Consent

ProTips, LLC dba Pro-tips.com is an independent for-profit marketing lead generator and personal financial services company.  Pro-tips.com is compensated by its partners which may influence which products we feature and where those sponsored products may appear on our websites, however, Pro-tips.com does not include every company or financial product on the market.

Overview

This webpage contains the Terms of Use governing your access to and use of the Pro-tips.com websites (the “Website(s)” or “Site(s)”).  By using the information, tools, features and functionality located on Pro-tips.com (together the “Services”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use whether you are a “Visitor” (which means that you are simply browsing the Pro-tips.com Website) or you are a “Member” (which means that you have registered an account with us – see below). The term “you” or “User” refers to either a Visitor or a Member. The term “we” or “us” refers to Pro-tips.com, a dba of ProTips, LLC., a California Limited Liability Corporation whose principal office is located at 555 Anton Blvd, Costa Mesa CA 92626.  You agree that by using this Site, you represent that you are a U.S. resident and at least eighteen (18) years old.  This Site is not intended for use by children and we do not knowingly collect information about children through our Sites. If we learn that we have collected or received personal information from a person under eighteen (18) years of age without verification or parental consent, we will delete the information.  This Site is governed by the laws of the United States and is intended for the enjoyment of individuals connected to the internet from a physical location within the United States. We make no representation that this Site is governed by or operated in accordance with the laws of any other nation.

You may not use this Site and may not accept these Terms of Use if: (a) you do not have the requisite capacity to form a binding contract; (b) you are a person barred from receiving the Services under the laws of the United States or any local or national jurisdiction from which you are accessing or using the Services; (c) you work for or advise a competitor of ours; (d) we have previously banned you from using the Services; or (e) we closed your Member account.

Moreover, when we refer to our “Services,” we mean all products and services owned and operated by Pro-tips.com, or any of its affiliated companies, including the content, features, tools, data, software and functions made available by Pro-tips.com, our mobile applications, and other websites or applications we operate, unless those websites or applications have posted separate or additional terms of service.

Registering As A Member For Free To Receive Additional Services:

Registering for a Member account with us will give you access to additional services like free credit scores, credit reports, credit monitoring, identity theft monitoring, educational materials, personalized offers for products and services from our partner providers (“Providers”) such as credit card companies, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, financial professionals and any future features we may develop all of which will allow you to comparison shop for financial services and products.  Members will be able to receive suggestions for next steps in building financial health, simulate the impact a potential action may have on their credit score, assess each area of credit health (i.e. payment, history, number of accounts, credit inquiries, derogatory marks, etc.), receive tailored recommendations on how to save on financial products, connect directly with their checking and savings accounts, monitor their spending and track purchases, receive information on automobile, recreational vehicle and watercraft insurance, credit cards, student loans, home equity and personal loans, debt relief services and access a variety of resources to learn about complex financial concepts.

Your Member enrollment may also include access to mobile text messages relating to a Provider’s products and services, including alerts that are sent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. These features may include, without limitation, the ability to upload Services content to your mobile phone, receive Services messages on your mobile phone, download applications to your mobile phone or access the Services features on your mobile phone. Standard messaging, data and other fees may be charged by your carrier. Your carrier may prohibit or restrict certain features of the Services and certain features may be incompatible with your carrier or mobile device. Contact your carrier with questions regarding these issues. By using the mobile features, you agree that Pro-tips.com may send communications to your mobile device and collect information from your device as described in our Privacy Policy. You agree to notify Pro-tips.com of any changes to your mobile number and update your account to reflect any such changes.

