ConnectLending.com - Terms of Use last updated: 09/09/2014
Connect Lending, LLC ("Connect Lending"), "we", "us" and terms of similar meaning) provides this web site (in these terms we call this site and any successor websites, and any software provided by Connect Lending for use with the site, the "Site") to you subject to these terms and conditions of use (these "Terms"). Please read these Terms carefully before using the Site. By accessing or using the Site or by merely browsing the Site you agree to be legally bound by these Terms and all terms, policies and guidelines incorporated by reference in these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms in their entirety, you may not use the Site.
This Site is not intended to be used by children. You must be at least 18 years old to use this Site.
In these Terms, our business community and their staff members to whom they give access to their Connect Lending account are called "Borrowers", and our Lenders who use the Site (for example, to receive leads) are called "Lenders". In these Terms, users of the Site, whether they are Borrowers, Lenders, or casual browsers of the Site, are called "Users".
Connect Lending reserves the right to change or modify any of the terms and conditions contained in these Terms, or any policy or guideline of the Site, at any time and in its sole discretion. If we do so, we will notify you at the email address you provide in your registration information, if any. If you do not agree with the changes, you can cancel your account with us without further obligation, except for the amount due for the balance of the billing period in which you cancel your account. Unless otherwise specified, any changes or modifications will be effective immediately upon posting of the revisions on the Site, and your continued use of the Site after such time will constitute your acceptance of such changes or modifications. You should from time to time review the Terms and any policies and documents incorporated in them to understand the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the Site. The Terms will always show the 'last updated' date at the top. If you do not agree to any amended Terms, you must stop using the Site. If you have any questions about the Terms, please email us at Support@ConnectLending.com.
The services we provide through the Site are for your own use only. You may not resell, lease or provide them in any other way to anyone else.
1. Privacy Policy
Please refer to Connect Lending's privacy policy for information on how Connect Lending collects, uses and discloses personally identifiable information from its users. By using the Site you agree to our use, collection and disclosure of personally identifiable information in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
2. Registration Data; Account Security
If you register for an account on the Site, you agree to (a) provide accurate, current and complete information as may be prompted by any registration forms on the Site ("Registration Data"); (b) maintain the security of your password; (c) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data, and any other information you provide to Connect Lending, and keep it accurate, current and complete; and (d) accept all risks of unauthorized access to the Registration Data and any other information you provide to Connect Lending. You are responsible for all activity on your Connect Lending account, and for all charges incurred by your Connect Lending account.
3. Services: Fees; Commissions; Taxes
Joining Connect Lending, submitting a loan questionnaire or becoming an Advisor, Lender or Broker is free. We do charge a commission to the Lender or Broker for funded transactions based upon a mutually agreed upon fee schedule. User acknowledges, understands and agrees that any fees/commissions charged by Connect Lending are not for loan acquisition services related to any federally guaranteed small business loan program through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that the client may obtain through the services of Connect Lending. Additionally, no percentage of any SBA guaranteed small business loan will be assessed by Connect Lending.
Unless otherwise stated, all fees/commissions are in U.S. Dollars. You are solely responsible for paying any and all associated tax liabilities.
4. Ownership, Copyright and Trademarks
In these Terms, the content on the Site, including all information, data, logos, marks, designs, graphics, pictures, sound files, other files, and their selection and arrangement, is called "Content". Content provided by Users, whether they are Borrowers, Lenders or other Users, is called "User Content". For example, data provided by Lenders about financial products is User Content of that Lender and data provided by a Borrower about its business is User Content of that Borrower.
User Content is that User's property. Connect Lending's only right to that User Content is the limited licenses to it granted in these Terms. Those licenses are described in Section 5 and Section 16 of these Terms.
Other than the User Content, the Site, all Content and all software available on the Site or used to create and operate the Site is the property of Connect Lending or its licensors, and is protected by United States and international copyright laws, and all rights to the Site, such Content and such software are expressly reserved. All trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned in the Site are the property of their respective owners. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information, by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof by Connect Lending.
Your User Content is your responsibility. We have no responsibility or liability for it, or for any loss or damage your User Content may cause to other people. Although we have no obligation to do so, we have the absolute discretion to remove, screen or edit without notice any User Content posted or stored on the Site, and we may do this at any time and for any reason. You are solely responsible for maintaining copies of and replacing any User Content you post or store on the Site.
5. Your Limited License of Your User Content to Connect Lending
We do not claim any ownership interest in your User Content, but we do need the right to use your User Content to the extent necessary to operate the Site, and provide the services provided by the Site, now and in the future. For example, if a Borrower submits a business loan request to Connect Lending, Connect Lending will need the right to sublicense that User Content to locate and alert suitable Lenders for that purpose.
Therefore, by posting or distributing User Content to or through the Site, you (a) grant Connect Lending and its affiliates and subsidiaries a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable right to use, display, perform, reproduce, distribute, publish, modify, adapt, translate, and create derivative works from such User Content on the Site, in the manner in and for the purposes for which the Site from time to time uses such User Content; (b) represent and warrant that (i) you own and control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or otherwise distribute, or you otherwise have the lawful right to post and distribute that User Content, to or through the Site; and (ii) the use and posting or other transmission of such User Content does not violate these Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity.
If your User Content is intended for the use of other Users, you also grant us and our affiliates and subsidiaries a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable right to sub-license such User Content to such Users for their use in connection with their use of the Site, as described in Section 5 of these Terms.
These licenses from you are non-exclusive because you have the right to use your User Content elsewhere. They are royalty-free because we are not required to pay you for the use of your User Content on the Site. And they are transferable because we need the right to transfer these licenses to any successor operator of the Site. Our rights to "modify, adapt, translate, and create derivative works from" are necessary because the normal operation of the Site does this to your User Content when it processes it for use in the Site.
6. Our Limited License of Content to You
Connect Lending grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sub license to access the Site and to view, copy and print the portions of the Content available to you on the Site. Such license is subject to these Terms, and specifically conditioned upon the following: (i) you may only view, copy and print such portions of the Content for your own use; (ii) you may not modify or otherwise make derivative works of the Site or the Content, or reproduce, distribute or display the Site or any Content (except for page caching) except as expressly permitted in these Terms; (iii) you may not remove or modify any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices that have been placed in the Content; (iv) you may not use any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods; and (v) you may not use the Site or the Content other than for its intended purpose.
Except as expressly permitted above, any use of any portion of the Content without the prior written permission of its owner is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted in this Section, this Agreement and your account with us. Any such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws, including without limitation copyright and trademark laws. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms may be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppels, implication or otherwise. The license in this Section is revocable by Connect Lending at any time.
You represent and warrant that your use of the Site and the Content will be consistent with this license and will not infringe or violate the rights of any other party or breach any contract or legal duty to any other parties, or violate any applicable law.
To request permission for uses of Content not included in this license, you may contact Connect Lending at the address set out at the bottom of these Terms.
7. Use of Interactive Areas and the Site
The Site may contain discussion forums, blogs, bulletin boards, review services or other forums in which you or third parties may post reviews or other content, messages, materials or other items on the Site ("Interactive Areas"). If Connect Lending provides such Interactive Areas, you are solely responsible for your use of such Interactive Areas and use them at your own risk. User Content submitted to any public area of the Site will be considered non-confidential. By using any Interactive Areas, you expressly agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Site any of the following:
• Any message, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, graphics, code or other material that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable;
• Content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
• Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;
• Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
• Unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising or solicitations;
• Private information of any third party, including, without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and credit card numbers, unless that third party has expressly consented to such use;
• Viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files;
• Content that is unrelated to the topic of the Interactive Area(s) in which such Content is posted; or
• Content that, in the sole judgment of Connect Lending, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Interactive Areas or the Site, or which may expose Connect Lending or its affiliates or its users to any harm or liability of any type.
Finally, Connect Lending has a "zero-tolerance" policy towards SPAM: you may not use the Interactive Areas or the Site generally to send commercial or other messages to any third-party if those messages are not solicited, authorized or welcomed by the third-party, and in your use of the Site you must comply with all applicable laws, including laws that apply in any jurisdiction to SPAM and marketing practices, and with any applicable marketing association guidelines on ethical marketing practices.
Any use of the Interactive Areas or other portions of the Site in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Interactive Areas and/or the Site.
8. Providing a Reliable and Secure Service
If you have spent any time reviewing the Site, you will have noticed that we take reliability and security seriously. We put a great deal of effort into ensuring that our service operates all the time, and that it is a secure environment for your data. We use what we believe to be "best-of-class" hosting services and security technologies and services that we believe provide you with a secure and safe environment. More information about these services and technologies is available on the Site.
For example, Connect Lending does not store credit card data on its servers and uses a third-party PCI compliant gateway to store a Lender's credit card data and to process any transactions. In addition, Connect Lending uses 256 bit SSL certificates to encrypt personal data transferred between you and the Site.
However, no system is perfectly secure or reliable, the internet is an inherently insecure medium, and the reliability of hosting services, internet intermediaries, your internet service provider, and other service providers cannot be assured. When you use Connect Lending, you accept these risks, and the responsibility for choosing to use a technology that does not provide perfect security or reliability. In particular, Lenders who enable auto-billing and choose to store the credit card information through the Site accept these risks to the security of that credit card information.
When storing credit card information using the Connect Lending Payment Information page, Lenders acknowledge that they are aware of, and accept as satisfactory, Connect Lending's third-party service provider's credit card protection procedures. Ultimately, credit card data is provided by Lenders and they are responsible for its protection.
