
INDEPENDENT REP
AGREEMENT
- Responsibility of IR. It is the Independent Representative’s
(IR) responsibility to study, fully understand and abide by all marketing
materials and rules and policies of CIB governing the marketing of the
products and the guidelines the IR must follow whenever the IR promotes the
Consumer Information Bureau (CIB) program to prospective customers.
- Foundation of CIB. CIB was built on a solid legal foundation to
help consumers with information on how to exercise the rights afforded to them
by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (Public Law 91-508, 1970) and other laws.
These laws were enacted to give consumers protection against the intrusion of
the credit bureaus into our private lives. Section 611 (Fair Credit Reporting
Act) details the procedures to follow in case of disputed accuracy in a credit
report. The language is quite precise and is written to protect the
consumer.
- Independent Contractor. IR is of legal age in the state of his
or her residency. IR agree that he or she is an independent contractor,
responsible for determining his or her own business activities and not an
agent, employee, or legal representative of Consumer Information Bureau. IR is
responsible for the payment of all federal and state self employment taxes and
any other tax required under any federal, state, regulatory, or taxing agency.
- IR Position. The Independent Representative (IR) position does
not constitute the sale of a franchise or a distributorship and no fees or
purchases have been or will be required from me for the right to promote the
CIB program pursuant to this agreement.
- Modification of Procedures and Policies. In order to maintain a
viable marketing program and to comply with changes in federal, state, or
local laws or economic conditions, CIB may provide policies and procedures and
rules and regulations from time to time, as well as modify its Independent
Reps (IR) compensation program. Such policies and procedures and rules and
regulations and compensation plan modifications, and all changes thereto,
shall upon notice to IR become a binding part of this agreement. These
modifications will be made available to IR’s on the World Wide web. It is the
responsibility of the IR to check the corporate web site on the first of every
month for these changes. IR’s without Internet access may submit a written
request for the updates or modifications prior to the first of each month. The
IR is responsible for abiding by the modifications immediately after their
publication.
- No Governmental Endorsement. IR understands that no attorney
general or other regulatory authority ever reviews, endorses, or approves any
product, subscription, compensation program, or company, and IR will make no
such claim to others.
- CIB Programs. IR understands that CIB is a publisher of
information, and does not in any way counsel customers on their personal
credit file, nor do they repair credit for a customer. CIB provides all the
tools and information a customer needs in order to dispute erroneous and
negative credit items, utilizing their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act. CIB also provides detailed information on professional companies that do
provide the service of credit repair, debt consolidation, etc. Additional fees
will apply if the customer chooses professional assistance from these third
party companies.
- Status of CIB. CIB is not a Credit Service Organization because
we do not assist, arrange, or improve a buyer’s credit record. We provide an
informational program for a consumer to follow step-by-step. CIB is not a
professional credit repair company.
- Credit Services Organization Acts. The state laws that regulate
professional credit repair companies are generally referred to as Credit
Services Organization Acts, Credit Services Business Acts, or Credit Repair
Acts. Most states have already implemented, or may be in the process of
implementing, such laws. Most of these laws define a credit services
organization as a company that is involved with:
(a) Improving a buyer’s credit record,
credit history or credit rating.
(b) Arranging for, or obtaining an
extension of credit for a buyer.
(c) Providing advice or assistance to a
buyer with regard to subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection.
CIB is NOT a Credit Services
Organization and no representations may be made to that effect. Violations of
this policy will result in termination from the program.
- Permitted Activities of IR. IR is restricted to promote CIB’s
programs through referral to CIB. IR is prohibited from directly representing
CIB or any of its programs. Any questions or information required by a
consumer must be referred to CIB.
- Copyrighted Material. IR will not use the CIB name, phone
numbers, trade names, logos, copyrighted material, trademarks, service marks,
or proprietary marks of CIB, except in materials provided by CIB (or approved
prior for my use thereof). IR understands that unauthorized use or duplication
of proprietary marks or any copyrighted materials is a violation of this
agreement and federal law.
- Approval of Promotions. CIB must approve all promotional
materials that IR proposes to utilize, except if that material is exactly as
provided by CIB in its marketing materials or on the web site. CIB will review
proposed promotional materials promptly (usually within one day of receipt).
- Commission Checks. IR understands that commission checks are
issued monthly regardless of amount, and such payment will be through a check
written from a US bank account in US dollars. CIB is not responsible for IR’s
inability to cash the check or a loss of amount due to exchange rates. There
will be a $2.00 charge for each monthly commission check that IR receives from
CIB, regardless of the amount. That fee includes the cost of bookkeeping and
tracking of IR’s personal customers and other IR’s in IR’s downline as well as
the processing and postage involved with IR’s commission check.
