Texas Judge Orders Dan Gilbert’s Amrock Title To Pay $740 million to HouseCanary In Software Stealing Case

A Texas judge has ordered the Dan Gilbert-owned Amrock Title (f/k/a Title Source) $740 million in a software stealing case.

Gilbert’s lawyers tried to have the court vacate a jury’s earlier decision from March.

A jury ordered Amrock Title to pay $706.2 million to HouseCanary in March after it found that Amrock Title fraudulently misappropriated HouseCanary’s real estate valuation technology and appraisal analytics. breached confidentiality and other agreements between the parties.

Amrock questioned the jury’s decision. However, Judge David Canales of the 73rd District Court in Bexar County denied Amrock’s request to vacate the jury’s decision.

As a result, he handed down a final judgment in the case.

Judge Canales ordered Amrock Title to pay nearly $740 million. This included the $706,200,000 in actual and punitive damages awarded by the jury.

HouseCanary was also allowed to collect prejudgment interest of $28,989,154, and attorney’s fees of $4,528,711.

Amrock Title Claims They Are The Victims Of Elaborate Smear Campaign

Amrock claims that HouseCanary’s case is built on fraudulent assertions. The title company claims that three whistleblowers testified that HouseCanary’s case was the product of “fraud and collusion.”

Amrock Title’s legal representation said that the company has no plans to give up the fight. They said they will request a new trial and an appeal if necessary.

Amrock’s lawyer, David Prichard also laid out the company’s legal arguments.

Prichard claims HouseCanary promised to develop an app for Amrock Title. The app would allow Amrock’s appraisers to complete appraisals in the field. It would also provide certain other data and analytic products including an automated valuation model. Prichard also alleges Amrock never received what it was owed.

The fight between HouseCanary and Title Source began in 2015. The two companies signed a contract stating HouseCanary would provide appraisal and real estate valuations and information to Title Source. Amrock/Title Source is a sister company of Quicken Loans. Both companies are owned by Rock Holdings.

Amrock played the victim in typical Dan Gilbert fashion. Prichard alleges that the trial jury was led astray by HouseCanary’s legal representation. Prichard also asserted HouseCanary lawyers used heated anti-corporate diatribes and personal attacks to convince the jury to hand down the massive judgment.

HouseCanary Claims Amrock Title Stole Trade Secrets

HouseCanary alleged that Title Source lied about its intended purpose in the agreement. The company alleges Title Source used HouseCanary’s systems to gain access to its intellectual property, formulas, algorithms, models, analytics, products, and proprietary data.

HouseCanary also claimed that Title Source used HouseCanary’s products and offerings, like its AVMs, without paying for them and collected a critical mass of HouseCanary’s proprietary data. Thus, ultimately used all of that information to secretly replicate HouseCanary’s protected technology and intellectual property.

HouseCanary alleges that Title Source refused to pay for 18 months of work HouseCanary did. Instead, Title Source sued HouseCanary in Texas court, claiming that HouseCanary’s products were “completely unusable.”

HouseCanary countersued claiming that it discovered that Title Source had misappropriated its data and technology. As a result, this allowed Title Source and Quicken Loans to develop competing software.

Amrock Title Plans To Keep Fighting

Prichard also stated that Amrock plans to fight the case for as long as it takes. 

Amrock Title told the media:

In the end, the truth will prevail. Whether it’s in this court or the next, the truth will come forward. There is no legal avenue Amrock will not explore, no matter how much it will cost or how long it will take.

Everyone has heard this from Dan Gilbert and his companies before. It’s just another typical Dan Gilbert tactic of, “Give me what I want or I will litigate you into bankruptcy!”

However, that didn’t stop HouseCanary from rejoicing. The company was very happy with the judge’s decision to uphold the jury’s decision. Company CEO Jeremy Sicklick said:

HouseCanary is pleased that the Court has entered final judgment in this case. We were confident that the Court would follow the law and enter a judgment thoroughly consistent with the jury’s verdict. The jury and the Court heard extensive evidence of Title Source’s misappropriation of HouseCanary’s highly valuable trade secrets along with Title Source’s fraudulent conduct and contractual breaches.

Read more about this case at:

Amrock Title Hit With $706 Million Judgment For Stealing Trade Secrets