AGREEMENT, CERTIFICATION BY USER OF PERMITTED USE, LEGAL DISCLAIMER, AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
(Arbitration of Disputes Clause is Present)
INTRODUCTION
Acceptance of Terms: Upon accessing this site, the client (hereinafter, “you”) acknowledges that you will or have read and agree to abide by the terms and conditions (“Agreement”) described below. If you do not agree with any part of the terms and conditions in this Agreement, including the Arbitration of Disputes provision, you must not use this site. Use by you or by any person authorized by you of this site indicates your agreement to these terms and conditions and any instructional material which we provide you regarding the services provided by this site (“Services”). Each time you place an order, you will agree to accept these Terms of Service and that such Terms shall be binding as to each order. You understand and agree that these Terms are essential to the agreement to provide service to you, and are fully disclosed to you each and every time you place an order for Services.
VIOLATIONS OF THESE TERMS OF USE MAY RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF ACCESS TO THE SERVICES OF THIS WEBSITE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE OF THIS SITE MAY SUBJECT YOU TO CRIMINAL PENALTIES INCLUDING POTENTIAL FINES AND IMPRISONMENT IF YOU MAKE A FALSE REPRESENTATION TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE SERVICES OFFERED ON THIS WEBSITE OR OBTAIN INFORMATION UNDER FALSE PRETENSES. 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
SCRACVS participates in affiliate marketing and earns commissions by promoting various services through our website. This means that if you click on an affiliate link and sign up or make a purchase, we may receive a commission. This does not incur any additional cost to you.
It’s important to note that while SCRACVS features these affiliate links, SCRACVS does not provide reviews or endorsements for any of the services we promote. Our recommendations are based on information provided by our affiliate partners and other reliable sources to help you make informed decisions.
By clicking the box marked “I agree to the Terms of Service” you indicate that you have read and agree to the Terms of Service and that you certify, under penalty of perjury, that you are only using this website for the permissible uses identified in this Agreement.
PERMISSIBLE USES
Permissible Uses: Access to this website is restricted to financial institutions, collection agencies, and others with financial and legal transactions with eligible servicemembers for the sole purpose of ensuring that those service members receive Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) protections in accordance with 50 U.S.C. Chapter 50. All other use is strictly prohibited.
Information secured through this site is NOT a CONSUMER REPORTING REPORT and does not constitute a “consumer report” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). No reporting from this site may be used to determine the eligibility for credit, insurance, employment or any other purpose regulated under the FCRA.
The information provided by SCRA, Inc. t/a Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Centralized Verification Service, its parents, subsidiaries, and/or affiliates (collectively herein “SCRACVS”) may be governed by the provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB Act”). The User certifies that the information secured from SCRACVS’s websites is necessary to either a) effect administer or enforce a transaction including collections or b) for use by law firms or attorneys or by those with beneficial interests, or c) fraud detection or prevention. By utilizing the services of SCRACVS, you certify to SCRACVS that you are in, and assume full responsibility for, compliance with the provisions of the GLB Act and that you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless SCRACVS harmless from any error in this certification and from any breach of the GLB Act or violation of the terms of our access to the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Manpower Data Center site by you, your agents or contractors, and all damages, fees, and costs associated therewith, including reasonable attorney’s fees. The information received from SCRACVS may not be used as “Permissible Purpose” as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to determine if any person is to be accorded credit, insurance or employment. Further, you authorize SCRACVS to effect any search as may be authorized under the Freedom Of Information Act.
We do not provide consumer reports and are not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We only provide information about whether someone is eligible for protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. To use our site you must certify below by selecting “I Agree” that you agree to our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE and will NOT use our site or the information we provide: (1) to make decisions about or in connection with hiring, promoting, reassigning, or continuing to employ any person, including current or potential volunteers and household employees such as childcare workers, contractors, or home health aides; (2) to make decisions about or in connection with renting or selling a house, apartment, or other residential property to any person; (3) to make decisions about or in connection with lending money or extending credit to any person; (4) in connection with the underwriting of insurance; (5) for any purpose related to any eligibility determination about a person; or (6) for any other purposes that would require FCRA compliance.
