Terms of Use - Accion Opportunity Fund
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Terms of Use

Last Updated: January 6, 2021

This website (“Site”) is operated by Accion Opportunity Fund and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development (“AOF,” “we,” “us” or “our”), a nonprofit small business lender. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) explain how we conduct our business with individuals and businesses and govern your use of this Site and our related websites and, apps, and other services we provide (collectively referred to as our “Service”). As used in these Terms, “you” and “your” mean both individuals and business entities.  Please read these Terms carefully.  By using the Service, you are bound by these Terms.  If you do not agree, please immediately discontinue using the Service.  These Terms are a legally binding contract between you, AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development regarding your use of the Service, regardless of whether you are a registered user of the Service.  Please read these Terms carefully. You can download these Terms and save or print a copy for your files.

These Terms contain an E-SIGN Consent to Electronic Signatures and Electronic Delivery of Disclosures and Notices.

Eligibility

You affirm that you are at least 18 years of age.  You may not access or use the Service if you are not able to form a binding, legal agreement with us.  By agreeing to these Terms, you represent and warrant to us that you have not previously been suspended or removed from the Service under any name and your registration and use of the Service complies with all applicable laws and regulations.  If you are using the Service on behalf of an entity, organization, or company, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms and you are binding the organization to these Terms.

Accounts and Registration

To access features of the Service, we may require that you register for an account. When you register for an account, you may be required to provide us with some information about yourself, such as your email address or other contact information. You agree that the information you provide to us is accurate and that you will always keep it up to date. When you register, you will be asked to provide a password. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and you accept responsibility for the activities that occur under your account. If you have reason to believe that your account is no longer secure, notify us immediately at info@aofund.org

Donations

You may donate to Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development by using the “Donate” link on the website.  Donations are not refundable unless we determine in our sole discretion that a refund is appropriate.  Although you may request that your donation be allocated to a specific Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development project, we reserve the right to determine the specific projects and amounts to which your donation will be allocated. We do not guarantee our projects, including the success or completion of a project. When you donate through our website you will be taken to the website of our third-party provider, which is governed by that provider’s terms of use and privacy policy.

Restrictions on Use of the Service

You agree not to:

  • use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any local, state, national, or international law;
  • violate, or encourage others to violate, any right of a third party, including by infringing or misappropriating any third-party intellectual property right;
  • interfere with security-related features of the Service, including by: (a) disabling or circumventing features that prevent or limit use or copying of any content; or (b) reverse engineering, decompiling, or otherwise attempting to discover the source code of any portion of the Service, including the app(s), except to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this restriction;
  • interfere with the operation of the Service or any user’s enjoyment of the Service, including by: (a) uploading or otherwise disseminating any virus, adware, spyware, worm, or other malicious code; (b) making any unsolicited offer, advertisement, or other communication to another user of the Service; (c) attempting to collect personal information, including location information, about another user or third party without consent; or (d) interfering with or disrupting any network, equipment, or server connected to or used to provide the Service, or violating any regulation, policy, or procedure of any such network, equipment, or server;
  • perform any fraudulent activity including impersonating any person or entity, claiming a false affiliation, accessing any other Service account without permission, or falsifying your age or date of birth;
  • modify, translate, or create derivative works, adaptations or compilations of, or based on, the Service or part thereof, or use, copy or reproduce the Service or any part thereof other than as expressly permitted in these Terms;
  • assign, sublicense, lease, sell, grant a security interest in, or otherwise transfer the app(s) or access granted under these Terms or any Materials (as defined in the section entitled “Ownership; Property Rights”) or any right or ability to view, access, or use any Material;
  • attempt to do any of the acts described in this section or permit or assist any person in engaging in any of the acts described in this section or in the section entitled “Representations of Users”.

Representations of Users

You hereby agree and confirm, both individually and on behalf of the business or entity that you represent that:

  • you will not register for multiple accounts on behalf of the same business or entity;
  • you will not operate or otherwise utilize an account opened in the name of a business or entity for the benefit of any persons other than that business or entity;
  • you will not operate or otherwise utilize an account opened in the name of a business or entity for any purpose prohibited by law or regulation, any activity which that business or entity is not duly authorized to conduct by agreement or under applicable law, or for any purpose prohibited or not authorized by any other agreement between the business, guarantor or entity, AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development;
  • you will not operate an account on behalf of any business or entity if you are not authorized to enter into binding agreements on behalf of the business or entity;
  • you will not represent or portray the business or entity as being affiliated with AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development in any capacity other than being a borrower in connection with a loan or loan request without Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development’s prior written consent;
  • all email addresses provided on behalf of the business or entity are and will be used by the business or entity for business purposes;
  • use of the Service is contingent on acceptance of and compliance with these Terms by all persons acting on the business or entity’s behalf or in furtherance of the business or entity’s loan request, including persons acting as a prospective guarantor of any requested loan;
  • all information relating to any prospective guarantor of any requested loan that is requested by any registration forms on the Service will be provided directly by such prospective guarantor; and
  • neither you nor the business or entity will use the Service to attempt to generate business or investment interest in the business or entity from any other person, other than for purposes of obtaining a loan via the Service or through the use of the proceeds of any loan the business or entity may receive.

E-SIGN Consent to Electronic Signatures and Electronic Delivery of Disclosures and Notices

Because AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development’s electronic platform operates only online, if you choose to use, access, or participate in lending activities, including the submission of a credit inquiry or application, you consent to transact business with us online and electronically. Your use of this site, and its affiliate sites, means that you consent to electronically receive all documents, communications, notices, contracts, and agreements arising from or relating to your use of the Site and/or the Service, including, but not limited to, information or correspondence regarding any loans about which you may inquire or receive.

Electronic Signatures

By accessing our Site and/or utilizing the Site and/or the Services we offer, you consent to the use of electronic signatures. By consenting to use electronic signatures, you agree that any electronic signatures that you provide through your use of a keypad, mouse or other device to select an item, button, icon or similar act, including through the loan application process and loan documents, are valid and enforceable as your legal signature and acknowledge that these electronic signatures will legally bind you to the terms and conditions contained in the disclosures and terms and conditions we provide you just as if you had physically signed the same documents. You agree that no certification or other third-party verification is necessary to validate your electronic signature and that the lack of such certification or verification will not in any way affect the enforceability of your signature or any resulting contract between you, AOF, and  Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development.

Types of Information Provided Electronically

Under this Consent, we may provide all Communications electronically by email, by text message, or by making them accessible via AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development’s website(s) or applications. Communications include, but are not limited to:

  • agreements and policies required to use the Services (such as this Consent, our Privacy Policy, and the Terms of Use)
  • Loan and Security Agreements
  • ACH Authorization(s)
  • Disclosures or notices required under applicable laws and regulations, including notices regarding changes in the terms and conditions of your account

Access to Notices and Disclosures Delivered Electronically

The format of the electronic documents may vary based on the device you use to access your accounts (“Device”). You will need a valid email address, connection to the internet, and the following hardware and software to view the notices and disclosures we deliver to you electronically:

  • Browser-a current version of the browsers supported by our website, which include Microsoft Internet Explorer or Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
  • PDF reader-a current version of a program that reads and displays PDF files (such as Adobe Acrobat Reader).
  • Operating System–an operating system that supports a current version of one of the browsers listed above and a current version of a program that reads and displays PDF files, including the most current version of Microsoft Windows and Apple OS for personal computers and iOS, Android, or Windows Phone for mobile devices.
  • Device–a Device that can connect to the internet and has enough storage capacity to download and save the notices and disclosures we send you or the ability to print notices and disclosures from your Device.

How to Obtain Paper Copies

You may request a free paper copy of any of the notices and disclosures we provide you electronically by contacting us at info@aofund.org. You may also download and print any notices or disclosures we send you.  We may at our option deliver information to you on paper and may also require that certain communications from you be delivered to us on paper at a specified address.

Withdrawal of Consent

Prior to completion of a loan application, you may withdraw your consent to receiving notices and disclosures in electronic form by exiting the application.  If you do not consent to receive account notices and disclosures electronically, we cannot accept and process your request for a loan. If you wish to withdraw your consent after you have completed your application and your loan has been funded, you may contact us at info@aofund.org. There is no fee to process your withdrawal of this consent.  Any withdrawal of this consent will be effective only after we have a reasonable time period to process your withdrawal.

Updating Your Email Address

It is your responsibility to provide us with a valid email address and to promptly notify us of any changes in this information.

Acknowledgement

By accessing the Site, and utilizing our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this E-SIGN Consent and that you are able to access notices and disclosures delivered electronically.

Consent to Telephone Calls and SMS (Text) Messages

By accessing our site and utilizing any Service offered by AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development, you expressly consent to be contacted by us, our agents, representatives, affiliates, or anyone calling on our behalf for any and all purposes, at any telephone number (including mobile numbers) or physical or electronic address you provide or at which you may be reached. You agree that we may contact you in any way, including by SMS messages (including text messages), calls using prerecorded messages or artificial voice, and calls and messages delivered using an automatic telephone dialing system or an automatic texting system. Automated messages may be played when the telephone is answered whether by you or someone else; and you agree that agents or representatives may leave a message on your answering machine, voice mail, or may send a message by text. Your consent indicates your representation that any telephone numbers you provide to us are your telephone number(s), not those of a third party; and you further understand your consent means that you are permitted to receive calls at any telephone number provided to us.

You will be offered the opportunity to enroll in our SMS/text messaging program, through which you may receive account-related news and alerts and/or offers for products and services from Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development. If you choose to receive such SMS/text messages, you warrant that any such number provided belongs to you and that you are authorized to receive SMS/text messages at that number. You acknowledge and consent that some SMS/text messages may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system and that standard message and data rates apply. Your mobile telephone provider will charge you according to the type of plan you carry; you consent and agree that Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development is not responsible for any charges you incur as a result of receiving such SMS/text messages. You are not required to consent to SMS/text messages from Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development in order to use its Services.

Call Recording and Monitoring

Your use of our Services means that you consent to the recording and monitoring, for quality assurance, training, risk management and/or collection purposes, of any call that you place with us (or our agents, representatives, affiliates, third parties or anyone calling on our behalf) or that we (or our agents, representatives, affiliates, third parties or anyone calling on our behalf) place to you.

Termination of Use; Discontinuation and Modification of the Service

You may only terminate your account if you have no outstanding loan or savings account with Opportunity Fund, in which case you may request termination by contacting customer service at info@aofund.org. If you, AOF, or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development terminate your account, you remain obligated to pay any outstanding loan balance, fees, or interest, if any, incurred prior to termination relating to your use of the Service. Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development may in its sole discretion terminate your user account on the Service or suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. We also reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Service at any time (including by limiting or discontinuing certain features of the Service), temporarily or permanently, without notice to you. We will have no liability whatsoever on account of any change to the Service or any suspension or termination of your access to or use of the Service, provided that if AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development ceases to operate the Service and terminates your access to the Service accordingly, then any outstanding loans shall survive through their remaining term and you will remain liable for any outstanding loan balance, fees, or interest owed to AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development.

Privacy Policy

Please read the Privacy Policy carefully for information relating to our collection, use, storage and disclosure of your personal information. The Privacy Policy is incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.

Additional Terms

Your use of the Service is subject to all additional terms, policies, rules, or guidelines applicable to the Service or certain features of the Service that we may post on or link to from the Service, such as agreements associated with loans, or rules that apply to a particular feature or content on the Service. All additional terms are incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.

Changes and Amendments to these Terms

We reserve the right to change these Terms or any Site content at any time without notice and in our sole discretion, by posting a change notice or a new Terms on our Site, or using commercially reasonable efforts to notify you via email, if provided. Any change to these Terms shall be effective as to you or any user who uses this Site without notice, by posting of the Terms as changed on this Site, with or without notice of any specific changes. You agree that you will comply with these Terms as they may be modified from time to time by us by checking for modifications on this Site, whether or not you have received notice of any changes by email or otherwise. If any modifications of these Terms are unacceptable to you, your only recourse is to terminate use of this Site. Your continued use of this Site following your receipt of notice of any modifications will constitute binding acceptance of any modification. Any inconsistent terms between these Terms and any subsequent modifications of Terms posted on this Site shall be controlled according to the latest posting.

Ownership; Proprietary Rights

The Service is owned and operated by AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development. The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, data, computer code (including source code or object code), products, software, services, and all other elements of the Service (“Materials”) provided by AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Fund are protected by intellectual property and other laws. All Materials included in the Service are the property of AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development or our third-party licensors. Except as expressly authorized by AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development, you may not make use of the Materials. AOF and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development reserves all rights to the Materials not granted expressly in these Terms.

Submissions

If you choose to provide input and suggestions regarding problems with or proposed modifications or improvements to the Service, then you hereby grant us an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free right to exploit your input and suggestions in any manner and for any purpose, including to improve the Service and create other products and services.

