Website Terms & Conditions of Use

Updated 08/09/2025

This consolidated policy covers your use of our website, privacy practices, payments, and gift acceptance. It clarifies rights and responsibilities for both the North Carolina Consumers Council, Inc. and users. Definitions and section headings are provided to make navigation easier. Nothing in this document removes any rights you may have under applicable law.

Definitions

• “NCCC” means North Carolina Consumers Council, Inc.
• “Site” means any NCCC website, page, or service where this policy appears.
• “Materials” means text, graphics, images, audio, video, code, data, and downloadable files on the Site.
• “You” and “user” mean any visitor, member, donor, or organization accessing the Site.

Terms

By accessing the Site, you agree to these Terms and Conditions of Use and to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

Certain services on the Site, including payment processing, are provided by third parties such as Stripe, Inc. Your use of these services may be subject to the third party’s terms and privacy policies in addition to NCCC’s policies.

Accessibility

NCCC aims to provide an accessible experience consistent with commonly referenced standards such as WCAG. If you encounter a barrier, please let us know so we can reasonably address it.

Use License

NCCC grants a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to temporarily download one copy of the Materials for personal, noncommercial, transitory viewing only. This is a license, not a transfer of title. Under this license you may not:

• modify or copy the Materials;
• use the Materials for any commercial purpose;
• use the Materials for any public display, whether commercial or noncommercial;
• attempt to decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any code on the Site;
• remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices from the Materials;
• transfer the Materials to another person or mirror the Materials on any other server;
• use data mining, robots, scraping, or similar automated tools without prior written permission;
• use the Site to train or improve any artificial intelligence model without prior written permission.

This license terminates automatically if you violate any restriction or at NCCC’s discretion. Upon termination, you must destroy any downloaded Materials in your possession, electronic or printed.

Disclaimer

The Materials on the Site are provided “as is.” NCCC makes no warranties, express or implied, and disclaims all other warranties, including without limitation implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, noninfringement, and any warranties arising from course of dealing or usage of trade. Information is provided for general informational purposes. It is not legal, financial, or professional advice.

Limitations

In no event shall NCCC be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with your use of or inability to use the Site or the Materials, even if NCCC or an authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damages. Availability may be affected by third party hosting, maintenance, or network providers.

Revisions and Errata

Given the volume of Materials on the Site, technical, typographical, or photographic errors may occur. NCCC does not warrant that any Materials on the Site or any linked website are accurate, complete, or current, although reasonable efforts are made to minimize errors. NCCC may change the Materials at any time without notice and does not commit to updating Materials. NCCC does not warrant that Site functions will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site or servers are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Links

NCCC has not performed a comprehensive review of all sites linked to or from the Site and is not responsible for the content of any linked site. Inclusion of a link does not imply endorsement by NCCC of any company, person, website, product, or service. Linked sites have their own terms and privacy policies. Use of any such linked sites is at your sole risk, and links may change without notice.

By entering another site from the Site, you release and discharge NCCC from all liability to the extent permitted by law for any losses you might incur. Summaries, standards, or recommendations of third parties do not necessarily reflect NCCC views or indicate a commitment to any course of action.

Images

Images on the Site are for reference only. Inclusion of any image does not imply endorsement by NCCC. Images are owned by NCCC or by their respective rights holders and used with permission. No image, in whole or part, may be copied or used for any purpose without written permission, except where permitted by law such as fair use.

Text

Text on the Site is created by NCCC or republished from other sources authorized for republication. Appearance of third party text does not imply endorsement, merchantability, or fitness. While efforts are made to ensure completeness and accuracy, mistakes can occur. When discovered or notified, NCCC will make reasonable efforts to correct or remove the text within a reasonable time. No text, in whole or part, may be copied or used for any purpose without written permission, except where permitted by law.

Copyright and DMCA

Except for content licensed to NCCC by third parties, the Site and its collective works are protected by United States and international copyright laws and are the property of NCCC. Permission to temporarily download one copy for personal, noncommercial, transitory viewing is granted as described above. Any other use, including reproduction, distribution, display, or transmission, is prohibited unless authorized by NCCC in writing.

If you believe content infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Upon receipt of a compliant notice, NCCC may remove or disable access to the content and, where appropriate, notify the content source.

Trademark

All trademarks, service marks, and trade names of NCCC used on the Site are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCCC. Trademarks, service marks, and trade names of other organizations used on the Site are the property of their respective owners and are used with permission or in accordance with law.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless NCCC, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any violation of these terms or any activity related to your account or your use of the Site, including negligent or wrongful conduct by you or any other person accessing the Site using your account.