DISCLAIMER
Your use and browsing of this site is at your own risk. SCRACVS does not make any warranty of content expressed, implied or intended. The condition of any information mentioned in our reports may change at any time. The information provided in our reports is for the exclusive use of the requester. Neither SCRACVS, nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the site is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, special, punitive, or other damages of any kind arising out of your access to or use of this site, or the inability to use this site, whether caused by the equipment, software, SCRACVS, or by Internet browser providers, or by online service providers or by an agent or subcontractor of any of the foregoing that occur to any party as a result of services provided or as a result of the information that we provide, sell, disseminate, or display on our web site even if we have been advised as to the possibility of such damages.
WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING ON THIS SITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE PROVIDE THROUGH OUR WEB SITE OR OVER THE TELEPHONE. WE RELY UPON THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO US BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES AND THE RELIABILITY OF THAT INFORMATION IS OFTEN AFFECTED BY THE ADEQUACY OF THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO US BY OUR CLIENTS. WHILE SCRACVS MAKES EVERY EFFORT TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION ON THIS WEB SITE, IT ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACCURACY. SOME INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR THIS WEB SITE MAY CONTAIN TECHNICAL OR OTHER INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS, TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, AND MAY BECOME OUTDATED.
In the event that, notwithstanding the disclaimers recited herein, SCRACVS is found to be liable to any party, SCRACVS’s liability is expressly limited to Liquidated Damages as set forth below.
All matters between you and the person whose military status is being verified are strictly between the two of you.
Information secured from us does not constitute a “consumer report” as that term is defined in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq. (FCRA). Accordingly, information secured from us may not be used in whole or in part as a factor in determining eligibility for credit, insurance, employment or another permissible purpose under the FCRA. Information in public records and in restricted data bases available commercially may contain errors. Those errors may result from human data entry, improper coding, or other factors. The SCRACVS takes this data and reports it and is not the entity that collects the original data.
This site may contain links to other websites on the Internet as an informational service to its readers, and not as an endorsement of the web site or of any product, service, or entity. All sites, which may be accessed through this site, are independent and are maintained by persons other than SCRACVS, its employees and agents. SCRACVS has no control over the contents of these linked sites. SCRACVS has not reviewed all of the sites linked to this site and is not responsible for the contents of any other sites linked to this site. Your linking to any other sites is at your own risk.
SCRACVS may change the information on this site, or the Services, at any time without notice and without first updating the channels through which that information is provided to you. Nothing in those channels is intended to provide legal, accounting, tax or financial advice; you should consult your own professional advisor on such matters. Information about products and services which you do not already have with SCRACVS is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered as an offer to make those products and services available to you.
This Agreement shall apply regardless of the means by which the site is accessed, including, but not limited to, through the URL address http://www.ServicemembersCivilReliefAct.com, www.SCRA.com, www.militaryverification.com, electronic mail, or links from another site.
SCRACVS is in the business of providing information to individuals and businesses. The information that is provided is a matter of public record, is available to the general public, and there is no license required to obtain the information. SCRACVS is not licensed as a private investigative firm and therefore does not elaborate on results or reports that are provided.
SCRACVS does not maintain databases that reflect current military status. Anyone wishing to correct any inaccuracies in the data should contact the governmental agencies themselves.
We reserve the right to terminate this Agreement and your access to the Services, in whole or in part, at any time without explanation.
COMMUNICATIONS
By registering on our website for an SCRACVS account, you consent to accept and receive communications from us associated with your account. Such communications may include, but are not limited to, requests for secondary authentication, details about your orders, your authority for conducting military status verifications, and notifications regarding updates to services provided.
You may also opt-in for valuable communications about changing SCRA regulations for your industry, as well as informational or promotional communications (herein “Promotional Communications”). You acknowledge that you are not required to consent to receive such communications as a condition of using the services of the SCRACVS (“Services”).
You may opt-out of receiving Promotional Communications we send you by following the unsubscribe option at the bottom of the emails you receive.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY – LIQUIDATED DAMAGES
SCRACVS shall have no liability for any delay beyond its control, including, but not by way of limitation, any delays (including government shut down, furloughs, and other causes) or cessation in information being provided by the United States Department of Defense or other agency that may assume responsibility for reporting military status, or any change in the method of providing such information.
