Disclaimer: CCEF forms cannot be purchased/used in states that consider the purchase of forms the unauthorized practice of law.
By using this website and by registering as a member with CCEF, you affirm that you have read and agree to all of the following terms:
The CCEF Web Site (the "Site") is an online information service provided by Carol Processing INC. d/b/a CCEF ("CCEF"), subject to your acceptance and compliance with the terms and conditions set forth below. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE. CCEF MAY MODIFY THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME, AND SUCH MODIFICATIONS SHALL BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON POSTING OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT ON THE SITE. YOU AGREE TO REVIEW THE AGREEMENT BEFORE USING THE SITE TO BE AWARE OF SUCH MODIFICATIONS AND YOUR CONTINUED ACCESS OR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE DEEMED YOUR CONCLUSIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT. If you do not want to be bound by our Terms, your only option is not to visit, view or otherwise use the services of CCEF.
Any information provided by CCEF is only for educational and informational purposes, like a newspaper.
CCEF does not compose or sell any forms to be used in the state of California. CCEF does not authorize any party to use said information compose, sell forms, letters in the state of California.
CCEF is intended to be a news source and an electronic format of the Complete Guide to Credit & Collection Law.
1. Important Disclaimer: Private (Non-public) Education Services Being Provided, Not Legal Services
CCEF is intended to act like a college, university or law school that provides private education services, not legal advice. The services provided are in the nature of "Educational Services" and not Legal Services to be relied upon in that manner. Nothing provided to its members is intended to be a “legal opinion” or an “opinion letter.” MEMBERS EXPLICITLY AGREE NOT TO TREAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED AS LEGAL ADVICE OR AN OPINION LETTER. The information provided by CCEF and its staff is designed to provide practical and useful information on the subject matter covered. However, it is provided with the explicit understanding that publisher, CCEF, is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Members recognize they would be negligent to consider the information provided to be anything more than educational material.
Absent complete detailed knowledge of a party's practices, it is impossible to provide legal advice as to whether a practice or document may be in compliance with the law. A practice or document may be compliant in one situation, and not compliant in another situation. Courts, Judges, Magistrates, Mediators, Attorneys, Plaintiffs, etc., may have totally different opinions on whether a practice is permissible. Just because a practice is permissible to a particular group does not mean you will not be sued by someone trying to prove the practice is not permissible.
Ex: Screaming “Fire!” in one situation is permissible. In another it is a crime.
Ex: Predicting how a Judge or Jury will rule is mere guesswork or gambling.
Practices that have been utilized for years can abruptly be deemed improper by a court at any time. It is impossible to maintain the material on the website or in other forms current for any new daily developments.
The purpose of the disclaimers in this Agreement is to emphasize to the Member the extreme difficulty, if not impossibility, of solving Members’ problems through indirect education services alone. Where legal advice or other expert assistance is required, an attorney or other appropriate professional should be sought out.
Member acknowledges that CCEF has made no statements, orally, in writing or otherwise, that the outcome of any lawsuit, contract, negotiations, consultations, review of letters or documents or other matter being referred will be satisfactory to Member, or that same will produce a favorable result to Member, nor should Member rely on any such statement unless same is in writing. CCEF cannot be the guarantor of success or of any particular result. Member understands that there is no representation or warranty that compliance with any oral communication or written material will constitute compliance with any law, statute, regulation or otherwise. Compliance with said oral or written communication will not assure that Member will not be sued or that Member will be successful in litigation. Litigation and trials are inherently unpredictable, because they are based on evidence. To predict with certainty the evaluation of that evidence by a judge or by jurors is not possible. Summaries of the law, provided either orally or in material used for training, are not to be treated or considered to be legal opinions and are provided only for educational/informational purposes. This educational material is not a substitute for consulting an attorney admitted in the State in which a specific problem and set of circumstances arose, and CCEF encourages such consultation. Members must realize that, every day, both federal and state courts render decisions interpreting the law, cases are appealed and reversed and that laws are continually amended or repealed, and new laws and court rules are continually enacted, amended, revised, or interpreted differently.
Due to the complicated nature of consumer protection laws in the United States and worldwide, Member acknowledges that CCEF has made no representations that CCEF has identified all deficiencies or potential violations of consumer protection laws. Member further acknowledges that CCEF has not provided solutions to any potential deficiencies in any of Member’s materials. Any information offered by CCEF is not to be treated as an opinion that the advice complies with all consumer protection laws or that Member will not be sued. Member acknowledges that CCEF has not provided any oral or written opinions with regards to Member’s materials at any time.
Member recognizes that incomplete facts may lead to advice/information that could cause the Member to violate the state or federal law, due to the complicated nature of consumer protection laws in the United States and worldwide. Member acknowledges that CCEF made no representations that CCEF has identified all deficiencies or potential violations of consumer protection laws. Member further acknowledges that CCEF has not provided solutions to any potential deficiencies in any of Member’s materials and any information/advice offered by CCEF is not to be treated as an opinion or opinion letter that the advice complies with any consumer protection laws or that Member will not be sued.
Legal advice based on one set of facts may be proper, but under a different set of facts, or in a different context, environment or circumstances then or there prevailing may constitute a violation or alleged violation of city, state or federal laws or administrative rules etc. Member recognizes that CCEF is receiving hearsay (secondhand) information as to a member's practices and procedures. CCEF does not have personal knowledge or first hand access to staff of the Member or the actual process and procedures utilized by the Member. Member expressly assumes all the risk inherent in using the material or information provided by CCEF in their business practices and to comply with the applicable statutes, case law, regulations, etc.
2. Members’ use of information; Covenant not to sue other members; Fiduciary duty to other members
I expressly represent that I/my company will use any information, forms, etc. obtained from the institute solely for Commercial Purposes, and not Consumer Purposes.
I agree not to initiate, threaten or maintain actions on behalf of any consumer against any current member of CCEF or its employees, officers, owners, partners, etc. (At a later date, CCEF may provide exclusions to address gross violations as opposed to technical violations.) The purpose of this clause is to instill trust in the membership to establish an environment where members can learn to improve their practices without fear that this information will be exploited by their adversaries, before they can improve their business practices.
I agree that I have a fiduciary duty to the other members of CCEF for the period comprising the time I am a member of CCEF through two years after I am no longer a member of CCEF, either through voluntary resignation or involuntary termination.
If any information obtained from or via CCEF is provided by a member of CCEF to a consumer attorney, CCEF will investigate same and take all the necessary steps to prevent said action from happening again as well as whatever other action is warranted in premises, including but not limited to an investigation of publicly available information regarding mine or my company’s non-compliance with ethical rules of trade associations and state bar associations, and providing this information to other plaintiffs’ attorneys.
I expressly agree that any information obtained from CCEF will be used for the benefit of the members in a positive manner. Members have a limited license to use the information only in this manner. Suing another member breaches the license and is not using the information in a positive manner. My options are to bring the matter to CCEF management and recommend that if the party does not cure the practice within a reasonable time, their membership should be terminated. If I decide to resign, I agree not to sue any member for at least 2 years from the date of resignation.
Before I choose to sue or refer a case or share a fee in a case against another member, I will consider that this action will not only damage CCEF’s reputation and breach the trust of other members, but may have unintended negative repercussions for me and/or my company or firm.
3. Termination of membership
Membership can be terminated at any time for any actions or inactions that are deemed to place the association in a negative light (broadly interpreted) or negatively affect the rights of any members. This right to terminate or suspend membership is solely within the discretion of CCEF. Dues are not refundable.
Plaintiff FDCPA attorneys will have severely limited access. Creditor Attorneys, creditors, Defense Attorneys and Agencies may have different levels of access as well. Every member must have a sponsor. A sponsor's membership may be terminated at any time (strict liability) if it is determined that the firm/party recommended a Plaintiff Consumer/FDCPA/FCRA attorney (broadly interpreted).
Actions that could lead to termination or suspension of your membership include but are not limited to:
1) Regularly referring matters to known consumer protection attorneys.
2) Being investigated by a governmental entity.
3) Being sued too often for consumer protection violations
4) Engaging in practices that CCEF deems unprofessional and contrary to its goals to
improve the reputation of its members in the industry and with governmental entities.
It is within the sole discretion of CCEF to suspend or terminate membership of a company or individual. No notice of termination is required.
This Agreement may be terminated by either party without notice at any time for any reason. The provisions all the paragraphs of this Agreement shall survive any termination of this Agreement.
4. Copyright, Licenses, Trademarks, Idea Submissions, and Consent to use forms and other documents by members
The entire contents of the Site are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. The owner of the copyrights and trademarks are CCEF, its affiliates or other third party licensors. YOU MAY NOT MODIFY, COPY, REPRODUCE, REPUBLISH, UPLOAD, POST, TRANSMIT, OR DISTRIBUTE, IN ANY MANNER, THE MATERIAL ON THE SITE, INCLUDING TEXT, GRAPHICS, CODE AND/OR SOFTWARE. You may print and download portions of material from the different areas of the Site solely for your own use provided that you agree to not resell, or transfer it to any other parties whether or not compensation (directly or indirectly) is provided,
Publications, products, content or services referenced herein or on the Site are the exclusive trademarks or service marks of CCEF. Other product and company names mentioned in the Site may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
You agree to grant to CCEF for no compensation, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license, with the right to sub-license, to reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, publicly display and publicly perform any materials and other information (including, without limitation, forms or other documents and ideas contained therein for new or improved products and services) you submit to any public areas of the Site (such as bulletin boards, forums and newsgroups) or by e-mail or any other means to CCEF by all means and in any media now known or hereafter developed, unless you expressly prohibit such use. You also grant to CCEF the right to use your name in connection with the submitted materials and other information as well as in connection with all advertising, marketing and promotional material related thereto, unless you expressly prohibit such use. You agree that you shall have no recourse against CCEF for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary right in your communications to CCEF.
