HouseCanary is seeking to recover as much as $175 million from Amrock, now known as Rocket Close, the title division of Rocket Companies, as part of a trade secret theft lawsuit that dates back to 2015.
Recent court documents reveal that HouseCanary’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is aimed at preventing an undisclosed lender from taking control of the company and liquidating its assets before any potential damages from the Amrock case can be realized.
The bankruptcy filings indicate that HouseCanary defaulted on a $30 million loan from this unidentified lender, with repayment due in January of this year.
The conflict between HouseCanary and Amrock began over a decade ago with an agreement that allowed Amrock to utilize HouseCanary’s software for home valuation.
After 18 months of collaboration, HouseCanary alleges that Amrock failed to compensate it for its services and instead initiated a lawsuit against HouseCanary for breach of contract, arguing that the products provided were “completely unusable.”
In response, HouseCanary filed a counterclaim, asserting that Amrock misrepresented its intentions in the agreement and instead leveraged HouseCanary’s systems to access its intellectual property, including formulas, algorithms, models, analytics, products, and proprietary data, thereby enabling Amrock to develop its own rival property analytics software.
In March 2018, a Texas jury ruled in favor of HouseCanary, ordering Amrock to pay over $706 million. This amount was subsequently raised to $740 million. However, in 2020, the verdict was overturned on appeal due to invalid legal reasons, prompting a retrial.
The second trial, concluding in March 2026, once again favored HouseCanary, with a jury awarding the firm $175 million in compensatory damages and over $201 million in punitive damages, although the latter has since been dismissed by the judge.
As of now, a final judgment in this case is still pending, with both parties working to resolve additional legal matters, including attorneys’ fees, expenses, and a motion by the defendants to limit damages.
A representative from Rocket commented to HousingWire that HouseCanary “seems to have confused a disputed jury award with actual funds.”
“If relying on a check from Rocket Close is HouseCanary’s strategy for navigating bankruptcy, they may need to reconsider,” the spokesperson added. “No ruling has been finalized in this litigation—the court is still deliberating on legal challenges that could affect whether a judgment is made at all, and we plan to appeal any negative ruling. HouseCanary’s claim for $260 million does not address these ongoing issues. Describing this as a ‘lifeline’ might be comforting in principle, but it doesn’t pay creditors.”
A hearing related to HouseCanary’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is slated for Thursday afternoon, with a company spokesperson indicating that HouseCanary would provide further clarity following the hearing.
