HouseCanary’s bankruptcy fight is tied to a $175M+ verdict against Rocket Close

HouseCanary is looking to collect potentially upwards of $175 million from Amrock, which is now known as Rocket Close, Rocket Companies’ title segment, as part of its trade secret theft suit dating back to 2015. Based on court filings in this lawsuit, as well as HouseCanary’s recent filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it appears that the Chris Rediger-helmed firm is seeking bankruptcy protection to prevent an undisclosed lender from seizing HouseCanary and selling its operations before it can collect the damages awarded to it via the Amrock suit jury verdict. According to the bankruptcy filings, HouseCanary defaulted on a $30 million loan, which came due in January of this year, with this undisclosed lender. The fight between HouseCanary and Amrock broke out over a decade ago after the two companies signed a limited deal that allowed Amrock to use HouseCanary’s software to value homes. After completing 18 months of work for Amrock, HouseCanary claimed that Amrock refused to pay it for the work, and instead sued HouseCanary for breach of contract, claiming that the products it provided Amrock were “completely unusable.” HouseCanary then counter-sued claiming that Amrock lie...