Site Terms of Use Modifications

NCCC may revise these terms at any time without notice. By using the Site you agree to be bound by the then current version of these Terms and Conditions of Use.

Severability

If any provision of these terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Governing Law

Any claim relating to the Site shall be governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina without regard to conflict of law principles. Any claims shall be filed and heard in Wake County, North Carolina.

Privacy Policy

Your privacy matters. This section explains what we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to information collected online through the Site and to membership or service interactions that rely on Site processes.

General

• We identify the purposes for which personal information is collected before or at the time of collection.
• We collect and use personal information to fulfill those purposes and other compatible purposes, or as required by law.
• We retain personal information only as long as necessary for those purposes, our records obligations, or as required by law.
• We collect personal information by lawful and fair means with knowledge or consent where required.
• Personal data should be relevant, accurate, complete, and kept reasonably up to date for the purposes used.
• We protect personal information by reasonable safeguards against loss, theft, and unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.

Types of Information Collected

NCCC does not collect personally identifiable information on your general web browsing habits. We collect information that you provide for membership enrollment, service enrollment, and contact forms. We monitor Site statistics through trusted third parties to identify errors, improve performance, and measure usage. These parties may place and read cookies or use web beacons. Third party advertisers, if present, may place and read cookies or use web beacons to collect information for ad delivery and measurement. We do not pass to third parties information that is recognized as personally identifiable or that permanently identifies a particular device where such identifiers cannot be reset.

Website ads, if used, are not used to merge personally identifiable information with nonpersonal information. We do not sell advertising data and do not use, share, or distribute such data beyond what is required for basic ad delivery and measurement by the ad provider.

We collect login timestamps for members who access the Member Center. We may log IP addresses to diagnose issues and combat spam or abuse. Correspondence to NCCC, whether printed or electronic, may be saved electronically for future review or as a matter of public record. Where appropriate, correspondence is not released to the public, or if release is required by law, is redacted to the extent permitted to protect personally identifiable information.

To reset accounts or verify identity, you may be asked to provide documentation. Once identity is verified, the documentation you submitted is destroyed, subject to legal retention requirements. Cookies on our Site remember preferences such as display options. Cookies do not collect your personally identifiable information.

Online payments made through our website are processed by Stripe, Inc. Your payment information, including credit or debit card details, is transmitted directly to Stripe via an encrypted connection. NCCC does not store your complete payment card information. Stripe processes your payment information in accordance with PCI-DSS security standards and its own privacy policy, available at https://stripe.com/privacy .

Cookie and Analytics Notice

We use cookies and similar technologies for essential functions, analytics, and preference management. You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Some features may not function properly if cookies are disabled.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or trade information collected. We may confirm your membership with a partner credit union if you are opening an account using NCCC eligibility or using member discounts. We may provide membership lists to partner credit unions with which we have agreements to provide members with financial services, subject to contractual limitations on use. We use reasonable safeguards and encryption for data transfers where appropriate.

Your Email Address

NCCC does not send unsolicited bulk email to those who provide an email address. Members who elect to share their email address may receive messages for the following reasons:

• To verify information, such as mail returned to sender
• To confirm a membership payment
• To confirm member benefits and related alerts, such as auto recall alerts
• To advise of policy changes requiring notice
• To notify of membership expiration and request renewal
• To send contact requests from the public for enrollees of the North Carolina Law Directory

“Remove Me” Requests

We honor requests to stop further communications. We actively identify duplicate accounts and attempt to merge them. If you have multiple unmerged accounts under different addresses or emails and request removal for only one, you may continue to receive communications on the others until they are merged. If that occurs, contact us so we can merge accounts and honor your request across them.

SPAM Reports

A user who provided an email address for correspondence and later marks NCCC emails as spam may have access to user-only Site services suspended to protect deliverability for other members.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act or similar state privacy laws. If such laws apply to you, you may have the right to request access, deletion, correction, or limitation of certain processing. If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, and if you interact with the Site, you may have rights under the GDPR. NCCC evaluates and responds to rights requests consistent with applicable law and our nonprofit obligations.

Data Retention and Security

We retain personal information for as long as needed for the purposes described, to comply with legal obligations, or to resolve disputes. We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards intended to protect information. No system can be guaranteed secure. Use the Site at your own risk.

