What happens if my franchisor takes months to respond to my transfer request?

A slow franchisor response is a real and common risk in franchise resales, and how it plays out depends on what your franchise agreement says about response timelines, if anything — some agreements include a deadline for the franchisor to respond to a transfer request, sometimes with a deemed-approval or deemed-refusal consequence if they miss it, while many say nothing at all, leaving an open-ended wait.

Where the agreement is silent, you generally can't treat prolonged silence as approval and simply proceed, since doing so risks the franchisor later arguing the transfer was never validly approved — which can jeopardize your buyer's ability to operate under the franchise brand at all. Put requests in writing, keep a clear record, and follow up formally rather than letting the request drift.

Because delay here can unravel a buyer's financing commitments or patience with the deal, your purchase agreement should anticipate this risk with a realistic timeline and a plan for what happens if franchisor approval still hasn't come through by your target closing date. A Treadstone business lawyer can help push for a decision and plan around the delay.