- Commission Schedule. IR will be paid according to the following
scale for any sales that result from the permitted promotional efforts of
IR:
- Charge-backs. Any charge-backs which occur for any reason
(including refund, failure of payment to clear, cancellation of payment, etc.)
will be billed back to IR (and the upline), regardless of the time period that
such charge-back occurs. If IR terminates this Agreement, any pending
commissions may be held for 180 days to determine if any charge-backs occur,
at which time all remaining funds will be distributed to IR.
- Acts of Fraud by IR. Any commissions paid out directly (and to
the upline) by CIB or its divisions on sales completed by fraud or falsified
documents will be billed back to the IR (and the upline) and the offending IR
will immediately be put on probation or terminated.
- Misrepresentation. IR will not make any false or misleading
statements about CIB or CIB’s marketing program. CIB does not want any of its
Independent Representatives to be subject to legal action by a State Attorney
General’s office or the Office of Consumer Affairs due to IR’s possible
misrepresentation of our program. Particularly, IR agrees not to:
(b) make any statements to any person
regarding the likelihood of success of any program provided by CIB.
(c) make any statement to any
individual regarding credit repair, debt consolidation, or any related subject
matter, unless such information is public knowledge and contained in the IR
marketing materials.
(e) operate or utilize a web site or
email link to web sites that contain or promote, any of these types of
content: libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive, violent, bigoted,
hate-oriented, illegal, cracking, hacking or the offer any illegal good or
service, or link to a web site(s) that do so; and/or
(f) engage in spamming, indiscriminate
advertising or unsolicited commercial email.
- Internet Policy. CIB may deem inappropriate based upon the
foregoing, and/or on reasonable business standards as they may evolve, any web
site (hereafter referring to any web site NOT provided by CIB) or content that
IR make available to visitors through email, and provide IR with notice that
IR is in breach of this Agreement (with the opportunity to cure except if IR’s
web site, email content and/or business activity is illegal). Any suspected
fraudulent, abusive or otherwise illegal content or activity by IR on IR’s web
site or in IR’s subscription emails, or that is perpetrated through use of the
Internet or otherwise, is grounds for immediate termination of this Agreement
or deactivation of IR’s status (without prior notice by CIB) and referral to
the appropriate law enforcement agencies. CIB may not review all content on
IR’s web site or in IR’s subscription emails. IR shall remain solely
responsible for IR’s web site and email content. CIB is, under no
circumstances, responsible for the practices of any IR or IR’s web site(s)
and/or the content that an IR makes available through the Internet or
otherwise and/or the content of IR’s emails.
- IR Existing Web Site. If IR operates an existing web site, you
must place links to your CIB Web site or Web site content such that it is
unlikely that the links will mislead the visitor, and such that it is
reasonably likely that the links will deliver bona fide visitors to CIB from
the link. IR shall not cause any transactions to be made that are not in good
faith, including, but not limited to, using any device, program, robot,
Iframes, hidden frames, java-scriptpopup windows, redirects or clicking on
links that IR places to his or her CIB affiliate site. IR shall not establish
or cause to be established any promotion that provides any rewards, points or
compensation for transactions, or that allows third parties to place CIB links
on its Web site or in its emails, unless IR receives CIB's prior written
permission, upon notification to and verification by CIB. IR shall indemnify
CIB for all acts of third parties, whether approved by CIB or not.
- Availability of Web Site. CIB will make every effort to maintain
the availability of its web site, but makes no warranty or claim as to the
availability or operation of its web site or any web site or link or network
program made available to IR.
- Confidential Information. IR or CIB may provide the other with
information that is confidential and proprietary to that party or a third
party, as is designated by the disclosing party ("Confidential Information").
The receiving party agrees to make commercially reasonable efforts, but in no
case no less effort than it uses to protect its own Confidential Information,
to maintain the confidentiality in order to protect any proprietary interests
of the disclosing party. "Confidential Information" shall not include (even if
designated by a party) information that is or becomes part of the public
domain through no act or omission of the receiving party, or is lawfully
received by the receiving party from a third party without restriction on use
or disclosure and without breach of this Agreement or any other agreement
without knowledge by the receiving party of any breach of fiduciary duty, or
that the receiving party had in its possession prior to the date of this
Agreement. The information that IR supplies to establish and maintain IR’s
status shall be IR’s Confidential Information, and IR agree that CIB may
utilize IR’s email address(es) and basic personal information for purposes
related to IR’s participation as a representative. IR shall be responsible for
all usage and activity on IR’s account and for loss, theft or unauthorized
disclosure of IR’s password (other than through CIB's grossly negligent or
willful conduct or omission). IR shall provide CIB with prompt written
notification of any known or suspected unauthorized use of IR’s account or
breach of the security of IR’s account.