We do not endorse or recommend the products or services of any Providers, and we are not acting as your agent or advisor. We do not make any warranties or representations regarding the quotes, fees, terms, rates, coverage or services offered or made available by any Provider and do not guarantee they are the best available.  We do not validate or investigate the licensing, certification or other requirements and qualifications of any Provider as it is your responsibility to do so.  We are not liable for any losses, costs, damages, claims or use or disclosure of your information in connection with, arising from, or related to, your use of a Provider’s products or services. The content on our Site is broad in scope and is intended only to assist in making financial decisions and may not be appropriate for your personal situation.  We urge you to obtain the advice of financial advisors, insurance agents, brokers or other qualified professionals who are fully aware of your individual circumstances before you make any financial decisions.

We are not a lending institution, insurance provider, credit repair organization, credit counselor, or financial or legal advisor and our Services are not endorsed or affiliated with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).  We do not issue mortgages, credit cards, insurance coverage or any other financial products.  Instead, we, through our contacts may help connect you with Providers that might meet your needs based on the information provided by you. Any services you are offered are the responsibility of the participating Provider and will vary based upon your request, your particular financial situation and the criteria determined by the various Providers to whom you are matched.  We do not guarantee that any Provider will make you an offer for services.

When you register for a Member account or otherwise request Services through our Website, you understand and agree that you have established a business relationship with us.  Accordingly, we may send your information to certain affiliates and third parties.  If you submit a request for services to a particular Provider containing your electronic signature, you are providing express written consent for them to contact you directly via mail, telephone, text message, fax, email or other means.  As a result, you may receive telemarketing calls from the Provider using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded message even if you are on any federal, state, local, internal or corporate do-not-call registry.

Registering for a Member will require you to provide us with certain personal identifying information including but not limited to name, address, phone number, email, date of birth, social security number, employment, medical history and financial information.  If you do not provide this information, we will not be able to register you as a Member.  Pro-tips.com is not responsible for any errors or delays in responding to a request or referral form caused by, including but not limited to, an incorrect email address or other information provided by you or other technical problems beyond our reasonable control.

By creating a Member account, you understand and consent to Pro-tips.com receiving and accessing consumer report information about you from one or more credit bureaus so that we may use and analyze your information as follows, to: (a) present you an overview of your credit profile including detailed information where available; (b) provide you with customized recommendations and general information; (c) serve you targeted ads and other communications based on your information, (d) identify affiliate and non-affiliate Providers that may be able to provide valuable services to you; (e) perform analysis and data modeling in order to offer you better Services in the future. For as long as you maintain a Member account, you are providing express written consent for us to maintain and share information provided by you and about you to/from third parties.

While no data transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be one hundred percent (100%) secure, Pro-tips.com understands your concerns with the safety of your personal information. The following is a summary of the measures we take to protect your information and descriptions of ways we implement these measures for different types of information you may provide to us.

Transmissions between Pro-tips.com, banks, lenders, credit reporting agencies, etc. are encrypted using public key cryptography algorithms with a minimum key size of 128 bits.  Secure Sockets Layer secures and prevents third parties from intercepting and reading your personal information; only we can decode the encryption.

Firewalls are special purpose devices that protect and screen-out malicious attempts to access information and networks. Pro-tips.com deploys state of the art firewalls to protect our resources and consumer data from internal and external threats.

Registering for a Member account is optional and if at any time you desire to terminate your Member account, you may do so with no further obligations.  We do not delete information about you upon deactivation of your account. Although your deactivated status is reflected promptly in our user database, we may retain the information you submit for a variety of purposes, including legal compliance, backups and archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse and analytics.

You may only register for a Member account if you are eighteen (18) years of age or older and have a valid U.S. social security number.

All information you provide to us about yourself and your third-party financial accounts must be true, accurate, current and complete.  You are required to keep all information up to date and accurate.  You may not register a Member account for anyone other than yourself and agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your account.  You agree not to misrepresent your identity, your personal information or your third-party account information.  Any person attempting to access any of our Services without authorization may be subject to prosecution.

By registering for a Member account, you accept all responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, controlling and limiting access to your account and for all activities that occur under your account or password. You may not sell, transfer or assign your account.