5. Use of the Site
You understand that, except for information, products or services clearly identified as being supplied by CCEF, CCEF does not operate, control or endorse any information, products or services on the Internet in any way. Except for CCEF-identified information, products or services, all information, products and services offered through the Site or on the Internet generally are offered by third parties that are not affiliated with CCEF. You also understand that CCEF cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading through the Site will be free of infection or viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other code that manifests contaminating or destructive properties. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the Site for the reconstruction of any lost data.
YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND THE INTERNET. CCEF PROVIDES THE SITE AND RELATED INFORMATION "AS IS" AND DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICE, ANY MERCHANDISE INFORMATION OR SERVICE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY, AND CCEF SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY COST OR DAMAGE ARISING EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM ANY SUCH TRANSACTION. IT IS SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND USEFULNESS OF ALL OPINIONS, ADVICE, SERVICES, MERCHANDISE AND OTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY. CCEF DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.
YOU UNDERSTAND FURTHER THAT THE INTERNET BY ITS NATURE CONTAINS UNEDITED MATERIALS, SOME OF WHICH MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO YOU. YOUR ACCESS TO SUCH MATERIALS IS AT YOUR RISK. CCEF HAS NO CONTROL OVER AND ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR SUCH MATERIALS.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:
IN NO EVENT WILL CCEF BE LIABLE FOR (I) ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR ANY INFORMATION, OR TRANSACTIONS PROVIDED ON THE SERVICE, OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE SERVICE, OR ANY DELAY OF SUCH INFORMATION OR SERVICE. EVEN IF CCEF OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR (II) ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE SERVICE AND/OR MATERIALS OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE SERVICE. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, CCEF’S LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
CCEF makes no representations whatsoever about any other web site which you may access through this one or which may link to this Site. When you access a non-CCEF web site, please understand that it is independent from CCEF, and that CCEF has no control over the content on that web site. In addition, a link to a CCEF web site does not mean that CCEF endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such web site, due to negligence or otherwise.
6. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless CCEF, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers and any third party information providers to the Service from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of this Agreement (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing the Service.
7. Third Party Rights
The provisions of this Agreement are for the benefit of CCEF and its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers, and any third party information providers to the Service. Each of these individuals or entities shall have the right to assert and enforce those provisions.
8. MISCELLANEOUS : MANDATORY ARBITRATION/Venue/Statute of Limitations/Attorneys fees/Other
This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of The United States of America applicable to agreements made and to be performed in The United States of America. You expressly agree that any dispute or proceeding between the CCEF and you for any purpose concerning this Agreement or the parties' obligations hereunder shall be brought exclusively before the American Arbitration Association.
Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the Service must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises or such claim or cause of action is barred. CCEF's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of this Agreement. CCEF may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you. Venue of the Arbitration Proceeding is WHITE PLAINS NEW YORK. MEMBER has no right to assign its/his/her membership to any third party.
The agreement does not provide for the recovery of attorney fees. Both Parties agree that reasonable attorneys fees are $150/hr, and that in any proceeding where a statutory right of attorneys fees is asserted, such fees will be limited to the hourly rate of $150/hr with a cap of $2,000 to either party, if awarded by court. If a court of law having jurisdiction rules that any provision of the agreement is invalid, then that provision will be removed from the Terms and the remaining Terms will continue to be valid. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
CCEF may include hyperlinks to third-party content, advertising or websites. You acknowledge and agree that CCEF is not responsible for and does not endorse any advertising, products or resource available from such resources or websites.
9. Tax Status
I understand that Carol Processing Inc. d/b/a CCEF is not an exempt organization nor is it otherwise qualified under 26 U.S.C. 501(c). Carol Processing Inc. d/b/a CCEF makes no representation whatsoever as to the deductibility or characterization of membership dues or any additional contribution for tax or business expense purposes.
10. Entire Agreement
You understand and agree that the above Terms constitute the entire general agreement between you and CCEF. You may be subject to additional Terms and conditions when you use, purchase or access other services, affiliate services or third-party content or material.