was being acquired by HFS Inc. for $480 million. Before the sale was complete, HFS merged with another firm and changed its name to Cendant Corporation. Cendant owned a number of franchise operations, ranging from Ramada Inn, Days Inn and Avis Car Rental to chains including Coldwell Banker and Century 21. Under Cendant, Jackson Hewitt opened a total of 1,000 new offices, and started experimenting with kiosk locations in shopping malls and offices at Century 21 real estate agencies. Following the 1999 tax season, Jackson Hewitt moved its headquarters to Cendant's headquarters in Parsippany, New Jersey, and started acquiring of independent tax preparation offices through its largest franchisee, Tax Services of America. Starting in 2001, Jackson Hewitt began opening offices in Kmart stores. During that year, the company also introduced the issuance of MasterCard cash cards – so that their customers would have easier access to accelerated refund accounts – as well as the creation of a Premier Tax Service for complex returns. Some Jackson Hewitt locations began to offer ATMs where clients could cash their refund checks on-site. Independent tax-service acquisitions continued throughout the year, with more than 3,300 offices, owned by 600 franchisees. By year's end, the company was handling over 2.2 million tax returns a year. At its peak, Jackson Hewitt was the second-largest tax preparation firm in the U.S., a position it still holds. The firm prepared some 3.4 million tax returns for low- and middle-income customers through more than 7,400 franchised company-owned offices, including locations within Kmart, Walmart Stores and mall kiosks. Jackson Hewitt maintained two business segments: its franchise operations – consisting of its franchise business and associated royalty, marketing-advertising revenue, financial product fees and other revenues and its company owned income tax return preparation offices. During 2008, Jackson Hewitt maintained company-owned offices in 28 markets across the United States and 5,763 franchised offices – responsible for preparing 87 percent of the total number of tax returns prepared by its network. Jackson Hewitt Inc. operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jackson Hewitt. Its company-owned office operations are conducted through a wholly owned subsidiary of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services Inc., Tax Services of America, Inc. In 2008, the company partnered with the Magic Johnson Foundation to create Community Empowerment Centers that offered comprehensive tax information seminars and financial educational resources in Sacramento, Houston, Chicago, New Orleans and Cleveland. The free seminars offered individuals in