mean the franchise is a bad bet?

Not automatically, but it does limit what you can verify. A franchisor is allowed to omit financial performance information, and some do so out of legal caution rather than weak results. What an absence should trigger is more questions, not an assumption. Ask why the franchisor chose not to disclose, request validation contacts among current owners, and lean harder on what the rest of the FDD tells you about fees, litigation, owner turnover, and support. A brand that shares a detailed, well-defined Item 19 is handing you real data to work with, and that willingness to show the numbers is itself worth weighing alongside the figures. When you are evaluating several systems side by side, an honest comparison of junk removal franchises is a useful way to see how disclosure practices differ from brand to brand.

Read the numbers, then talk to a person

Once you can read an Item 19 clearly, the next step is a real conversation. Talk to our Franchise Development team and get your questions answered about the disclosures, the ramp, and what a realistic first few years look like. Every inquiry reaches a real person on our team, and the tone stays low-key: honest answers, never a pitch.

Financial information shared in this content is drawn from Item 19 of the 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. Franchise Disclosure Document (Issuance Date: April 30, 2026). See Item 19 for material assumptions, the underlying data set, and full required disclosures. Past performance does not guarantee future results. New franchisees may earn less.

This information is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy a franchise. A franchise offering can only be made through the delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises; if you are a resident of one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state.

College Hunks Hauling Junk®, College Hunks Moving®, and the H.U.N.K.S logo are registered trademarks of CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. © 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Related reading

• What a College HUNKS franchise costs and what it takes to qualify.
• Franchise buyer resources, including the documents worth reading before a discovery day.
• College Hunks vs Two Men and a Truck, an Item 19 comparison in practice.
• Owner stories, for the version of the numbers that comes from operators.
• Comparing two brands’ disclosures side by side, using College Hunks and 1-800-GOT-JUNK as a worked example.