The thrust of federal regulation regarding the sales of franchises is the proper disclosure of material facts relating to the franchise opportunity. This document is generally referred to as the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) and is prepared in accordance with the specific legal requirements as stipulated in the 1979 Federal Trade Commission trade regulation rule on franchises and business opportunity ventures (the franchise disclosure rule). The rule requires that this disclosure document, together with all necessary attachments, be delivered to the prospective franchisee at the earlier of the first personal meeting or ten business days prior to the signing of any agreements or the payments of any consideration. This provides a ten day cooling off period before any final contracts can be signed or agreed to.

In addition, the rule also requires the franchisor to delivery the final, complete franchise documents that would actually be signed to a prospective franchisee at least five business days prior to the date the documents are signed. In other words, the franchisor cannot allow the franchisee to sign or accept monies from the franchisee, unless the franchisee has had possession of the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular for ten business days and a completed franchise or contract agreements for five business days.