Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

PastPermit helps you understand what's on the public record for a property. It's a research tool, not a legal opinion. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of PastPermit (the “Service”). By purchasing a report or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding contract to use the Service.

2. Informational Use Only

PastPermit provides reports compiled from publicly available records for general informational purposes only. The information in a report is intended to help you understand the documented history of a property and should not be relied on as a legal, financial, or professional determination of any kind. Any reliance you place on a report is at your own risk.

3. Data Sources, Accuracy, and Timeliness

Report data is aggregated from government and public-records sources including the City of Charlotte's permitting portal, the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds and Assessor, and FEMA flood map services. PastPermit does not own, control, or independently verify this underlying data.

We make no representation or warranty that a report is complete, accurate, or current. Government records may contain errors, omissions, or delays. Permit filings typically appear in the city portal within a few days of submission; deed records can take weeks. Work performed without a permit will not appear in any permit search, and conversely, the presence of a permit on record does not mean the work was performed correctly, fully completed, or meets current code. Where a source is temporarily unavailable, the corresponding section of your report may be partial or omitted. You are responsible for independently verifying, with the appropriate professional, any fact that matters to your decision.

4. Not a Substitute for Professional Services

A PastPermit report is not a home inspection, structural engineering report, title commitment, survey, appraisal, environmental assessment, lender underwriting, building-code compliance review, or attorney opinion. It does not evaluate the physical condition of a property and does not guarantee clear title. Before purchasing, financing, insuring, or making other decisions about a property, you should retain a licensed home inspector, title company, real estate attorney, or other qualified professional as appropriate.

5. FCRA Disclaimer — Prohibited Uses

PastPermit is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (“FCRA”), and PastPermit reports are not consumer reports under the FCRA.

You may not use, and agree not to use, any PastPermit report — in whole or in part — as a factor in establishing any person's eligibility for:

• credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes;
• employment or employment decisions;
• housing, including tenant screening or leasing decisions;
• a license or other benefit granted by a government agency; or
• any other purpose authorized under Section 604 of the FCRA.

If you need a consumer report for any of these purposes, use a properly authorized consumer reporting agency. Misuse of a PastPermit report for an FCRA purpose is a violation of these Terms and may subject you to liability under federal law.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• scrape, crawl, or otherwise programmatically access the Service or reports, except as expressly permitted by us in writing;
• resell, redistribute, republish, sublicense, or make a report available to third parties as a commercial product;
• reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract the source code or underlying data structures of the Service;
• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law, regulation, or third-party right;
• use the Service for any purpose prohibited by Section 5 above; or
• impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation when interacting with the Service.

7. Intellectual Property

The PastPermit name, logo, website, and software are owned by us. The underlying public-records data remains the property of the issuing government agencies. Your purchase grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use your report for your own personal, non-commercial purposes. You may share your report with professionals assisting you (such as your real estate agent, lender, inspector, or attorney); you may not resell or publish it.

8. Payment, Pricing, and Refunds

Payment is processed through Stripe, our third-party payment processor. By providing payment information, you represent that you are authorized to use the payment method. Prices are listed in U.S. dollars and exclude any applicable taxes. We may update pricing at any time; price changes do not affect purchases already made.

All purchases are final. Each report triggers paid third-party data lookups the moment you check out, so we do not offer general refunds after a report has been generated. If a report contains a material technical error caused by PastPermit (not by an underlying public-records source), or if a data source is unavailable at the time of purchase, contact support@pastpermit.com and we will, at our discretion, regenerate the report at no cost or refund the purchase through the original payment method within approximately 5–14 business days.

9. Report Access and 30-Day Regeneration Window

Your report link remains accessible indefinitely at the URL we provide. PDF downloads and email re-sends are available free of charge for 30 days from the date of purchase. After 30 days, PDF and email regeneration may be declined; contact support and we will send you a fresh copy at our discretion.

10. Electronic Communications

By purchasing a report, you consent to receive the report, receipts, and related service communications electronically at the email address you provide. You may withdraw this consent by contacting us at support@pastpermit.com, though doing so will end our ability to deliver reports you purchase going forward. Withdrawal does not affect any purchase already completed.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated version here and revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for any conduct we reasonably believe violates these Terms or is otherwise harmful to PastPermit, our users, or third parties. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, and 17) will survive.

You may terminate your use of the Service at any time by discontinuing access. Termination does not affect reports already purchased, which remain accessible per Section 9.

13. Limitation of Liability; Warranty Disclaimer

To the fullest extent permitted by law, PastPermit and its operators, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the Service or any report — including but not limited to lost profits, lost opportunity, business interruption, property damage, costs incurred in connection with any real estate transaction, or claims by third parties. In no event will our total aggregate liability to you exceed the amount you paid us for the report at issue.

Reports are provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy or completeness of data obtained from third-party sources.

14. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless PastPermit and its operators, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of, or reliance on, any PastPermit report; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including privacy or intellectual-property rights; or (d) any use of a report prohibited by the FCRA Disclaimer in Section 5.

In any dispute or arbitration arising under these Terms where PastPermit is the prevailing party, you agree to pay PastPermit's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

15. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising under these Terms or relating to your use of the Service that is not subject to arbitration under the next paragraph shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, your use of the Service, or any report will be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration will take place in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, or at another location the parties agree to in writing.

YOU AND PASTPERMIT AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

16. Miscellaneous

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and PastPermit regarding your use of the Service and supersede all prior or contemporaneous understandings.

No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of that right or provision.

Force Majeure. We will not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, accidents, strikes, failures of telecommunications or internet service providers, or shortages of transportation facilities, fuel, energy, labor, or materials.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email support@pastpermit.com.