VETTY, INC.
CONSUMER TERMS OF SERVICE
Effective Date: 4/17/2023
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between Vetty, Inc. (“Us,” “We,” “Our”) and any consumer undergoing a Vetty screening at the request of a Vetty customer (“Consumers,” “You” or “Yours”). You and We are each a “Party” to these Terms.
These Terms govern Your use of Vetty.co and related websites and mobile apps (the “Services”), directly and through Our partners and customers, to undergo background screening in connection with employment for a job application, independent contracting, or continuing employment or advancement (“Employment Purposes”). Please read these Terms carefully.
By using the Services, or by clicking “I Agree” or checking the appropriate box in Our Consumer Portal (defined below), You acknowledge that You understand and agree to these Terms. You agree to be bound by these terms for as long as You use the Services or have a Vetty account.
If You have any questions about these Terms, You can reach us at support@vetty.co. If You do not agree to any part of these Terms, please do not use the Services and do not create a Vetty account.
THESE TERMS CONTAIN BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER CLAUSES THAT YOU SHOULD READ CAREFULLY. THESE CLAUSES AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND GOVERN HOW YOU AND WE MUST HANDLE DISPUTES BETWEEN US.
You can initiate a Vetty account only after a Vetty customer invites You to undergo a Vetty background screening for Employment Purposes. Please note that if You do not complete Our screening process, the Vetty customer who invited You may not receive the information it needs to make a decision about Your employment.
The invitation will contain a link that will bring You to Our “Consumer Portal” where You can set Your password to establish a Vetty account and enter information to begin the background screening process. In some cases, the Vetty customer that invited You will have a recruiter help You with the process. The Vetty customer that invited You will have access to the information You enter as soon as You finish entering and submitting the information to Us.
You may notify the Vetty customer that requested Your background screening that You no longer desire to be considered for a position at any time during the background screening process through active communication or non-responsiveness.
After You provide the information requested in Our Consumer Portal, You will have access to Your “Consumer Profile” containing:
To conduct Your background screening, We will collect information about You from publicly available sources and databases. The information We collect depends on what type of background screening Our customer requests, and it may contain information such as DMV records and criminal records. You can learn more about what We collect and why from Our Privacy Policy.
While You have access to the Services, You will be able to view, and request additions or corrections to, Your Consumer Profile. If You need assistance, You can reach us at support@vetty.co or (855) 726-7827.
You may report to Us that You believe there is a mistake or out-of-date information in Your Consumer Profile. If You do, We will take steps to investigate Your report and, if We deem it appropriate in Our sole discretion, correct any such mistake or out-of-date information. You will have no recourse against Us or Our customers with regard to such correction or refusal to make such correction. We will not change information if We believe the change would violate any law or contractual requirement or make the information incorrect or incomplete.
You agree to transact electronically through the Services and that Your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of Your manual signature. You also agree to receive all notices from Us electronically, including via email and through Your Vetty account or Consumer Profile. Your consent to receive notices electronically includes notices required under federal, state, and local law, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq.
By providing Your telephone number and opting in to receive text messages, You consent to receive communications from Us regarding Our Services via texts. Regardless of whether Your phone number is registered on a state or federal Do Not Call list, You agree that You are responsible for any charges to You regarding these communications. Standard voice and data rates may apply. You do not need to opt in to text messages to use the Services.
By using the Services, You may have access to confidential information relating to Our intellectual property, including but not limited to Your Consumer Profile, trade secrets, service marks, trademarks, trade names, logos, symbols, brand names, software, technology, inventions, processes (that are subject to a patent or otherwise pending) (collectively “Proprietary Intellectual Property”). You agree that We are the sole exclusive owner of all right, title and interest in such Proprietary Intellectual Property, any modifications or improvements to that property, and any derivative works made therefrom.
You will not disclose the nature or content of any such Proprietary Intellectual Property to any third party. You agree that You have no right to reproduce (through screenshots, screen recordings, or other means) publish, prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, perform or otherwise display any of Our Proprietary Intellectual Property, except that You may download Your Consumer Report and other documents We provide and that We intend to be for Your own use. You agree to be bound by these confidentiality terms to the maximum extent and time allowed by law while You use the Services and thereafter.
You agree not to (a) assert or challenge, on Your behalf or on behalf of any third party, or assist any third party in asserting or challenging, Our ownership, now or in the future, with regard to any right, title or interest in or to any of Our Propriety Intellectual Property and/or the validity of Our rights thereto, or (b) sell, assign, attempt to assign or sublicense to any third party any of Proprietary Intellectual Property rights. You agree that any documentation that is copyrightable material that may arise out of Your use of the Services, including any information You submit to us so that We may accomplish Your background screening, will be Our sole and exclusive property, and to the extent that such copyrightable material is deemed not to be authored by Us, it may be deemed a work for hire You authored for Us or for which You assign to us all right, title and interest to such copyrightable material. You agree that upon Our written request and without further consideration, You will execute and deliver such further instruments of transfer and assignment and take such other action as We may reasonably require to more effectively transfer, assign, and/or vest in, Us Our Property Rights.
You agree that regarding any suggestion, comments, questions, and feedback (“Feedback”) You provide to Us about the Services and Our business: (a) We will be the exclusive owner of any Feedback; and (b) Your provision of Feedback does not give You any intellectual property rights or any other right, title, or interest in or to any software, hardware, inventions, or other assets created by Us, even if such Feedback leads Us to create software, hardware, an invention, or other asset.
For information on what information We collect, verify, disclose, and store, and how We secure that information, please see Our Privacy Policy.
We own all right, title and interest in and to all information that We collect, verify, disclose, and store about Consumers in connection with the Services. We may use, store, disclose, and destroy this data in Our sole discretion, as permitted by law.
You may terminate Your use of the Services at any time. You may request that We delete Your personal information and Your account by contacting Us at support@vetty.co or (855) 726-7827. We cannot delete Your personal information except by also deleting Your account.
If You breach any of these Terms or do not log in to Your Vetty account for sixty consecutive calendar days, or for any other reason in our sole discretion, We may suspend or terminate Your Vetty account and access to Your Consumer Profile and the Services.
By creating a Vetty account, You represent and warrant to Us that:
You agree that You will NOT do any of the following:
Vetty, Inc., 86 Broad Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10005 is the provider of the Services. Vetty does not charge Consumers for their use of the Services. To resolve a complaint regarding the Services or to receive further information regarding use of the Services, Consumers may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Service of the Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1020 N. Street, #501, Sacramento, CA, 95814, or by telephone at (916) 445-1254.
Our Consumer Portal contains links or other websites, such as government sites containing information about consumer rights (“Third Person Property”). We have no control over, and make no representations about, any Third Person Property, the information it contains, or its security. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT USE OF SUCH LINKS AND THIRD PERSON PROPERTY IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, THAT SUCH LINKS AND THIRD PERSON PROPERTY ARE GOVERNED BY SUCH THIRD PERSONS’ TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICIES, AND THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRIVACY OR PRACTICES OR OTHER POLICIES OF SUCH THIRD PERSONS. YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY REVIEW THE APPLICABLE TERMS AND POLICIES THAT APPLY TO ANY THIRD PERSON PROPERTY. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE IN ANY MANNER FOR THIRD PERSON PROPERTY, OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY SORT INCURRED BY YOU AS THE RESULT THEREOF, AND WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM, AND YOU EXPRESSLY RELEASE US AND OUR AFFILIATES AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM, ANY AND ALL LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY CONTROVERSIES, CLAIMS, SUITS, INJURIES, LOSS, HARM AND/OR DAMAGES, ARISING FROM AND/OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO SUCH THIRD PERSONS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THOSE RELATING TO AVAILABILITY, TERMS OF USE, PRIVACY, SOFTWARE/HARDWARE DAMAGE OR THIRD PERSON PROPERTY.
We will have no liability in connection with any information that You or any Vetty customer posts to, views on, or transmits from Your Candidate Profile.
Neither We nor Our employees, contractors, and business partners will play any role in, and will have no liability with respect to, any Vetty customer’s decision:
While You have access to the Services, We will store the information in Your Profile with an independent cloud storage provider (a “Storage Provider”). We select Storage Providers that maintain security protections that are commercially reasonable or better. We cannot guarantee that Our Storage Providers’ security measures will prevent the information in Your Consumer Profile from being accessed or used by unauthorized third parties, so We cannot be liable for any breach of Our Storage Providers’ security measures and/or the unauthorized access or use of the information.
