FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Hike Doggie litigation history
What Hike Doggie disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 & 4 at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 9
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $775K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Multiple concluded and one pending case involving director John T. Hewitt related to prior employment at Liberty Tax and ATAX; one pending investor fraud claim (2025); various concluded settlements including $775K (Shahabuddin) and $545K (JTH Tax v. Hewitt); DOJ consent order against Liberty Tax (2019); CA Commissioner consent order requiring Hewitt to disclose DOJ order in future FDDs
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Litigation history involving founder John Hewitt and Liberty Tax Service includes fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and non-compete violations, raising integrity concerns
- Going Concern = False indicates potential solvency or operational viability concerns flagged in FDD
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?