Blueprint
September
18, 2018
VIA
EDGAR
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporate Finance
Office
of Transportation and Leisure
100 F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
DC 20549
Attention: Heather
Clark and Jean Yu
cc: Courtesy Copy
Via Federal Express
Form
10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2017
We are
in receipt of the letter, dated September 4, 2018, with the
Staff’s comments on the Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2017 (the “Form 10-K”) of Noble Roman’s,
Inc., an Indiana corporation (the “Company”). We have
set forth below each comment followed by our response.
Where
we respond to a Staff comment by undertaking to make a particular
future disclosure, the Company is not hereby admitting or
acknowledging any deficiency in any prior disclosure.
Form 10-K for the Year-Ended December 31, 2017
Financial Statements
Consolidated Balance Sheets, page 27
1.
Given
the significance of your “other assets including long-term
portion of accounts receivable - net” to total assets, please
provide us with the following:
●
a
breakdown of the significant items that comprise other assets, and
the amount of long-term
accounts receivable included in the balance;
●
the
nature of the long-term accounts receivable including how it
originated and the reason
it is considered long-term;
●
provide
further details on the amounts that were transferred to long-term
receivables and
expand on the amounts related to former franchisees (page 16) and
why you consider
them to be collectible; and
●
the
details of the Heyser case including what amounts are classified as
long-term receivables
related to the case and how you determine the adjustments to the
valuation of
such receivables per the amounts recorded in your statement of
operations.
Response:
Other assets as of
December 31, 2017, include security deposit of $13,000, cash
surrender value of life insurance in the amount of $193,000,
long-term receivable from the Heyser case in the amount of $220,000
and long-term receivable from various franchisees in the amount of
$6.4 million which is net after a $1.5 million valuation
allowance.
Long-term
receivable from franchisees represent receivables from
approximately 78 different non-traditional franchisees (Noble
Roman’s franchises located within a host facility). These
receivables originated from a variety of circumstances, including
where audits of a number of the non-traditional franchises’
reporting of sales found them to be underreporting their sales and,
therefore, underpaying their royalty obligations ($1 million). In
other instances, some franchisees were selling non-Noble
Roman’s products under the Noble Roman’s trademark ($2
million). In addition, some receivables arose from the Company
incurring legal fees to enforce the franchise agreements which adds
to the receivables in accordance with the agreements ($800,000),
some of the receivables were generated by early termination of the
franchise agreements ($2.1 million) and some from the charging of
interest on balances due in accordance with the terms of the
franchise agreements ($500,000). These receivables have been
classified as long-term since collections are expected to extend
over more than a one-year cycle.
The
receivables from four former franchisees totaling $607,000 were
reclassified from short-term receivables to long-term receivables
in the fourth quarter 2017. The Company determined, during the
fourth quarter, that collection of these particular receivables was
likely to last more than one year. Non-traditional franchises are
different from traditional franchises in that non-traditional
franchises are located inside of a host facility, such as a
hospital, convenience store or entertainment facilities, where the
owner of the host business is normally the Noble Roman’s
franchisee. In all cases, the revenues from the Noble Roman’s
franchise are a very small portion of the revenues of the host
business. In a traditional franchise, if a franchisee closes the
franchise location it likely means it has gone out of business and,
therefore, would have limited ability to pay. The Company has
reviewed, and continues to review on an ongoing basis, the host
operation where a receivable from a closed franchise exists and
determined that the host business is still operating and has the
ability to pay.
Under
the terms of the applicable franchise agreements, when the
plaintiffs in the Heyser case closed their restaurants, all direct
and consequential damages, including future royalties, as well as
interest, attorneys’ fees and cost of collection, became due
and payable to the Company. However, at that time, the legal
proceedings had not advanced to a stage that the Company could make
a reasonable determination of the outcome and estimate the amount
collectible from an eventual outcome. Therefore, the Company
established a valuation allowance for the full amount of the
contractual amounts due resulting in no revenue being recognized at
that time. Depositions, which were taken in all the states where
the plaintiffs resided, extended through 2009 and the first half of
2010, primarily because on numerous occasions the plaintiffs and/or
their counsel failed to appear for their scheduled
depositions.
During
that same period, the plaintiffs were required to produce to the
Company their financial records, including bank statements, tax
returns, accounting ledgers and financial statements, in many
instances after the Company had to obtain court orders compelling
them to do so. During the depositions, the Company questioned the
plaintiffs under oath about their assets and liabilities. The
Company used the information obtained during discovery to estimate
amounts anticipated to be collectible in respect of the
Company’s counterclaims. In addition, during depositions
plaintiffs testified regarding the facts underlying their
individual claims against the Company. Most of the plaintiffs
denied the existence of the facts averred in their complaint to
support their fraud claims against the Company. During the
discovery period, the Company continued to incur substantial legal
fees which, in turn, were adding to the Company’s total claim
under the applicable franchise agreements. In addition, it became
increasingly apparent that the Company ultimately would prevail on
its motion for summary judgment that the plaintiffs’ fraud
claims be denied. During discovery, it also became apparent that a
portion of a judgment on the counterclaim would be collectible. As
the Company reviewed developments in the relevant facts relating to
the carrying value of the receivable on a quarterly basis, from
time to time the Company reduced the valuation allowance resulting
in an increase in the net value of the receivable. The reduction in
valuation allowance resulted in additional income, which was
disclosed in the Company’s Form 10-K’s and its Form
10-Q’s as amounts reflected in income due to the valuation
allowance decrease. The Company further disclosed that a portion of
the revenue, which was being recognized, was generated from
traditional locations which are no longer operating.
In
2013, the Company concluded that although most of the judgment
could be reasonably expected to be collected over time, the
plaintiffs were geographically dispersed which would make
collection of the judgments costly and time-consuming. Therefore,
the Company dismissed the claim against all plaintiffs except for
two with the largest amount of assets and wrote off the receivables
from the dismissed plaintiffs. Because pursuing collection against
the two remaining plaintiffs continued to absorb a lot of
management’s time, the Company pursued settlement
negotiations and ultimately agreed to settle with the two remaining
plaintiffs for a total of $925,000 payable partially in cash and
partially by a note secured by second mortgages on two pieces of
real estate. As of December 31, 2017, all monies from the
settlement were collected except for $220,000. As of the date of
this letter, the Company has collected all of the balance due under
the settlement, except for $25,000 remaining due from one of the
plaintiffs.
Item 9.A. Controls and Procedures
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting, page 45.
2.
Please
revise to include a statement identifying the framework used by
management to evaluate the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting (e.g., COSO framework 2013). Refer to Item
308(a)(2) of Regulation S-K.
Response:In
future filings the Company will disclose in accordance with Item
308(a)(2) of Regulation S-K that management used the framework
provided by the guidelines published in May 2013 by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organization of the Treadway Commission (COSO) to
evaluate the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting.
We
believe the foregoing should address the Staff’s comments. We
thank you in advance for the Staff’s customary courtesies. If
the Staff has any questions about, or disagrees with the adequacy
of, our response as set forth above, we request the opportunity to
discuss these matters further before you issue a written
response.
Sincerely,
Noble
Roman’s, Inc.
By:/s/
Paul W. Mobley_____________________________
Paul
W. Mobley, Executive Chairman, Chief Financial
Officer
and Principal Accounting Officer