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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 9; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: None stated

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

Item 3 (litigation) · 9 matters disclosed · 1 pending listed

Litigation cases

Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor

Pending (1)

Ira Lubert and John Martinson v. John T. Hewitt, ATAX, LLC, and Loyalty, LLC
pending
Brought by a third party · Loyalty, LLC (with John T. Hewitt and ATAX, LLC) · filed 2025-05-30 · Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania · 250503829
“… (Case No 250503829) filed May 30, 2025, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.”Page 12 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3

Concluded (1)

JTH Tax LLC d/b/a Liberty Tax Service v. John T. Hewitt, Loyalty LLC, ATAX LLC, ATAX Franchise, Inc. and Yneva Marte
settled
Loyalty LLC (with John T. Hewitt and ATAX) · filed 2021-02-04 · United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia · 2:21-cv-00076-RBS-LRL
“… (Case No.2:21-cv-00076-RBS-LRL) filed February 4, 2021 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.”Page 15 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The matter was settled on December 31, 2021. Under the Settlement Agreement, Defendants agreed to pay the Plaintiff $545,000 over 6 years, and to refrain from: (1) unfairly competing with Liberty Tax by tortiously interfering with its franchise agreements;”

Officers and directors (individuals, not the company)

Concluded (7)

United States of America v. Franchise Group Intermediate L 1, LLC d/b/a Liberty Tax Service
settled
Government or regulatory action · John T. Hewitt (referenced, not a named party) · filed 2019-12-03 · United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia · 2:19-cv-00653-RAJ-DEM
“Governmental Actions against Unrelated Entities: United States of America v. Franchise Group Intermediate L 1, LLC d/b/a Liberty Tax Service, (Case No. 2:19-cv-00653-RAJ-DEM) filed on or around December 3, 2019 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Bablu Shahabuddin v. JTH Tax, Inc., Siempre Tax, and John Hewitt
settled
John Hewitt · filed 2018-01-11 · United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia · 2:18-cv-00016- MDS-DEM
“… (Case No. 2:18-cv-00016- MDS-DEM) filed on January 11, 2018 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District”Page 14 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The parties reached a settlement of all claims whereby JTH Tax paid $775,000 and a portion of certain upcoming Net Revenue at offices previously owned by the plaintiff to him.” (page 15)
RSL Senior Partners, LLC, derivatively and on behalf of Liberty Tax, Inc. v Brunot et al
settled
Brought by a third party · John T. Hewitt · filed 2018-03-07 · United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia · 2:18-cv-00127-HCM-DEM
“… (Case No. 2:18-cv-00127-HCM-DEM), filed on March 7, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.”Page 14 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
In Re: Liberty Tax, Inc. Stockholder Litigation (Asbestos Workers’ Philadelphia Pension Fund v. John Hewitt; Erie County Employees Retirement System v. John T. Hewitt)
settled
Brought by a third party · John T. Hewitt · filed 2017-12-12 · Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware · 2017-0883
“Asbestos Workers’ Philadelphia Pension Fund, derivatively on behalf of Liberty Tax, Inc., v. John Hewitt. Defendant, and Liberty Tax, Inc., Nominal Defendant, (Case No. 2017-0883), filed on December 12, 2017 in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On June 28, 2019, the Court of Chancery approved a Derivative and Class Action Settlement. All issues have been resolved and the Delaware derivative actions were dismissed with prejudice in 2019 without any finding of liability on the part of the Defendants.” (page 14)
K&A Publicidad, Inc. v. JTH Tax, Inc., d/b/a Liberty Tax Service, Liberty Tax, Inc. d/b/a Siempre Tax and John Hewitt
settled
John Hewitt · filed 2017-09-05 · Virginia Beach Circuit Court · CL17-4169
“… (Case No. CL17-4169), filed on September 5, 2017 in the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Kirke Franz Szawronski v. JTH Tax, Inc., d/b/a Liberty Tax Service, Liberty Tax, Inc., d/b/a Siempre Tax and John Hewitt
settled
John Hewitt · filed 2017-09-05 · Virginia Beach Circuit Court · CL17-4170
“… (Case No. CL17-4170), filed on September 5, 2017 in the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
In the Matter of a Consent Order between The Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation and John T. Hewitt
concluded
Government or regulatory action · John T. Hewitt · Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation for the State of California
“… before the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation for the State of California.”Page 15 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

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

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?

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