When you register for a Member account with us, you provide us with the following specific consents:

“I understand that I am providing ‘written instructions’ in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and other applicable laws for Pro-tips.com and its employees, agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, contractors, third-party data sources and suppliers to obtain and exchange information about me with third parties at any time for so long as I have an active account. This includes but is not limited to a copy of my consumer credit report and score from consumer reporting agencies as well as exchanging credit data with lenders to identify offers that I may be prequalified for.  I also agree that Pro-tips.com may use and analyze my information, including but not limited to: (a) providing me with a better experience; (b) providing me with customized recommendations and general information; (c) serving me targeted offers and other communication based on my information; (d) computing statistical analysis; and (e) aggregating my data with other users data and publishing the results in a way that cannot be linked back to me.

I further understand that I am authorizing Pro-tips.com to retain a copy of all such information received from me, including the information I am submitting through the Member registration process or that I provide to Pro-tips.com from time to time, either directly or indirectly, and to use that information to match me with product and services offers from Pro-tips.com’s marketing partners.”

A summary of your major rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”):

• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
• You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. The three (3) national credit repositories may be contacted at the following:

Experian®: 1-888-397-3742

Equifax®: 1-800-685-1111

TransUnion®: 1-800-916-8800

• In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
• a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• you are on public assistance;
• you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within sixty (60) days.

In addition, all consumers are entitled to one (1) free disclosure every twelve (12) months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. To request your free annual report under the FCRA, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information.

• You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
  You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures. Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within thirty (30) days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate. Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven (7) years old, or bankruptcies that are more than ten (10) years old. Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access. You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore. You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address form the lists these offers are based on. You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).The following FCRA right applies with respect to nationwide consumer reporting agencies:

Consumers Have The Right To Obtain A Security Freeze

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.

As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a one (1) year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file.  Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit.  If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven (7) years.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court. Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

Important Information About VantageScore

VantageScore 3.0 is a credit scoring model developed by the three (3) major nationwide credit reporting agencies, Experian®, TransUnion®, and Equifax® and has a scoring range of 300 to 850. VantageScore 3.0 is used by some but not all creditors and lenders. High scores represent a greater likelihood that you’ll pay back your debts while low scores indicate that you may be a higher risk.  Your credit file information can vary between these three (3) agencies because some lenders report your credit history to only one or two of them.  So your credit scores can vary if the information each agency has on file for you is different. Since the information in your file can change over time, your credit score may also be different from day-to-day.   Some creditors and lenders do not use VantageScore 3.0, so you may be given another credit score that’s substantially different from your VantageScore.

Access To Services

Your access and use of our Services may be interrupted from time to time for any of several reasons, including, without limitation, the malfunction of equipment, periodic updating, maintenance or repair or other actions that we, in our sole discretion, may elect to take. We reserve the right to suspend or discontinue the availability of our Services and/or any portion or feature of our Services at any time in our sole discretion and without prior notice.  If Pro-tips.com disables access to your Member account, you may be prevented from accessing the Services, your account details, or any files or other content related to your account.

Any action by you that, in our sole discretion: (i) violates the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy; (ii) restricts, inhibits or prevents any access, use or enjoyment of our Services; or (iii) through the use of our Services, defames, abuses, harasses, offends or threatens any other party, shall not be permitted and may result in your loss of the right to access and use our Services. You shall not modify, scrape, embed, or frame our Services without our prior written permission.

Costs For Connecting To Our Site

You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all telephone, computer hardware, internet access services and other equipment or services needed to access and use our Site, and all costs and fees associated with internet access or long-distance charges incurred with regard to your access and use of our Site and our Services.

If we provide aspects of our Site via an application for your mobile or other device, please be aware that your carrier’s normal rates and fees may apply.

