LeaseDefend™ | Bank-Verified Tenant Screening & Financial Underwriting

Operating Entity & CRA Designation

Operating Entity & Contractual Agreement

These Master Terms of Service govern your access to and use of the LeaseDefend™ platform, located at leasedefend.co, operated by Property Support Services LLC dba LeaseDefend™ ('LeaseDefend™', 'we', 'us', or 'our'), with principal business offices at 1 E Erie St Suite 525-3150, Chicago, IL 60611. By creating an account, accessing the platform, initiating a screening request, or connecting a financial institution, you legally agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

Specialty Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) Status

LeaseDefend™ operates as a Specialty Consumer Reporting Agency under Section 603 of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f)). We assemble, evaluate, and furnish consumer cash-flow underwriting reports ('LeaseWorthy™ Reports') solely for the lawful evaluation of prospective residential tenants.

Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to amend these Terms at any time. For material modifications, we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice via email or a prominent notification across the platform before changes take effect. Continued platform utilization following the effective date constitutes affirmative acceptance.

Eligibility & Residential Screening Scope

Age & Domicile Requirements

You must be at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the United States to register an account and utilize LeaseDefend™. You warrant that all identification credentials and registration details supplied are accurate, current, and complete.

Exclusive Residential Housing Purpose

LeaseDefend™ tools and consumer reports are designed and furnished exclusively for residential rental transactions, tenant cash-flow qualification, and lease risk assessment. Services may not be used for commercial credit, employment evaluation, or unauthorized personal surveillance.

Landlord & Property Manager Obligations (FCRA § 604 & § 607)

Certification of Permissible Purpose (§ 604)

Any landlord, property manager, leasing agent, or housing provider ('End User' or 'Landlord') requesting or accessing a LeaseWorthy™ Report legally certifies under penalty of perjury that: (1) each request is made solely for the legitimate permissible purpose of evaluating a prospective residential tenant under FCRA § 604(a)(3)(F); and (2) explicit prior written or electronic consent has been obtained from the applicant.

Strict Non-Disclosure & Resale Prohibition (§ 607)

The Landlord shall maintain all consumer reports in strict confidence and shall not sell, license, publish, transfer, or disclose any report (or any information derived therefrom) to any third party, except as required by lawful subpoena or court order.

Fair Housing Act & Non-Discrimination Covenants

Landlords must evaluate LeaseDefend™ reports in strict compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and all applicable state and municipal fair housing statutes. Reports shall never be used to discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Mandatory Adverse Action Compliance (FCRA § 615)

If a Landlord takes any Adverse Action against an applicant (defined as denying tenancy, requiring an increased security deposit, demanding a co-signer/guarantor, or imposing accelerated rent prepayment) based in whole or in part on information in a LeaseDefend™ report, the Landlord MUST issue a written Adverse Action Notice disclosing LeaseDefend™'s CRA identity (Property Support Services LLC dba LeaseDefend™, 1 E Erie St Suite 525-3150, Chicago, IL 60611, disputes@leasedefend.co), the applicant's right to a free report within 60 days, and their right to dispute inaccuracies under FCRA § 611.

Applicant Financial Privacy Firewall Guarantee

Contractual Non-Disclosure Guarantee

LeaseDefend™ enforces a strict, legally binding Financial Privacy Firewall. Landlords and property managers NEVER receive, view, or export raw transaction itemizations (e.g., retail shopping, dining, grocery receipts), healthcare/medical expenses, or full bank account and routing numbers.

Aggregated Mathematical Underwriting Only

Prospective housing providers receive exclusively aggregated risk metrics: your 0–100 LeaseWorthy™ Score, verified monthly net income average, payroll deposit regularity, rent-to-income coverage multiple, liquid reserve buffer estimate, and utility consistency rating.

Open Banking Authorization & Multi-Rail Integrations

Encrypted Read-Only Access via Quiltt, Plaid & Mastercard

When an applicant connects their depository institution, they authorize LeaseDefend™ and its contracted Open Banking infrastructure providers (Quiltt Inc., Plaid Inc., and Mastercard Open Banking / Finicity) to establish a secure, read-only API connection to retrieve historical balances, payroll deposits, and recurring expense trends.

Zero Credential Storage

LeaseDefend™ never receives, views, or stores online banking usernames, passwords, or multifactor security tokens. All authentication occurs directly within your financial institution's encrypted OAuth portal.

Calculation & Report Consent

You grant express consent for the automated retrieval, categorization, and analysis of your read-only cash-flow activity to compute your LeaseWorthy™ Score and compile your verified consumer screening report.

VaraPay Ecosystem Ingestion & Rent History Sync

Cross-Platform Positive Rent Streak Authorization

If you maintain an account or verified on-time rent payment streak on the VaraPay network, you authorize LeaseDefend™ to ingest and factor those positive rental payment records into your underwriting calculation to strengthen your LeaseWorthy™ Score.

FCRA § 623 Data Furnisher Standards

In transmitting rental payment data to LeaseDefend™, VaraPay operates as a Data Furnisher subject to Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. VaraPay warrants the accuracy and integrity of furnished rental records.

Dispute Coordination & Revocation

Any dispute regarding rent payment history furnished through VaraPay will be investigated jointly under statutory FCRA timelines. Applicants may unlink their VaraPay account at any time through account settings, which will restrict subsequent data synchronization.

Account Security & Integrity

Safeguarding Credentials

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You agree to notify us immediately at security@leasedefend.co of any suspected unauthorized access or compromised security.