Feedback/Testimonials

We love your stories and want to hear them!

If you choose to submit feedback or a testimonial, you are agreeing that we may publish your feedback or testimonial, together with your name and/or your company’s name; and you are agreeing to give us a limited license to use any logo or mark associated with your business on AOF’s website, and/or on any successor website that we may operate from time to time, on such page and in such position as we may determine in our sole discretion. In part so that we can offer our services to other small business owners like yourself, you also agree and consent that your feedback and/or testimonial, along with your company’s logo or mark, may be published and/or disseminated by AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development to third parties or the general public, and that we may generally use your story as we see fit for marketing and/or fundraising efforts. You further understand and agree that we may edit the testimonial and publish or distribute edited or partial versions of the testimonial; however, we will never edit a testimonial in such a way as to create a misleading impression of your feedback. If you decide you no longer want us to use your feedback and/or testimonial for marketing or fundraising purposes, you can revoke your license for our use by giving us at least 30 days’ written notice of termination, which can be sent to our office at 111 W. St. John St., San Jose, CA 95113 or compliance@aofund.org.

Indemnity

You are responsible for your use of the Service, and you will defend and indemnify AOF or Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development and its officers, directors, employees, consultants, affiliates, subsidiaries and agents from and against every claim, liability, damage, loss, and expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to, use of, or alleged use of, the Service; (b) your violation of any portion of these Terms, any representation, warranty, or agreement referenced in these Terms, or any applicable law or regulation; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property right or publicity, confidentiality, other property, or privacy right; or (d) any dispute or issue between you and any third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you (without limiting your indemnification obligations with respect to that matter), and in that case, you agree to cooperate with our defense of that claim.

Disclaimer

The Site, the Service and its content are made available “as is” and “as available” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. This includes, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, accuracy, non-infringement or enjoyment. We make no guarantee that the Service content is up-to-date, accurate, or complete. You should not rely on it for any decision or to take any action. We hereby disclaim any warranty that the Service content will be free of interruption, free of errors, or that any of the sites is free of viruses, worms, trojan horses, or other code that manifests contaminating or destructive properties.

Limitation of Liability

Under no circumstances will AOF, Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development, or any of its affiliates be liable to you or any other person for any direct, special, exemplary, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages or costs, or attorneys’ fees arising out of or relating to these terms, access to, use of, or the operation of any site, any of the site content, or user content. Your sole and exclusive remedy and our sole and exclusive liability to you for any reason shall be for you to discontinue your access to or use of the Site. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction.

Limited Time to Bring Your Claim

To the extent permitted by law, you agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to the Site or the Service must be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to conflict of law principles. If a lawsuit or court proceeding is permitted under these Terms, then you, AOF, and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts and federal courts located within Santa Clara County, California for the purpose of litigating any dispute. We operate the Service from our offices in California, and we make no representation that Materials included in the Service are appropriate or available for use in other locations.

General

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, are the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between you, AOF, and Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development regarding your use of the Service. Except as expressly permitted above, these Terms may be amended only by a written agreement signed by authorized representatives of all parties to these Terms. The failure to require performance of any provision will not affect our right to require performance at any other time after that, nor will a waiver by us of any breach or default of these Terms, or any provision of these Terms, be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. Use of section headers in these Terms is for convenience only and will not have any impact on the interpretation of any provision. If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.

Arbitration

You hereby agree that all disputes and causes of action arising out of use of this Site may be arbitrated (at our sole discretion) by a single arbitrator selected by us and conducted in California, or such other location, as we may choose in our sole discretion, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) and the California Rules of Civil Procedure with limited discovery. The judgment of the arbitrator shall be binding and executable in any civil court.  The losing party shall pay all costs and fees. Equitable actions for temporary restraining orders or injunctions may be instituted in a court of competent jurisdiction concerning the use, misuse, or improper dissemination of information.  You agree to waive your right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.

Notice to California Residents

You may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S-202, Sacramento, California 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210 in order to resolve a complaint regarding the Service or to receive further information regarding use of the Service.

Contact Us

Questions?  You may contact us with any questions or concerns about these Terms at:

Accion Opportunity Fund / Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development

111 W. St. John Street, Suite 800

San Jose CA 95113

Telephone: (408) 297-0204

Fax: (408) 297-4599

Email:  info@aofund.org