Payments Policy

Purpose of Membership Fees

NCCC collects membership fees to support consumer awareness, education, and protection in North Carolina and beyond. NCCC also seeks to lessen the burden of government by serving as a resource and referral point that connects consumers to the appropriate organizations and agencies equipped to handle specific issues.

Tax Deductibility

NCCC is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Donations and membership dues are generally tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. If you are joining to establish credit union eligibility for a business or you are an attorney joining the North Carolina Law Directory, your membership may be deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense. Consult your tax advisor. NCCC issues receipts suitable for your records.

Refunds of Individual Memberships

Because membership provides eligibility to join state and federally regulated credit unions, all monies paid to NCCC, including those accepted by third parties on our behalf, are nonrefundable and nontransferable for any reason at any time. This restriction supports the integrity of the credit union eligibility process.

Memberships canceled by the member are not refunded and may be reactivated by completing a membership renewal.

Members who pay a membership fee while already a member will have that fee credited as additional membership time.

Refunds of North Carolina Law Directory Memberships

Attorneys who join the North Carolina Law Directory may cancel within thirty (30) days of the start date for a full refund. An attorney who receives a public disciplinary action while a member will have the directory membership canceled with a prorated refund. The complimentary general NCCC membership will also be canceled.

Unpaid North Carolina Law Directory Memberships

If a North Carolina Law Directory membership lapses, the lawyer’s directory page will convert to an ad-based page. The complimentary general NCCC membership will be canceled.

Credit Card Charge Backs

We treat chargebacks seriously. If a member disputes membership fees:

• The membership will be suspended.
• All credit union accounts opened using NCCC eligibility, including those opened by friends and family using family eligibility, will be forfeited.
• Reactivation requires payment by certified funds of a 75 dollar processing fee plus the entire disputed amount.
• If legal action is required to collect amounts owed, NCCC will seek all damages incurred, including the original transaction amount, merchant fees relating to the chargeback, court fees, service of process fees, reasonable labor incurred, and direct expenses such as postage or parking.

Responsibilities of the Member to Notify Credit Unions of Membership Status

When applying for credit union membership using NCCC eligibility, you are responsible for notifying credit union representatives of your NCCC membership and providing proof. Membership can be verified by the credit union with a Member ID using the member verification page. Membership in NCCC does not guarantee acceptance in affiliated credit unions since you must independently qualify for their accounts.

Overpayments

Any overpayment made with your membership payment is considered a donation and is nonrefundable.

Membership Expiration and Renewals

All members are invoiced ninety (90) days prior to expiration. Renewal is not required. You may request at any time that we do not invoice you for a renewal.

Payment Types Accepted

We accept checks, cash, money orders, and credit cards. You may join or renew online, over the phone, in person, or at any partner credit union. Where available, we may also accept ACH or wire transfers. Do not send cash by mail.

Payment Processing

Online payments made through our website are processed by Stripe, Inc. Stripe is responsible for securely transmitting and processing your payment information. By submitting a payment, you agree to be bound by Stripe’s terms of service, available at https://stripe.com/legal . NCCC is not responsible for processing errors caused by Stripe but will assist you in resolving payment issues to the extent reasonably possible.

Damages

Anyone submitting a payment accepts liability for any damages that may occur in transit or due to misdelivery outside NCCC’s control. Payments submitted via the Site are encrypted. Use a current web browser with security updates applied.

Check Holds

We place a two week hold on all personal checks. To avoid delays, use a certified check, money order, or credit card.

Insufficient Funds

Payments returned for insufficient funds will be assessed all fees as applicable under North Carolina law.

Implied Consent

By submitting a payment to NCCC, you agree to be bound by this Payments Policy.

Gift Acceptance Policy

General

This policy ensures that gifts to or for the use of NCCC are structured to provide maximum benefit to both donors and NCCC. A gift is anything of value given where the donor receives no direct benefit and requires nothing in exchange beyond assurance that the donor’s intent or conditions will be honored. The Board of Directors, Executive Director, Director of Development, and Development Team, as designated, may solicit and accept gifts on behalf of NCCC.

• By accepting a gift, NCCC accepts responsibility to steward it properly, administer it correctly, provide accurate and timely information about the gift, and report on its use when appropriate.
• Unrestricted gifts are encouraged due to the flexibility they provide.
• NCCC does not provide legal, accounting, or tax advice. Donors should consult their advisors.