Further, the parties recognize that i) SCRACVS charges very little for the Services it provides and ii) for security purposes, after a verification has been completed, SCACVS purges the SSN and other personal information from its data base that are provided by the client to avoid bad actors obtaining access to this personal information. Accordingly, SCRACVS would be at a disadvantage by being unable to disprove an allegation that, even though “correct” information was submitted by the client, SCRACVS provided an erroneous response. This is because SCRACVS would have deleted the information supplied by the client. Further, there are many variables that may affect the accuracy of the information reported to you. Those include the accuracy of the information you provide and the integrity of the databases accessed by SCRACVS. Therefore, to keep SCRACVS’s costs to you at a minimum, you agree that SCRACVS’s liability is limited as set forth herein, including, but not limited to the following provision:
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary as may be set forth in these Terms of Service, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law the total aggregate liability of SCRACVS (and its employees, officers, subcontractors, subsidiaries and affiliates) to you (and to any of your clients or affiliates for or in respect of which any services may be performed), regardless of whether such liability is based on breach of contract, tort, strict liability, breach of warranty, failure of essential purpose or otherwise, in connection with the performance of the Services or otherwise under these Terms of Service, shall be limited to $250.00 as Liquidated Damages. In the event that any liability should arise from a verification that forms a part of batch file submitted by you, SCRACVS’s total liability shall not exceed $1,000 per transmitted file in which the particular name verification forms a part, again, as Liquidated Damages.
You agree that, in addition to the foregoing rationale on why the dollar amounts of Liquidated Damages for any breach by SCRACVS are reasonable, the actual damages likely to result from a breach by SCRACVS are difficult to estimate on the date of this agreement and would be difficult to prove. The parties intend that SCRACVS’s payment of the Liquidated Damages Amount would serve to compensate you for any breach by SCRACVS of all of its obligations to you, and they do not intend for it to serve as punishment for any such breach by SCRACVS.
You also agree that, although claims by you are limited to liquidated damages, there is NO SUCH LIMITATION as to claims against you by SCRACVS because those claims are likely to be more substantial and may involve your violations of the Terms of Service, which violations are likely to cause significant damages, including consequential damages.,
You agree to indemnify SCRACVS for any and all claims, including reasonable attorney’s fees, made by third parties that are alleged to be based upon incomplete or incorrect information which you may have provided when ordering verifications, based upon your authority to request a verification, your use of the information, or your non-compliance with the Terms of Service.
REVISIONS CHANGES/INTERRUPTIONS IN SERVICES
We may, from time to time, revise or update, or perform maintenance upon the Services, and/or related material, resulting in interrupted service or errors in the Services or rendering prior versions obsolete. The government website(s) that we access may also experience interruptions in operation. We also may need to change the scope of our Services from time to time. We will attempt to provide prior notice of such interruptions and changes but cannot guarantee that such notice will be provided. We reserve the right to terminate this Agreement as to all prior versions of our Programs, the Services, and/or related material and limit access to our more recent versions and updates.
NO WAIVER – EXPANSIONS OF LIMIT OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMER
We shall not be deemed to have waived any of our rights or remedies hereunder unless such waiver is in writing and signed by us. No delay or omission on our part in exercising any right or remedy shall operate as a waiver of that right or remedy or any other rights or remedies. A waiver on any particular occasion shall not be construed as a bar or waiver of any rights or remedies on future occasions. You may contact SCRACVS to delete any limitations of liability or any disclaimers. All such requests will be considered on a case by case basis, will result in higher, negotiated search fees, and must be in writing and executed by an officer of SCRACVS, before searches are conducted, to be binding.
REQUESTS BY US TO YOU FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – REFUNDS
A dispositive SCRA verification can only be conducted if either you supply the SSN or if we can find it. If the name is unusual, we can sometimes process a verification with the date of birth, alone, but such a search is not dispositive of nor is it preferable. If you supply insufficient information for us to conduct a verification we may stop and contact you. If you do not reply, we may terminate the search, in which event, a refund may be made, if affirmatively requested by you.