Changes To These Terms of Use

Pro-tips.com may, at any time, for any reason and without notice, make changes to (i) this Website, including its look, feel, format, and content, as well as (ii) the products and/or services as described in this Website. Any modifications will take effect when posted to the Website. Therefore, each time you access the Website, you will need to review these Terms of Use upon which access and use of this Website is conditioned. By your continuing use of the Website after changes are posted, you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.

Privacy Surrounding Your Personal Information

For information about our privacy policy and data security practices, please read our Privacy Policy which is hereby incorporated in these Terms of Use. The Privacy Policy explains how Pro-tips.com treats your personal information and may be updated from time to time. If updates are made, the changes will be effective upon posting of the edited Privacy Policy on our Website.

Jurisdiction

This Website is directed to those individuals and entities located in the United States. It is not directed to any person or entity in any jurisdiction where (by reason of nationality, residence, citizenship or otherwise) the availability of the Website and its content, including its products and services, are unavailable or otherwise contrary to local laws or regulations. If this applies to you, you are not authorized to access or use any of the information on this Website. Pro-tips.com makes no representation that the information, opinions, advice or other content on the Website is appropriate or that its products and services are available outside of the United States. Those who choose to access this Website from other locations do so at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.

Patents

Technologies and processes embodied or used by this Site are covered under one or more patents filed by Pro-tips.com or its Providers with the United States Patent Trademark Office.

Copyrights

The materials on this Site, as well as the organization and layout of this Site, are copyrighted and are protected by United States and international copyright laws and treaty provisions. You may access, download and print materials on this Website solely for your personal and non-commercial use; however, any printout of this Site or portions of the Site must include Pro-tips.com’s copyright notice. No right, title or interest in any of the materials contained on this Site is transferred to you as a result of accessing, downloading or printing such materials. You may not copy, modify, distribute, transmit, display, reproduce, publish, decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the content of any part of this Site; create derivative works from, link to or frame in another website, use on any other website, transfer or sell any information obtained from this Site without the prior written permission of Pro-tips.com.

Trademarks and Intellectual Property

Pro-tips.com (including the Pro-tips.com name and logo) and all other related logos are trademarks and service marks of Pro-tips.com. You may not use, copy, display, distribute, modify or reproduce any of the Pro-tips.com trademarks found on the Site except in accordance with written authorization by us. Other company product and service names and logos used and displayed on this Site may be trademarks or service marks owned by Pro-tips.com’s Providers.  We make no proprietary claim as to any third-party names, trademarks or service marks appearing on our Site as they are the property of their respective owners.

The information, advice, data, software and content viewable on, contained in, or downloadable from our Site including, without limitation, all text, graphics, charts, pictures, photographs, images, videos, line art, icons and renditions, are copyrighted by, or otherwise licensed to us or our Providers.

All software used on or within our Site is our property or the property of our software vendors and is protected by copyright law. Viewing, reading, printing, downloading or otherwise using any content on our Site does not entitle you to any ownership or intellectual property rights to the content of the software.

Opt-Out

You may opt out of receiving calls/texts from Pro-tips.com at any time by engaging in any of the following reasonable means: (1) emailing contact@pro-tips.com to expressly state in writing that you no longer wish to be contacted; (2) notifying a Pro-tips.com customer service representative that you are revoking your consent to be contacted, or (3) responding to any SMS, mobile, or text message you receive from Pro-tips.com in accordance with the express written instructions of that particular messaging program.  You may also notify any particular Provider directly if you no longer want to receive communications from them.  Pro-tips.com is not responsible for a Provider’s failure to follow your instructions to stop contacting you.

If you use our Mobile Applications, we may send you push notifications from time-to-time via our mobile application in order to provide or alert you to service-related announcements or information on products, services, special deals, or promotions. If you do not wish to receive these types of communications, you may turn them off in your mobile Device settings.

Even if you opt-out, we may still send you service-related announcements, alerts, updates and responses to direct requests you have made. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email. Generally, you may not opt-out of these non-promotional communications. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to terminate your Member account.