- Limitation of Liabilities. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A PARTY'S
INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS, ANY LIABILITY OF A PARTY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT
SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE TOTAL OF COMMISSIONS EARNED DURING THE TERM OF THIS
AGREEMENT. NEITHER PARTY SHALL BE LIABLE TO THE OTHER PARTY, OR ANY THIRD
PARTY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR PUNITIVE
DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOST PROFITS,
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR OTHER DATA, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIM.
- Disclaimer of Warranties. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE
PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, BOTH PARTIES DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, (A) MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, (B) THAT THERE ARE NO VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS,
(C) THAT A PARTY'S SECURITY METHODS EMPLOYED WILL BE SUFFICIENT, (D) REGARDING
CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, OR RELIABILITY, OR (D) AGAINST INTERFERENCE WITH
ENJOYMENT OF A PARTY'S "INFORMATION" (WEB SITE). ALL 'INFORMATION' AND
'COMPUTER PROGRAMS' PROVIDED IN THE COURSE OF THIS AGREEMENT ARE PROVIDED WITH
ALL FAULTS, AND THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE,
ACCURACY, AND EFFORT IS WITH THE USER.
- Indemnification. Each party ("indemnitor") shall defend,
indemnify and hold the other party ("indemnitee") harmless against all claims,
suits, costs, damages and judgments incurred, claimed or sustained by third
parties, for the indemnitor's breach of this Agreement and for claims of
product liability and/or malpractice or misfeasance in the performance of
services ("Claims"). Should any Claim give rise to a duty of indemnification
under the provisions of this Agreement, then the indemnitee shall promptly
notify the indemnitor, and the indemnitee shall be entitled, at its own
expense, and upon reasonable notice to the indemnitor, to participate in,
control the defense, compromise and to defend such Claim. The indemnitor may
not settle any claim without the consent of the indemnitee, except upon terms
and conditions offered or consented to by the indemnitee, which consent shall
not be unreasonably withheld. Neither participation nor control in the defense
shall waive or reduce any obligations to indemnify or hold harmless.
- Headings and References. Headings of Sections are for the
convenience of reference only. Words indicated in quotes and capitalized
signify an abbreviation or term for indicated words or terms, including those
definitions contained in this Agreement and elsewhere. The content in other
Web sites specifically referenced in this Agreement, such as URLs, is
incorporated by this reference as though fully stated in this Agreement.
- Relationships of Parties/Third Party Rights. The relationships
of the parties to this Agreement shall be solely that of independent
contractors, and nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed
otherwise. Nothing in this Agreement or in the business or dealings between
the parties shall be construed to make them joint venturers or partners with
each other. Neither party shall do anything to suggest to third parties that
the relationship between the parties is anything other than that of
independent contractor.
- Choice of Law/Attorneys Fees. This Agreement is governed by the
laws of the State of Florida (USA), except for its conflict of law provisions.
The exclusive forum for any actions related to this Agreement shall be in the
state courts in Broward County, Florida, and, to the extent that federal
courts have exclusive jurisdiction, in Miami, Florida or nearest federal
office to Pompano Beach, Florida. IR consents to such venue and jurisdiction.
The application of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of
Goods is expressly excluded. A party that primarily prevails in an action
brought under this Agreement is entitled to recover from the other party its
reasonable attorneys fees and costs. CIB controls and operates its Web site
from its offices in the U.S.A. and access or use where illegal is prohibited.
- Notices: All notices to CIB shall be delivered to corporate
headquarters at:
2301 W. Sample Road,
#4-2A
Pompano Beach, Florida
33073
- Force Majeure. Neither party shall be liable by reason of any
failure or delay in the performance of its obligations hereunder for any cause
beyond the reasonable control of such party, including but not limited to
electrical outages, failure of Internet service providers, riots,
insurrection, war (or similar), fires, flood, earthquakes, explosions, and
other acts of God.
- Severability/Waiver. If any provision of this Agreement is held
by any court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, null or void or against
public policy, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full
force and effect. The parties shall in good faith attempt to modify any
invalidated provision to carry out the stated intentions in this Agreement.
The waiver of any breach of any provision under this Agreement by any party
shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach, nor
shall any waiver constitute a continuing waiver.
- Assignment and Acknowledgement. Neither party may assign this
Agreement without the prior express written permission of the other party.
IR’s use of the CIB representative program and/or web site is irrefutable
acknowledgement by IR that IR has read, understood and agreed to each and
every term and provision of this Agreement.
- Age Representation. IR (OR REPRESENTATIVE OF A CORPORATE OR OTHER
IDENTITY) REPRESENTS AND WARRANTS THAT IR WAS AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE ON
THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT.