DoNotRent.com User Agreement
Last Modified on November 19, 2012
This User Agreement (the “Agreement”) governs your access to and use of all DoNotRent.com websites and mobile applications (collectively, the “Service”). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to all terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, which form a legally binding contract between you and MCRE Ventures LLC (“DoNotRent.com”). You are not authorized to access or use the Service if you are unwilling or unable to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement.
Definitions. As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
“You” and “your” refer to you, as a user of the Service.
A “user” is a person (or as the case may be, an entity on whose behalf that person acts) who accesses, browses, crawls, scrapes, or in any way accesses or uses the Service.
“We”, “us”, and “our” refer to DoNotRent.com.
“Content” means text, images, photos, audio, video, location data, and all other forms of data or communication.
“Your Content” means Content that you submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Service, such as ratings, reviews, compliments, invitations, check-ins, messages, and information that you publicly display or displayed in your account profile.
“User Content” means Content that users submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Service.
“DoNotRent.com Content” means Content that we create and make available in connection with the Service.
“Third Party Content” means Content that originates from parties other than DoNotRent.com or its users, which is made available in connection with the Service.
“Site Content” means all of the Content that is made available in connection with the Service, including Your Content, User Content, Third Party Content, and DoNotRent.com Content.
Changes to this User Agreement. We may modify the terms and conditions of this User Agreement from time to time. When changes are made, we may notify you by making the revised version available on this webpage, or may provide to you another reasonable means of notification. We will indicate at the top of this page the date that revisions were last made. You should revisit this User Agreement on a regular basis as revised versions will be binding on you. Any such modification will be effective upon our posting of the modified User Agreement. You understand and agree that your continued access to or use of the Service after any posted modification to this User Agreement indicates your acceptance of the modification.
Translation. We may translate this Agreement into other languages for your convenience. Nevertheless, the English version governs your relationship with DoNotRent.com, and any inconsistencies among the different versions will be resolved in favor of the English version.
Eligibility. By using or accessing the Service, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years or older and have the requisite power and authority to enter into this User Agreement, that any registration information you submit to us is true, accurate, complete, and up-to-date, and that you have not been previously banned by us from the Service.
Restrictions on Use. You agree that you will not assist or enable any other person to use the Service to:
Write a review for which you received anything of value from the business being reviewed;
Violate any third party’s rights, including any breach, infringement or misappropriation of any confidence, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right;
Threaten, stalk, harm, or harass others, or promote bigotry or discrimination;
Promote a business or other commercial venture or event, or otherwise use the Service for commercial purposes, except in connection with a Business Account and as expressly permitted by DoNotRent.com, provided, however, you may not access or use the Service for any purpose competitive to DoNotRent.com;
Send bulk emails, surveys, or other mass messaging, whether commercial in nature or not; engage in keyword spamming, or otherwise attempt to manipulate the Service’s search results;
Solicit personal information from minors, or submit or transmit pornography or any other offensive material; or
Violate any applicable law, including any federal, state or local law or regulation pertaining to fair housing.
You further agree that you will not assist or enable any other person to:
Violate this User Agreement;
Modify, adapt, appropriate, reproduce, distribute, translate, create derivative works or adaptations of, publicly display, sell, trade, or in any way exploit the Service or Site Content(other than Your Content), except as expressly authorized by DoNotRent.com;
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 Service or any Site Content;
Reverse engineer any portion of the Service;
Remove or modify any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice that appears on any portion of the Service or on any materials printed or copied from the Service;
Record, process, or mine information about other users;
Access, retrieve or index any portion of the Service for purposes of constructing or populating a searchable database of reviews;
Reformat or frame any portion of the Service;
Take any action that imposes, or may impose, in our sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on DoNotRent.com’s technology infrastructure or otherwise make excessive traffic demands of the Service;
Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, user accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Service through hacking, password mining or any other means;
Use the Service or any Site Content to transmit any computer viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses or other items of a destructive nature (collectively, “Viruses”);
Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Service, or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service;
Use the Service 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 Service or Site Content; or
Remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with any security-related features of the Service, features that prevent or restrict the use or copying of Site Content, or features that enforce limitations on the use of the Service.
We grant you permission to use the Service subject to the restrictions in this User Agreement. Your use of the Service is at your own risk, including the risk that you might be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, objectionable, or otherwise inappropriate.
Site Availability. The Service may be modified, updated, interrupted, suspended or discontinued at any time without notice or liability.
User Accounts. You must create an account and provide certain information about yourself in order to use some of the features that are offered through the Service. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password. You are also responsible for all activities that occur in connection with your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account. We reserve the right to close your account at any time for any or no reason. All your use of the Service, and our use of information you provide, is governed by our Privacy Policy the terms of which (as amended from time to time) are hereby incorporated by reference.
There are two types of accounts:
A “Personal Account” is an account for your personal, non-commercial use only. In creating a Personal Account, we ask that you provide complete and accurate information about yourself to bolster your credibility as a contributor to the Service. You may not impersonate someone else (e.g., adopt the identity of a celebrity or your next-door neighbor), create or use an account for anyone other than yourself, provide an email address other than your own, or create multiple Personal Accounts. If you use a pseudonym, take care to note that others may still be able to identify you if, for example, you include identifying information in your reviews, use the same account information on other sites, or allow other sites to share information about you with DoNotRent.com. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information.
A “Property Manager Account (Business Account)” is an account to be used solely for the purpose of representing your business in connection with the Service. In creating or updating a Property Manager Account, you must be an authorized representative of the business in question, and you must provide complete and accurate information about yourself and the business you represent, including an unobstructed photo of yourself to be displayed in connection with your Property Manager Account. You may not provide an email address that is not your own. If you are no longer an authorized representative of the business in question, you must close your Property Manager Account immediately.
Communications from DoNotRent.com and other Users. By creating an account, you agree to receive certain communications in connection with the Service. For example, you might receive compliments or friend requests from other Users. You will also receive our weekly e-mail newsletter about happenings in your neighborhood. You can opt-out of non-essential communications by sending an e-mail here: Contact Us.
Responsibility for Your Content. You alone are responsible for Your Content, and once published, it cannot always be withdrawn. You assume all risks associated with Your Content, including anyone’s reliance on its quality, accuracy, or reliability, or any disclosure by you of information in Your Content that makes you personally identifiable. You represent that you own, or have the necessary permissions to use and authorize the use of Your Content as described herein. You may not imply that Your Content is in any way sponsored or endorsed by DoNotRent.com. You may expose yourself to liability if, for example, Your Content contains material that is false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory; violates any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right; contains material that is unlawful, including illegal hate speech or pornography; exploits or otherwise harms minors; or violates or advocates the violation of any law or regulation.
Our Right to Use Your Content. We may use Your Content in a number of different ways, including publicly displaying it, reformatting it, incorporating it into advertisements and other works, creating derivative works from it, promoting it, distributing it, and allowing others to do the same in connection with their own websites and media platforms (“Other Media”). We may, from time to time, set up the Service to forward information you provide about yourself as an inquiry form to property owners, management companies or other commercial entities using the Service, and you hereby consent to such forwarding of information. The Service is merely an interactive computer service for the exchange of information. You hereby irrevocably grant us a perpetual, world-wide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable license to use Your Content for any purpose. You also irrevocably grant the users of the Service and any Other Media the right to access Your Content in connection with their use of the Service and any Other Media. Finally, you irrevocably waive, and cause to be waived, against DoNotRent.com and its users any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to Your Content. By “use” we mean conduct comprising use, reproduction, public performance or display, distribution, modification, translation, and creation of derivative works of Your Content.
Ownership. As between you and DoNotRent.com, and subject to the license you grant above, you own Your Content. We own the DoNotRent.com Content, including but not limited to visual interfaces, interactive features, graphics, design, compilation, computer code, products, software, aggregate user review ratings, and all other elements and components of the Service excluding Your Content, User Content and Third Party Content. We also own the copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names, and other intellectual and proprietary rights throughout the world associated with the DoNotRent.com Content and the Service, which are protected by copyright, trade dress, patent, trademark laws and other applicable intellectual and proprietary rights and laws. As such, you may not modify, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works or adaptations of, publicly display or in any way exploit any of the DoNotRent.com Content in whole or in part except as expressly authorized by us. Except as expressly and unambiguously provided herein, we do not grant you any express or implied rights, and all rights in and to the Service and the DoNotRent.com Content are retained by us.