Links

For your convenience, we may provide links to various other websites that may be of interest to you and we may also include features that allow you to connect your Pro-tips.com Member account with accounts or services provided by third parties, such as accounts you maintain with financial institutions or social media platforms like Facebook.  However, Pro-tips.com does not control or endorse such websites and is not responsible for their content nor are we responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any information, data, opinions, advice, or statements contained within such websites. Please read the terms and conditions of any other company or website you may link to from our Website. This Terms of Use policy applies only to Pro-tips.com’s Website and the products and services Pro-tips.com offers. If you decide to access any third-party sites linked to this Website, you do so at your own risk. Pro-tips.com reserves the right to terminate any link or linking program at any time. Pro-tips.com disclaims all warranties, express and implied, as to the accuracy, validity, and legality or otherwise of any materials or information contained on such other websites.

No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of this Website, you warrant to Pro-tips.com that you will not use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions and notices. You may not use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Website. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the Site.

You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper, deep link or other similar automated data gathering or extraction tools, program, algorithm or methodology to access, acquire, copy or monitor our Site or any portion of our Site or for any purpose without our prior written permission.  Additionally, you agree that you will not: (i) take any action that imposes, or may impose in our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (ii) copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute or publicly display any content (except for your personal information) from our Site without our prior written permission and the appropriate third-party, as applicable; (iii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of our Site or any activities conducted on our Site; or (iv) bypass any robot exclusion headers or other measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to our Site.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, we grant the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from our Site for the sole purpose and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available search indices of the materials on our Site, but not caches or archives of such materials. We reserve the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.

No Spamming

Gathering email addresses from Pro-tips.com through harvesting or automated means is prohibited. Posting or transmitting unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, promotional materials, or any other forms of solicitation to other users is similarly prohibited.

No Warranties/Limitation of Liability

THE WEBSITE, AND ANY CONTENT, ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHETHER EXPRESS, STATUTORY OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, SYSTEMS INTEGRATION, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, ALL OF WHICH CREDITANDEBT.ORG EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS. CREDITANDEBT.ORG DOES NOT ENDORSE AND MAKES NO WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENCY, OR RELIABILITY OF THE CONTENT, AND CREDITANDEBT.ORG WILL NOT BE LIABLE OR OTHERWISE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FAILURE OR DELAY IN UPDATING THE WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT. WE HAVE NO DUTY TO UPDATE THE CONTENT OF THE WEBSITE.  PRO-TIPS.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT USE OF THE CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY RESULTS OR OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF ACCESSING THE WEBSITE AND USING THE CONTENT, AND FOR TAKING ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE THAT ANY CONTENT YOU MAY ACCESS, DOWNLOAD OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR ANY OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THIS WARRANTY DISCLAIMER MAY BE DIFFERENT IN CONNECTION WITH SPECIFIC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED BY CREDITANDEBT.ORG.  SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

PRO-TIPS.COM SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE TO, OR LIABLE TO, YOU, OR ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE OR BUSINESS, AS A DIRECT OR INDIRECT RESULT OF: (I) YOUR BREACH OR VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS; (II) YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF OUR SERVICES; (III) YOUR DELAY IN ACCESSING OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE OUR SERVICES FOR ANY REASON; (IV) YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY OF THE CONTENT OR THE COLLECTIVE WORK FOR YOUR USE; (V) YOUR RELIANCE UPON OR USE OF THE CONTENT OR THE COLLECTIVE WORK, OR (VI) ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH OUR SERVICES, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OUR SERVICES, WHETHER RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF WE AND/OR OUR SUPPLIERS HAD BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.

YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR USER GENERATED CONTENT OR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY, AND THAT THE RISK OF HARM OR DAMAGE FROM SUCH USER GENERATED CONTENT AND THIRD-PARTY CONDUCT RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

Your Indemnification of Us

You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless us and our officers, directors, shareholders, employees, independent contractors, agents, representatives and affiliates from and against all claims and expenses, including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees, arising out of, or attributable to: (i) any breach or violation of these Terms of Use or alleged violation of any applicable law; (ii) your failure to provide accurate, complete and current personally identifiable information requested or required by us; (iii) your transmission, submission or postings to our Site; (vi) any personal injury or property damage caused by you; (v) your infringement or alleged infringement of any intellectual property or other right of any other person or entity; or (vi) any dispute between you and a third-party, including any Provider of third-party content. You must not settle any such claim or matter without the prior written consent of Pro-tips.com.  Pro-tips.com reserves the right, at their own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you further agree that you will cooperate fully in the defense of any such claims.

Pro-tips.com’s failure to enforce any of its rights or act with respect to a breach of these Terms of Use by you or others does not constitute a waiver of any rights and will not limit Pro-tips.com’s rights with respect to that breach or any subsequent breaches. No waiver by Pro-tips.com of any of the provisions in these Terms of Use will be of any force or effect unless made in writing and signed by a duly authorized officer of Pro-tips.com.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California without reference to its choice of law rules. If an applicable law is in conflict with any part of these Terms of Use, these Terms of Use will be deemed modified to conform to the law. The other provisions will not be affected by any such modification.

You acknowledge that we may be irreparably damaged if damages at law would be an inadequate remedy. Therefore, in the event of a breach or threatened breach of any provision of these Terms of Use, we shall be entitled, in addition to all rights and remedies, to an injunction restraining such breach or threatened breach, without being required to show any actual damage or to post an injunction bond, and/or to a decree for specific performance of the provisions of these Terms of Use

Separate Agreements

Member account agreements are separate and in addition to these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use do not modify, revise or amend the terms of any other agreements you may have with Pro-tips.com.

User Forums

Our Site may act as a venue, through blogs, messaging, chat rooms, bulletin boards and other forums (“Forums”) allowing users to contribute information.  Neither we nor our Providers are involved in the actual transmission of user generated content provided on these Forums. As a result, neither we nor our Providers approve or endorse any user generated content or it’s quality, correctness, timeliness, safety, truth, accuracy or legality.  Please use caution in relying on any user generated content.  You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of this Site.  Some of the Forums (individual bulletin boards and posts on the social network, for instance) on the Website are not moderated or reviewed.  Pro-tips.com reserves the right, but has no obligation, to remove or edit any content on this Site or monitor disputes between users, and may do or not do any of the following:

1. Monitor, edit, or disclose any communication in the Forums.
2. Record the dialogue in the Forums.
3. Examine an allegation that a communication(s) does not conform to the terms of these Terms of Use and determine in its sole discretion to remove or request the removal of the communication(s).
4. Terminate a Visitor or Member’s access to any Forum.

We may access, use, preserve, transfer or disclose, at any time and without notice to you, any information we deem as reasonably necessary to: (1) comply with any applicable law, regulation, subpoena, or legal process, or respond to any governmental request or cooperate with law enforcement, if we believe such action is required or permitted by law; (2) enforce these Terms of Use, including to investigate potential violations; (3) protect the safety, integrity, rights, or security of our Members, our Site or equipment or any third-party; or (4) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues related to our Site or the services of our Providers.

You acknowledge that you own, are solely responsible or otherwise control all of the rights to the information that you provide; that use of the information you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity; and that you will indemnify Pro-tips.com or its affiliates for all claims resulting from information you supply.

By submitting, posting, or publishing your content on or through our Sites, you grant to Pro-tips.com a non-exclusive, unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sub-licenseable, royalty-free license to publish, host, store, transfer, distribute, modify, create derivative and collective works from, reproduce, display, perform, transmit, process, or otherwise use, in any manner and for any purpose, and in all forms or distribution methods now known or later developed, your content, in whole or in part, to provide, optimize, improve, and promote or market our Site, and to create new products and services. This license includes the right to use your name, persona, username, and likeness without compensating you. This license also includes the right to publish your content in a searchable format that may be accessed by other users of our Site. You also grant to other users of our Site a non-exclusive license to access and use your content in connection with our Site.