You agree that: (a) We may, but are not obligated to, modify, update, make upgrades to, and/or perform maintenance on the Services (or any component thereof); (b) when and if We modify, update, make upgrades and/or perform maintenance, the Services may be unavailable for a period of time; and (c) in no event will We be liable to You or any third party for any resulting unavailability of any component of the Services.
You understand that: (a) the provision of the Services is subject to many factors outside Our control; (b) web-based applications such as the Services are subject to outages and/or interruptions (on a long term or short term basis), including, but not limited to, internet, power, utility and mobile network outages and interruptions; and (c) We only offer the use of the Services when available. You agree that We will not be liable in any manner to You or any third person relating to any of the foregoing.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT: (A) WE ARE PROVIDING THE SERVICES TO YOU ON AN ‘AS IS’ AND ‘AS AVAILABLE’ BASIS; (B) WE ARE PROVIDING NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO YOU WHATSOEVER CONCERNING THE SERVICES OR ANY OF ITS COMPONENTS UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE; (C) IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR “AFFILIATES” (WHICH INCLUDES OUR PRESENT AND FORMER PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EQUITY HOLDERS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, INSURERS, SUPPLIERS, DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSORS, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS) BE LIABLE FOR ANY PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROPERTY OR EQUIPMENT, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF REVENUES, LOSS OF DATA, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, DAMAGE TO BUSINESS REPUTATION, OR LOSS OF USE) ARISING: (1) OUT OF THE PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND US UNDER THESE TERMS; (2) OUT OF ANY CLAIMS YOU HAD, HAVE, OR MAY HAVE, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, AGAINST US WHETHER GROUNDED IN TORT, CONTRACT OR STATUTE; (3) OUT OF THE CREATION, LICENSE, USE, SALE OR SUPPLYING OF THE SERVICES TO YOU; OR (4) OTHERWISE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES; AND (5) WE AND OUR AFFILIATES WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR THE BREACH OF OUR SECURITY MEASURES, THE SECURITY OF OUR PLATFORMS OR THE SECURITY OF ANY ACCOUNT STORAGE PROVIDER.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PROVIDED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR AND OUR AFFILIATES’ MAXIMUM LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE CREATION, LICENSE, SALE, SUPPLY OR USE OF THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED UPON CONTRACT, TORT, TRADE PRACTICES OR OTHERWISE, WILL NOT EXCEED THE PRICE OF THE VETTY BACKGROUND SCREENING YOU UNDERGO. THE LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY AND EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES IN THIS SECTION WILL APPLY REGARDLESS OF THE AVAILABILITY, SUCCESS OR EFFECTIVENESS OF OTHER REMEDIES.
You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Us and Our Affiliates from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities or expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses) resulting from, arising out of, or relating in any way to: (a) Your negligent or intentional misuse of the Services or Our Proprietary Intellectual Property; (b) Your noncompliance or alleged noncompliance with applicable law; and (c) Your breach of any provision of these Terms.
You agree that You will not bring any suit, action, proceeding or alternative dispute resolution claim against Us or Our Affiliates for any reason whatsoever more than one year after the related cause of action has accrued. You also agree that You will not bring any suit, action, proceeding or alternative dispute resolution claim against Us or Our Affiliates resulting from, arising out of, or in any way relating to You violating these Terms.
These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York (without reference to the conflicts of law provisions thereof that would require the application of the law of any other jurisdiction).
You agree to bring any litigation (whether or not permitted by these Terms) against us in the state or federal courts of the Borough of New York, New York. You irrevocably consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts of the Borough of New York, New York, and You agree that such courts are convenient forums.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, You will resolve any and all disputes You have with Us and Our Affiliates that arise out of, or in any way relate to, these Terms and/or Your use of the Services through bi-lateral, binding arbitration as Your sole and exclusive remedy. You waive Your constitutional right to have any such dispute decided in a court of law and before a jury and, instead, agree to binding arbitration pursuant to the procedures referenced in this section. These Terms are governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., and evidence a transaction in commerce.
Arbitration under this Section will be conducted pursuant to the American Arbitration Association’s Consumer Arbitration Rules before a single arbitrator licensed to practice law in the state in which We have Our principal place of business and who is familiar with credit reporting law (if such expertise is applicable to the dispute). The arbitrator will provide written findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Parties will each pay 50% of all costs uniquely attributable to arbitration, including the costs of the arbitrator. Each Party will pay its own costs and attorneys’ fees, if any, unless the arbitrator rules otherwise based on a statute that affords the prevailing party attorneys’ fees and costs, in which case the arbitrator will apply the same standards a court would apply to such an award. No Party will be required to pay any fee or cost that such Party would not be required to pay in a state or federal court action. The Parties agree that the decision of the arbitrator will be final and binding and not subject to appeal, reconsideration or further review, except as specifically provided by 9 U.S.C. §§ 10 or 11. An award in one arbitration proceeding will not be precedential or binding in any way in a subsequent proceeding, unless the subsequent proceeding concerns identical Parties and issues to the prior proceeding.
The Parties are entitled to representation by an attorney or other representative of their choosing in any arbitration. The arbitrator will issue a written award stating the essential findings and conclusions on which such award is based. The Parties agree to abide by and perform any valid award rendered by the arbitrator, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitrator may not certify or otherwise preside over any form of a class, collective, or representative proceeding, nor may the arbitrator consolidate the claims of multiple persons into one proceeding.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, You waive any right to bring, and agree not to bring, a claim on behalf of anyone other than Yourself, or to otherwise participate with anyone else in any class, collective, or representative action. You also agree not to assert claims against Us or Our Affiliates in the same proceeding as any other person, whether by joinder or otherwise, and that any proceeding brought on behalf of multiple claimants or plaintiffs will be severed into individual proceedings. You further agree to affirmatively opt out and to take all other reasonable measures to exclude Yourself from any representative proceeding in which You may be invited to join or otherwise permitted to participate.
The Parties intend that claims brought under the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) are fully subject to this section. In the event that a court determines or the Parties stipulate that the right to bring a PAGA claim on a representative basis cannot legally be waived, PAGA claims may be asserted in a court of competent jurisdiction to hear them and will be severed from any other claims that You assert, which will remain subject to arbitration pursuant to this section.
To the extent that You bring both claims that are arbitrable under these Terms and claims deemed by a court of law or by stipulation not to be arbitrable in accordance with this section, the claims deemed arbitrable will be adjudicated first in priority, with any claims that must be litigated in a court of law subject to a stay, administrative closure, or dismissal without prejudice, pending the resolution of the arbitrable claims. Any disputes regarding the validity of this Section, including its application to PAGA claims, will be resolved only by a court of law and not by the arbitrator.
No waiver of any obligation under these Terms will be valid unless in writing and signed by You and Our duly authorized representative. No delay or omission by either Party in exercising any right or power will impair such right or power or be construed to be a waiver. A waiver by either Party of any of the obligations to be performed by the other Party or any breach thereof will not be construed to be a waiver of any succeeding breach or of any other obligation.
In the event that We undergo a merger, sale, or other business combination, these Terms will enure to the benefit of Our successors and assigns, and We may transfer Our rights and obligations under these Terms to Our successors and assigns without Your prior written consent.
If any provision of these Terms is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the legality, validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions will not be affected.
You agree that We will not be liable for any failures or delays resulting from circumstances or causes beyond Our reasonable control, such as as acts of God, war or terrorism; extraordinary acts of the countries in which the parties operate or any state, territory or political subdivision thereof; fires, storms, floods, epidemics, pandemics, riots, work stoppages, strikes, embargoes, government restrictions, and adverse weather or events of nature. In the event force majeure occurs, We cannot insure uninterrupted or error free service or access to the Services.
These Terms and Our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference, constitute the entire agreement between Us and You and supersede all prior or contemporaneous, oral or written, representations, understandings or agreements relating to the Services.
We may change these Terms from time to time without Your consent, and Your continued use of the Vetty Services will be deemed Your acceptance of any such change. If We change these Terms, We will change the Effective Date at the top of this page. We encourage You to review these Terms regularly and whenever You access the Services.
Thank You for using Vetty!