Betsy-Len Motor Hotel Corp. v. Holiday Inns, Inc.

In this appeal of right, we consider whether the State Corporation Commission correctly determined, under Code § 13.1-564 of the Retail Franchising Act (the Act), that a franchisor may terminate a franchise agreement of limited duration without establishing statutory “reasonable cause.”

Appellant Betsy-Len Motor Hotel Corporation, the franchisee, and appellee Holiday Inns, Inc., the franchisor, executed a license agreement dated December 21, 1978, in connection with the operation of a Holiday Inn hotel in Danville. The agreement was the renewal of an original 1958 agreement.

Pertinent to this…