Single Account Policy

You may not lease, sell, transfer, or assign account access to third parties without express written authorization. One account is permitted per applicant or property management entity.

Payments, Stripe Processing & Refund Policy

Secure Payment Processing via Stripe

All screening report fees and property manager subscriptions are processed via Stripe, a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment gateway. LeaseDefend™ does not store raw credit card numbers or security CVVs.

Refund & Screening Credit Policy

Screening report purchases and prepaid screening invitations are non-refundable once an order is placed or processing begins. No monetary refunds will be issued if the inability to complete or deliver a report is due to reasons outside the direct control or fault of LeaseDefend™ (including, without limitation, applicant abandonment or refusal to complete verification, entering incorrect login credentials, failure to connect an eligible financial institution, failure of secondary verification, or housing provider cancellation after order placement). In lieu of cash refunds for unclaimed, abandoned, or unused prepaid screening reports, eligible account holders may request screening credits toward future applicant reports. To request a screening coupon credit for an unclaimed or unused prepaid report, the account holder must contact our support team by email at support@leasedefend.co or billing@leasedefend.co within thirty (30) days of the original purchase, specifying the order reference. Upon review and verification, LeaseDefend™ will issue single-use coupon credits equal to the value of the unclaimed screening fee for application toward future applicant reports.

Consumer Dispute Procedures (FCRA § 611)

Right to Free Reinvestigation

Every consumer has the federal statutory right to dispute any inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information in their LeaseDefend™ consumer report at no charge under FCRA § 611.

Filing a Dispute

Disputes may be submitted electronically via disputes@leasedefend.co or online at https://leasedefend.co/disputes. Please provide your full name, registered email, report reference number, and supporting explanation.

30-Day Resolution Timeline & Re-Verification

LeaseDefend™ will conduct an objective reinvestigation within thirty (30) days of dispute receipt, coordinating with data aggregators (Quiltt / Plaid / Mastercard) and furnishers (VaraPay). If information is found incorrect or unverifiable, LeaseDefend™ will promptly modify the file, regenerate the report, and notify all parties who received the report within the preceding 30 days.

Acceptable Use Policy & Fraud Prevention

Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to scrape, reverse-engineer, crawl, decompile, or tamper with any portion of the LeaseDefend™ platform. You must not attempt to manipulate bank feeds, spoof deposits, or fabricate transactions to artificially inflate a LeaseWorthy™ Score.

Civil & Criminal Penalties

Intentionally submitting falsified financial records or unauthorized third-party banking credentials to obtain housing constitutes federal and state wire fraud and will result in immediate account revocation and referral to law enforcement agencies.

Intellectual Property & Licensing

Proprietary Rights

All software, algorithms, risk scoring models, LeaseWorthy™ Score formulas, design systems, and trademarks are the exclusive proprietary property of Property Support Services LLC dba LeaseDefend™ and protected under intellectual property laws.

Limited License

We grant you a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the platform solely for lawful residential tenant screening and personal tenant evaluation operations.

Liability Disclaimers & Statutory Rights

Underwriting Tool Disclaimer

LeaseDefend™ provides objective cash-flow underwriting indices based on data furnished by third-party financial institutions and furnishers. LeaseDefend™ does not warrant or guarantee the future lease performance, financial solvency, or rent payment behavior of any tenant.

Cumulative Liability Cap

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the cumulative liability of Property Support Services LLC dba LeaseDefend™ arising out of or related to these Terms or the platform shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to LeaseDefend™ for the specific screening report giving rise to the claim.

Preservation of Non-Waivable Consumer Rights

Nothing in these Terms shall limit, restrict, or waive any consumer rights or statutory remedies guaranteed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) or applicable state consumer protection laws that cannot lawfully be disclaimed by contract.

Termination, Governing Law & Jurisdiction

Termination Rights

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account immediately upon violation of these Terms, unauthorized data access, or fraudulent screening submissions. Users may terminate their account at any time via profile settings.

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States, without giving effect to conflict of laws principles. Any legal proceeding arising hereunder shall be instituted in competent federal or state courts.

State & Municipal Screening Compliance & Fee Allocation

Automated Compliance Assistance & Legal Disclaimer

LeaseDefend™ provides automated jurisdiction-based configuration tools, fee caps, and municipal feature gating (such as New York Real Property Law § 238-a fee caps or Seattle SMC 14.09 screening restrictions) to assist housing providers in operating lawfully. However, LeaseDefend™ operates as a technology platform and specialty consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. Platform tools, statutory summaries, and configuration toggles do not constitute formal legal counsel. Housing providers remain independently responsible for verifying and complying with all applicable local, county, state, and federal rental housing laws.

Split-Pay and Landlord Fee Sponsorship Authorization

When a housing provider initiates a screening invitation utilizing Split-Pay or 100% Landlord Sponsorship, the housing provider expressly authorizes LeaseDefend™ and its payment processing partner (Stripe) to charge the designated landlord fee share to the provider's payment method upon invitation submission. If an applicant has already obtained a verified, non-expired 30-Day Portable Passport, receiving housing providers may access such report at zero incremental charge pursuant to state fee waiver statutes.

Tenant Portability Terms

Standard screening reports are furnished exclusively for the evaluation of a single designated housing provider's vacancy. Prospective tenants may elect to purchase an optional 30-Day Portable Passport from LeaseDefend™ to securely reuse and transmit their verified underwriting data to multiple prospective housing providers.

Questions about these Terms or FCRA?

For legal inquiries, FCRA compliance, or consumer disputes, please contact us at disputes@leasedefend.co or general support at support@leasedefend.co.