9. Links to Other Sites
The Site may contain links to third-party Web sites ("Third-Party Sites") and third-party content ("Third-Party Content") as a service to those interested in this information. Third-Party Sites include payment processors and other payment intermediaries that you may use in connection with your use of the Site. You use links to Third-Party Sites, and any Third-Party Content or service provided there at your own risk. Connect Lending does not monitor or have any control over, and makes no claim or representation regarding, Third-Party Content or Third-Party Sites. Connect Lending provides these links only as a convenience, and a link to a Third-Party Site or Third-Party Content does not imply Connect Lending's endorsement, adoption or sponsorship of, or affiliation with, such Third-Party Site or Third-Party Content. Connect Lending accepts no responsibility for reviewing changes or updates to, or the quality, content, policies, nature or reliability of Third-Party Content, Third-Party Sites, or Web sites linking to the Site. When you leave the Site, our terms and policies no longer govern. You should review applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any Third-Party Site, and should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any transaction with any third party.
10. Advertisements and Promotions
Connect Lending may run advertisements and promotions from third parties on the Site. Your business dealings or correspondence with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers other than Connect Lending, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such third party. Connect Lending is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of third-party advertisers on the Site.
11. Warranty Disclaimer
The Site, the Content and the services provided by the Site are provided to you on an "as is" basis without warranties from Connect Lending of any kind, either express or implied. Connect Lending expressly disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including without limitation implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. Connect Lending does not represent or warrant that Content is accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free, and expressly disclaims any warranty or representation as to the accuracy or proprietary character of the Site, the Content or any portion thereof.
While Connect Lending attempts to make your access to and use of the Site safe, Connect Lending does not represent or warrant that the Site or any Content are free of viruses or other harmful components.
12. Limitation of Liability; Indemnity
Connect Lending is not a broker and is not involved in the actual transaction between you and lenders. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more lenders, you hereby release Connect Lending, its affiliates, officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries and employees from claims demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.
You waive and shall not assert any claims or allegations of any nature whatsoever against Connect Lending, its affiliates or subsidiaries, their sponsors, contractors, advertisers, vendors or other partners, any of their successors or assigns, or any of their respective officers, directors, agents or employees (collectively, the "Released Parties") arising out of or in any way relating to your use of the Site or the Content, including, without limitation, any claims or allegations relating to the alleged infringement of proprietary rights, alleged inaccuracy of Content, or allegations that any Released Party has or should indemnify, defend or hold harmless you or any third party from any claim or allegation arising from your use or other exploitation of the Site. You use the Site at your own risk.
Without limitation of the foregoing, neither Connect Lending nor any other Released Party shall be liable for any direct, special, indirect or consequential damages, or any other damages of any kind, including but not limited to loss of use, loss of profits or loss of data, whether in an action in contract, tort (including but not limited to negligence) or otherwise, arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the Site or the Content, including without limitation any damages caused by or resulting from your reliance on the Site or other information obtained from Connect Lending or any other Released Party or accessible via the Site, or that result from mistakes, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or email, defects, viruses, delays in operation or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not resulting from acts of god, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to Connect Lending or any other Released Party's records, programs or Services.
In no event shall the aggregate liability of Connect Lending, whether in contract, warranty, tort (including negligence, whether active, passive or imputed), product liability, strict liability or other theory, arising out of or relating to the use of the Site exceed any compensation paid by you for access to or use of the Site during the three months prior to the date of any claim.
You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless Connect Lending and the other Released Parties from any loss, damages, liabilities, costs, expenses, claims and proceedings arising out of your use of the Site, and if you are a Borrower, from Lenders' use of the Site and from the use of the Site by any person to whom you give access to your account (including as staff), including any claims made by any person that any of your User Content infringes the rights, including the intellectual property rights, of any third party.
13. Communications
Notices that we give you (other than notice of amendment of these Terms, which is discussed in the introduction of these Terms) may be provided in any of the following ways. First, we may email you at the contact information you provide in your Registration Data. Second, we may post a notice to Borrowers and Lenders in the dashboard area of your account on the Site. Third, we may post the notice elsewhere on the Site. When we post notices on the Site, we post them in the area of the Site suitable to the notice. It is your responsibility to periodically review the Site for notices.
Subject to the Privacy Policy, if you send to Connect Lending or post on the Site in any public area any information, ideas, inventions, concepts, techniques or know-how ("User Submissions"), for any purpose, including the developing, manufacturing and/or marketing or products or services incorporating such information, you acknowledge that Connect Lending can use the User Submissions without acknowledgment or compensation to you, and you waive any claim of ownership or compensation or other rights you may have in relation to the User Submissions. We actively review User Submissions for new ideas. If you wish to preserve any interest you might have in your User Submissions, you should not post them to the Site or send them to us.