In addition to sharing your content with Pro-tips.com, we also encourage you to tell us how we can improve your experience with us. We may provide you with opportunities to send us comments, suggestions and other feedback regarding problems with, or proposed modifications or improvements to our Site through email, social media, feedback forms, surveys or other channels. By submitting, posting, or otherwise providing us your feedback, you hereby grant us a non-exclusive unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sub-licenseable, royalty-free license to use your feedback in any manner and for any purpose to provide, optimize, improve, promote or market our Site and to create new products and services. This license includes the right to use your name, persona, username, and likeness for the foregoing purposes without compensating you.

You shall not transmit, submit or post any the following to our Site or use our Services to:

• Violate any third-party’s rights, including any breach of confidence, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right;
• Post or share anyone’s personal information (including, but not limited to, identification documents and sensitive financial information, such as bank account or credit card numbers);
• Threaten, stalk, harm, bully, or harass others, promote bigotry or discrimination, or incite violence;
• Violate our guidelines, for example, by writing a fake, defamatory, or inaccurate review, trading reviews with other businesses, or writing a review that you were paid for either directly or indirectly by the business being reviewed;
• Use the Services to defraud or otherwise abuse the credit reporting or credit scoring systems;
• Promote a business or other commercial venture or event, or otherwise use the Services for commercial purposes;
• Solicit personal information from others;
• Submit or transmit pornography;
• Send bulk emails, surveys, or other mass messages, whether commercial in nature or not;
• Engage in keyword spamming, or otherwise attempt to manipulate the Services’ search results or any third-party website;
• Engage in unlawful multi-level marketing, such as a pyramid scheme;
• Do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory;
• Modify, adapt, appropriate, reproduce, distribute, translate, create derivative works or adaptations of, publicly display, sell, trade, or in any way exploit the Services;
• Remove or modify any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice that appears on any portion of the Services or on any materials printed or copied from the Services;
• Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, scrape, or index any portion of the Services or any related content;
• Reverse engineer any portion of the Services;
• Reformat or frame any portion of the Services;
• Access, retrieve or index any portion of the Services for purposes of constructing or populating a searchable database of business, company or professional reviews;
• Record, process, or mine information about other users;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, user accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Services through hacking, password mining or any other means;
• Attempt to access portions of the Services which are not intended for public usage (the use of any information obtained from non-public portions of the Services is expressly prohibited);
• Take any action that imposes, or may impose, in our sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on Pro-tips.com’s technology infrastructure or otherwise make excessive traffic demands of the Services;
• Remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with any security-related features of the Services, features that prevent or restrict the use or copying of content or features that enforce limitations on the use of the Services;
• Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Services (or the servers and networks which are connected to the Services), or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Services;
• Use the Services to violate the security of any computer network, crack passwords or security encryption codes; disrupt or interfere with the security of, or otherwise cause harm to, the Services or any related content; or
• Use the Services or any related content to transmit any computer viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses or other items of a destructive nature (collectively, “Viruses”).

Arbitration

Except as regarding any action seeking equitable relief, including without limitation for the purpose of protecting any Pro-tips.com confidential information and/or intellectual property rights (see below), any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or this Website shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in effect at the time the proceedings begin.  The AAA Rules and filing forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879. THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LITIGATE ANY SUCH DISPUTE IN COURT, AND THAT YOU AGREE TO WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a non-appearance based telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules.  Any in person arbitration shall be held in the County of Orange in the state of California.