Advertising. DoNotRent.com and its licensees may publicly display advertisements and other information adjacent to or included with Your Content, and you hereby consent to such display. You are not entitled to any compensation for such advertisements. The manner, mode and extent of such advertising are subject to change without specific notice to you.
Content Feeds. We make some of the Site Content (the “Feed Content”) available via Real Simple Syndication (RSS) and Atom feeds (the “Feeds”). You may access and use the Feeds in order to display Feed Content on your personal computer, website, or blog (“Your Site”), provided that (i) your use of the Feeds is for personal, non-commercial purposes only, (ii) your display of the Feed Content links back to the relevant pages on DoNotRent.com’s websites, and attributes DoNotRent.com as the source of the Feed Content, (iii) your use or display of the Feed Content does not suggest that DoNotRent.com promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, websites, products or services, including Your Site, (iv) you do not redistribute the Feed Content except as authorized in this section, and (v) your use of the Feeds does not overburden DoNotRent.com’s systems. DoNotRent.com reserves all rights in the Feed Content and may terminate the Feeds at any time, or modify the manner in which Feed Content is made available.
Reservation of Rights Concerning Content. We reserve the right to remove, screen, edit, or reinstate User Content from time to time at our sole discretion and without notice to you. For example, we may remove a review if we believe it violates this User Agreement. We have no obligation to retain or provide you with copies of Your Content, nor do we guarantee any confidentiality with respect to Your Content. We are under no obligation to enforce this User Agreement on your behalf against another user. While we encourage you to let us know if you believe another user has violated this User Agreement, we reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action at our sole discretion.
Parental Controls. Parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. More information is available at http://www.pff.org/parentalcontrols.
Privacy. You represent that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Note that we may disclose information about you to third parties if we have a good faith belief that such a disclosure is reasonably necessary to (i) take action regarding suspected illegal activities; (ii) enforce or apply this Agreement or our Privacy Policy; (iii) comply with legal process or other government inquiry, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on us; or (iv) protect our rights, reputation, and property, or that of our users, affiliates, or the public. If you use the Service outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
DMCA Compliance. We respect the intellectual property of others, and we ask you to do the same. We may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who may be repeat infringers. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide our copyright agent the following information:
an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site;
your address, telephone number, and email address;
a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.
Our copyright agent can be reached as follows:
By CERTIFIED mail:
Attn: Copyright Agent/Legal
Thompson Hall Santi Cerny & Dooley
901 Marquette Ave., Suite 1675
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Suggestions and Improvements. By sending us any ideas, suggestions, documents or proposals (“Feedback”), you agree that (i) your Feedback does not contain the confidential or proprietary information of third parties, (ii) we are under no obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to the Feedback, (iii) we may have something similar to the Feedback already under consideration or in development, and (iv) you grant us an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to use, modify, publish, distribute and sublicense the Feedback.
Third Parties. The Service may include links to other websites or applications (each, a “Third Party Site”). We do not control or endorse any Third Party Site. You agree that we are not responsible for the availability or contents of such Third Party Sites. Your use of Third Party Sites is at your own risk.
Invitations. The Invite Friends feature is an easy way for DoNotRent.com users to invite friends through email. The email address(es) that you supply to use this service will only be used to send invitations and in some cases invitation reminders to create a user account at DoNotRent.com.
Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold DoNotRent.com, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, any related companies, suppliers, licensors and partners, and the officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives of each of them harmless, including costs, liabilities and legal fees, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of (i) your access to or use of the Service, (ii) your violation of this User Agreement, or (iii) the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. DoNotRent.com reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter without the prior written consent of DoNotRent.com. DoNotRent.com will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.
Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability. PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT LIMITS THE LIABILITY OF DONOTRENT.COM AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AND LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES”). EACH OF THE SUBSECTIONS BELOW ONLY APPLIES UP TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. NOTHING HEREIN IS INTENDED TO LIMIT ANY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WHICH MAY NOT BE LAWFULLY LIMITED.
THE SERVICE AVAILABLE IS MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK.
THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES MAKE NO CLAIMS OR PROMISES ABOUT THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES. ACCORDINGLY, THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT MIGHT ARISE FROM THEIR ACTIONS, INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, IF ANOTHER USER MISUSES YOUR CONTENT OR IDENTITY, OR IF YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE WITH ONE OF THE BUSINESSES LISTED ON THE SERVICE.
THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES MAKE NO CLAIMS OR PROMISES ABOUT THE QUALITY, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, OR RELIABILITY OF THE LISTINGS, RATINGS, AND REVIEWS, OR THE SAFETY OR SECURITY OF THE SERVICE. ACCORDINGLY, THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT MIGHT ARISE FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR RELIABILITY OF THE BUSINESS LISTINGS, RATINGS, OR REVIEWS, OR THE SAFETY OR SECURITY OF THE SERVICE.
THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE RIGHT AND REMEDY IN CASE OF DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SERVICE OR ANY OTHER GRIEVANCE SHALL BE YOUR TERMINATION AND DISCONTINUATION OF ACCESS TO, OR USE OF THE SERVICE.
THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES’ MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES THAT YOU SUFFER IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OR THIS AGREEMENT IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (i) THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACTION GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, OR (ii) $100.
THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITIES DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY (i) INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, RELIANCE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, (ii) LOSS OF PROFITS, (iii) BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, (iv) LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO REPUTATION OF DONOTRENT.COM OR ANY THIRD PARTY, OR (v) LOSS OF INFORMATION OR DATA, EVEN IF THE DONOTRENT.COM ENTITES WERE MADE AWARE OF SUCH CLAIMS.
Governing Law and Choice of Forum. This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of Illinois as they apply to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within Illinois between Illinois residents, without regard to conflict of law provisions. Both parties agree that any claim or dispute between them must be resolved exclusively by a state or federal court located in Cook County, Illinois, except as otherwise agreed by the parties. Both parties agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Cook County, Illinois for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes, and hereby waive all claims of forum non conveniens.
Termination. You may terminate this Agreement at any time by closing your account, discontinuing your use of the Service, and providing DoNotRent.com with a notice of termination here. Termination is subject to the license you have granted in Your Content under this User Agreement. We may close your account, suspend your ability to use certain portions of the Service, and/or ban you altogether from the Service for any or no reason, and without notice or liability of any kind. Any such action could prevent you from accessing your account, the Service, Your Content, Site Content, or any other related information. Any obligations and duties which by their nature extend beyond the expiration or termination of this Agreement shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement.
Notices. We may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to this Agreement by email, regular mail or communications through the Service. No Third Party Beneficiaries. Nothing expressed or implied in this Agreement is intended to confer upon any person other than the parties and their respective successors or permitted assigns, any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities whatsoever.
No Waiver. The waiver by either party of any breach of covenant shall not be construed to be a waiver of any succeeding breach or any other covenant. All waivers must be in writing, and signed by the party waiving its rights. This Agreement may be modified only by a written instrument executed by authorized representatives of the Parties.
Severability. If any term of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or contrary to law, it shall be modified to the least extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining portions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
Assignment. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with our prior written consent, but may be assigned or transferred by us without restriction. Any assignment attempted to be made in violation of this Agreement shall be void.
Headings. The section headings in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.
Limitations of Actions. No action, regardless of form or substance, arising out of this Agreement or the performance or nonperformance of any party’s obligations hereunder may be brought more than one (1) year after a party knew or should have known of the occurrence of the event giving rise to such cause of action.
Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior agreements, proposals, negotiations, representations or communications relating to the subject matter. Both parties acknowledge that they have not been induced to enter into this Agreement by any representations or promises not specifically stated herein.