14. Resolution of Disputes
If a dispute arises between you and Connect Lending, our goal is to provide you with a neutral and cost effective means of resolving the dispute quickly. Accordingly, you and Connect Lending agree that we will resolve any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of these Terms or our services (a "Claim") in accordance with one of the subsections below.
Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement and/or the services provided by Connect Lending shall be resolved first by mediation. If controversy or claim is not resolved via mediation, Connect Lending and you will then resolve the claim via binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. The venue for Arbitration shall be Chicago, IL.
• Law and Forum for Disputes - These Terms shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California as they apply to Terms entered into and to be performed entirely within California between California residents, without regard to conflict of law provisions. You agree that any claim or dispute you may have against Connect Lending must be resolved by a court located in San Diego County, California, except as otherwise agreed by the parties or as described in the Arbitration Option paragraph below. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within San Diego County, California for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes.
• Arbitration Option - For any claim (excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) where the total amount of the award sought is less than $10,000, the party requesting relief may elect to resolve the dispute in a cost effective manner through binding non-appearance-based arbitration. In the event a party elects arbitration, they shall initiate such arbitration through an established alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") provider mutually agreed upon by the parties. The ADR provider and the parties must comply with the following rules: a) the arbitration shall be conducted by telephone, online and/or be solely based on written submissions, the specific manner shall be chosen by the party initiating the arbitration; b) the arbitration shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; and c) any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
• Improperly Filed Claims - All claims you bring against Connect Lending must be resolved in accordance with this Resolution of Disputes Section. All claims filed or brought contrary to the Resolution of Disputes Section shall be considered improperly filed. Should you file a claim contrary to the Resolution of Disputes Section, Connect Lending may recover attorneys' fees and costs up to $1,000, provided that Connect Lending has notified you in writing of the improperly filed claim, and you have failed to promptly withdraw the claim.
15. Termination/Modification of License and Site Offerings
Notwithstanding any provision of these Terms, Connect Lending reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, without any notice or liability to you, to (a) terminate your license to use the Site, or any portion thereof; (b) block or prevent your future access to and use of all or any portion of the Site or Content; (c) change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Site or Content; and (d) impose limits on the Site or Content.
16. Inactive Accounts; Termination of Agreement
If your account is inactive for at least 1 year, we may deactivate your account. Deactivated accounts are not deleted, they are placed in storage and can be restored. We will notify you by email if we decide to deactivate your account. If you know in advance that your account will be inactive at some time and don't want us to deactivate it, let us know in advance using the Contact form on the Site. If after your account has been deactivated it stays inactive and we don't hear from you, we may terminate it at any time and without notice. You and Connect Lending may terminate these Terms and your use of the Site at any time. If you terminate your use of the Site you must pay the fees applicable for the balance of the then current billing period (if your billing period is monthly, we will prorate your account to the nearest month-end after termination). When your Connect Lending account is terminated, your User Content will, shortly thereafter, not appear on the Site, except for User Content submitted to our forum or comments on our blog, which may remain on the Site after termination. We may also retain an archival copy of your User Content after termination, and you hereby grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable license to maintain such archival copy for our internal business purposes.
If these Terms expire or terminate for any reason, Sections 4, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17, and any representation or warranty you make in these Terms, shall survive indefinitely.
17. Miscellaneous
If any provision of these Terms shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Connect Lending may assign any or all of its rights hereunder to any party without your consent. You are not permitted to assign any of your rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of Connect Lending, and any such attempted assignment will be void and unenforceable. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Connect Lending regarding your use of the Site, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications whether electronic, oral or written between you and Connect Lending regarding your use of the Site. The parties confirm that it is their wish that these Terms, as well as any other documents relating to this Terms, including notices, have been and shall be drawn up in the English language only.
18. General
Connect Lending is located at 123 Danada Square East Suite 133, Wheaton, IL 60189. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. In our sole discretion, we may assign these Terms in accordance with the Notices Section. Headings are for reference purposes only and do not limit the scope or extent of such section. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. We do not guarantee we will take action against all breaches of these Terms.
We may amend these Terms at any time by posting the amended terms on this Site. Except as stated elsewhere, all amended terms shall automatically be effective 5 days after they are initially posted. Additionally, we will notify you through the Connect Lending Messaging or Alert System. These Terms may not be otherwise amended except in a writing signed by you and us. These Terms sets forth the entire understanding and Terms between us with respect to the subject matter hereof. The following Sections survive any termination of these Terms: Fees and Services (with respect to fees owed for our services), Release, Content License, Liability, Indemnity and Resolution of Disputes.
You may report complaints in writing to our headquarters at 123 Danada Square East Suite 133, Wheaton, IL 60189.