All information relating to or disclosed by any party in connection with the arbitration of any disputes hereunder shall be treated by the parties, their representatives, and the arbitrator as proprietary business information. Such information shall not be disclosed by any party or their respective representatives without the prior written authorization of the party furnishing such information. Such information shall not be disclosed by the arbitrator without the prior written authorization of all parties. Each party shall bear the burden of its own counsel fees incurred in connection with any arbitration proceedings.  Judgment upon the award returned by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction over the parties or their assets or application of enforcement as the case may be. Any award by the arbitrator shall be the sole and exclusive remedy of the parties. The parties hereby waive all rights to judicial review of the arbitrator’s decision and any award contained therein.

A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send a written notice of the dispute to the other by certified mail.  Pro-tips.com’s address for notice is 555 Anton Blvd., Costa mesa CA 92626.  The notice must: (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (b) set forth the specific relief sought.  You and Pro-tips.com agree to use good faith efforts to resolve the claim directly, but if you and Pro-tips.com do not reach an agreement to do so within thirty (30) days after the notice is received, you or us may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by you or Pro-tips.com must not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator makes a final decision and award, if any.   The arbitration proceedings, including any exchanged materials, shall be confidential and you and Pro-tips.com agree to use reasonable efforts to streamline the proceedings, including discovery, consistent with the objectives of efficient dispute resolution. In the event the arbitrator determines the claim(s) you assert in the arbitration to be frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), you agree to reimburse Pro-tips.com for all fees associated with the arbitration paid by Pro-tips.com.

This Arbitration section will survive the termination of your relationship with us, (i) unless you and we agree otherwise, (ii) if this section is found by a court of law to be unenforceable, (iii) if your claim is not covered by these Terms of Use, or (iv) if you are neither a resident nor have a principal place of business in the United States.

Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make a change to this Arbitration section in the future, that change shall not apply to a claim that was filed in a legal proceeding between you and us prior to the effective date of the change. Any such change shall apply to all other disputes or claims governed by this section that have arisen, or may arise, between you and us. We will notify you of any changes to this section by posting the amended terms on our Site.

Pursuant to the above, you acknowledge that we may be irreparably damaged is damages at law would be an inadequate remedy.  Therefore, in the event of a breach or threatened breach of any provision of these Terms of Use, we shall be entitled, in addition to all rights and remedies, to an injunction restraining such breach or threatened breach, without being required to show any actual damage or to post an injunction bond, and/or to a decree for specific performance of the provisions of these Terms of Use.

Notwithstanding anything in this Arbitration section, you and creditandebt.org agree that no statement herein shall be deemed to waive, preclude, or otherwise limit either party’s right to (i) bring an individual action in small claims court; (ii) pursue enforcement actions through applicable federal, state, or local agencies where such actions are available; (iii) seek injunctive relief in any competent court of law; or (iv) to file suit in a court of law to address intellectual property infringement claims.

You also agree that any dispute or cause of action arising out of or related to the Websites, Services or content therein must be commenced within one (1) year from the later of (a) when the dispute or cause of action accrues or, (b) through the exercise of reasonable diligence you should have known about the accrual of the cause of action. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

NO CLASS ACTIONS

YOU AND PRO-TIPS.COM AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR A CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

Further, unless both you and Pro-tips.com agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.

Deactivation/Termination of Your Member Account

These Terms of Use are effective until your Member account, if applicable, is deactivated by either you or Pro-tips.com and you discontinue all use of our Services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any section of these Terms of Use that by its nature is intended to survive termination of your account, will survive such termination.

Assignment

Pro-tips.com may assign these Terms of Use to any party at any time without notice to you. You may not assign your rights under these Terms of Use, by operation of law or otherwise, without our consent.

If any provision of these Terms of Use are found to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable for any reason, then that provision will be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

The titles and annotations contained in these Terms of Use are inserted only as a matter of convenience and have no legal or contractual effect.

Contact Us:

If you would like to request additional information regarding these Terms of Use, please contact us by e-mail at contact@pro-tips.com.

Last Revised: 05/14/2020