OWNERSHIP OF MATERIALS
The content and information on our site is copyrighted by SCRA, Inc. and the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of any portion is prohibited. Our logos and products may not be used without our permission. Trademarks or service marks of others that are referenced on our web site are the property of their respective owners. No part of these pages or screens may be copied (except as strictly necessary for you to view these materials on your own computer or to submit to a court of competent jurisdiction), republished, redistributed, modified, or otherwise used or exploited by you, without our prior written consent.
SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Agreement is void or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such ineffectiveness or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of such provision in another jurisdiction or any other provision in that or any other jurisdiction.
AREA OF SERVICE
The Services described in this Agreement may not be accessed while outside of the USA.
ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES, GOVERNING LAW, VENUE, and ATTORNEY’S FEES
ANY CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT IN ANY WAY, OR TO THE BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING ANY CLAIM THAT THE AGREEMENT IS VOIDABLE, IS VOID, OR VOILATES ANY LAW, SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO FINAL, BINDING, NEUTRAL ARBITRATION BEFORE A SINGLE ARBITRATOR IN A CASE TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (“AAA”).
For matters related to claims by you that may be governed by the liquidated damages provisions of this agreement, the Expedited Procedure Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Rules then in effect shall govern, otherwise the Commercial Arbitration Rules shall apply. The internal substantive laws of the District of Columbia shall be applied, which are intended to supersede any choice of laws or rules that might require the application of the laws of another jurisdiction. Reflecting a mutual desire to keep costs low, no written or oral discovery will be permitted and a standard award shall be issued. If in-person hearings are to take place, they will be held in person at in the office of the Arbitrator in the District of Columbia.
Any party may elect to participate in an arbitration hearing by telephone.
Notwithstanding the applicable Rules, should SCRACVS choose to pay Liquidated Damages, as set forth above, and payment of said amount is mailed to you by the SCRACVS, regardless of whether you negotiate such payment, the Arbitrator shall enter an award denying the Claim with no award to you of attorney’s fees or other claims. If such amount is not tendered to you by SCRACVS, your sole right shall be to have an award entered for the amount of the applicable Liquidated Damages and you would have no right of recovery of attorney’s fees or other expenses. Any award or order entered in the arbitration proceeding shall be binding and will bear interest at the rate of 7% per annum and may be enforced in any court having jurisdiction of the parties or of the dispute. Except as set forth above, the arbitrator shall award to the prevailing party (as determined by the arbitrator) all costs incurred by that party, including the costs associated with producing witnesses at the hearing, the reasonable expenses of its attorneys in bringing or defending that proceeding, transcript fees, charges of the AAA, and the fees of the arbitrator. Attorney’s fees, including those incurred by either party for time expended by any attorney who is an employee of such a party, will be permitted and determined by reference to the rate for attorneys of similar background and experience performing similar work in the area where the proceeding is conducted. In the event a party fails to proceed with arbitration, unsuccessfully challenges the arbitrator’s award, or fails to comply with the arbitrator’s award, the other party shall be entitled to costs of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee for having to compel arbitration or defend or enforce the award.
NOTICE: CLICKING ON “I AGREE TO TERMS OF SERVICE”, YOU ARE AGREEING TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE ARISING OUT OF THE MATTERS INCLUDED IN THE ‘ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES’ PROVISION DECIDED BY NEUTRAL ARBITRATION AS PROVIDED BY STATE LAW AND YOU ARE GIVING UP ANY RIGHTS YOU MIGHT POSSESS TO HAVE THE DISPUTE LITIGATED IN A COURT OR JURY TRIAL. BY CLICKING ON “I AGREE TO TERMS OF SERVICE” YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR JUDICIAL RIGHTS TO DISCOVERY AND APPEAL, UNLESS THOSE RIGHTS ARE SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED IN THE ‘ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES’ PROVISION. IF YOU REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO ARBITRATION AFTER AGREEING TO THIS PROVISION, YOU MAY BE COMPELLED TO ARBITRATE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. YOUR AGREEMENT TO THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION IS VOLUNTARY.
Revised 07/18/2024