NCCC may decline gifts that are not in the best interest of the donor, that provide unequal benefits, that yield little to no financial gain, that are offered for purposes inconsistent with NCCC’s mission, that include restrictions violating NCCC ethics or require discrimination, or that might violate the standards of NCCC’s governing body.

Policies and Oversight

These policies address common gift types. Special situations not covered here may be reviewed by the Director of Development and, when appropriate, by the Board of Directors. NCCC reserves the right to review and refuse any gift without reason. Donors are sent gift receipts within a reasonable time. Tokens of appreciation, when appropriate, will not exceed federal requirements. NCCC may publicly acknowledge donors and gifts unless an anonymity request is received.

Compliance and Review

The Director of Development is responsible for compliance with this policy. The Development Team screens gifts and may elevate proposals with extenuating circumstances to the Board of Directors.

Evaluation of Costs for Property and Gifts in Kind

Proposed property gifts are evaluated for costs such as transportation, storage, maintenance, insurance, or disposal. The Director of Development conducts prompt evaluations after Development Team review.

Restricted Gifts

If a restricted gift is accepted, NCCC will comply with the restriction. The Development Team, under the Director of Development, ensures compliance and proper acknowledgement.

Memorandum of Understanding

For major or planned gifts, the Director of Development may sign a memorandum of understanding with the donor stating the purpose, background, funding method, beneficiary criteria, NCCC responsibilities, permitted uses, and plan for public announcement.

Qualified Appraisals

NCCC does not appraise gifts. Certified, independent appraisers not associated with NCCC should perform appraisals. Donors are responsible for appraisal costs unless otherwise stated.

Cash

Cash gifts include currency, check or money order, and credit card. Delivery may be in person, by mail, EFT, or wire. Cash and checks are reported on the date received. EFT or wire gifts are reported on the date funds post. Credit card gifts are reported on the transaction date.

Personal Property

Gifts of personal property and in kind gifts include items such as precious metals, jewelry, artwork, collections, and equipment. Such gifts may be sold, donated, raffled, or used for the benefit of NCCC at the discretion of the Director of Development. IRS Form 8282 will be filed and issued to the donor if property is disposed of within three years of the gift date. NCCC will cooperate with IRS inquiries regarding noncash gifts.

Real Estate

No gift of residential, rental, commercial, industrial, or agricultural real estate will be accepted without a site visit by the Director of Development and review with recommendation to the Board. All real estate gifts require Board approval, an independent appraisal, and inspection. Donors are responsible for appraisal costs unless NCCC requests a second appraisal, in which case NCCC covers the second appraisal and the fair market value is the average of the two.

NCCC will not accept real estate encumbered by a mortgage or lien, properties with legal violations, or properties without clear title. Environmental audits by qualified professionals are required and are the donor’s responsibility. If environmental cleanup expenses arise under CERCLA or similar laws, NCCC may reimburse expenses from the gift account, including if discovered after acceptance, even if cleanup depletes the gift account. NCCC will not be liable for lawsuits arising from environmental hazards on gifted property. For retained life estates, the donor pays all or part of maintenance, taxes, and insurance for life, acknowledged in writing prior to acceptance.

Securities

Publicly traded securities and mutual funds with readily ascertainable market value are accepted as outright gifts. Value is determined by averaging the high and low trading price on the date received, consistent with IRS policy. Closely held securities must be examined for valuation and marketability and require approval by the Director of Development.

Pledges

Pledges are commitments to give a specific amount on a fixed schedule and are usually for no more than one year. Other pledges must be documented in writing and specify the amount, payment schedule, absence of contingencies, donor capacity, and that recognition or naming may be removed if the pledge is not completed on schedule.

Gift recognition practices include the following:

• Anticipated gifts are not counted until received.
• Pledges and expected gifts may qualify separately for donor recognition groups.
• Public recognition occurs after the pledge is paid in full.
• If the final amount differs due to rounding, evaluation, or incremental giving, recognition aligns with the final amount.
• Upon a donor’s death, remaining pledge balances are written off unless provided for in the will or the family intends to complete the pledge.
• Requests to deactivate a pledge must be approved by the Director of Development.

Planned Gifts

Donors are encouraged to disclose bequest intentions in writing to ensure NCCC can carry out donor wishes and confirm alignment with this policy and our code of ethics. If an estate gift does not meet policy principles, NCCC will communicate decisions to the estate’s representative and seek a mutually acceptable agreement.

Charitable Gift Annuities

NCCC does not currently accept charitable gift annuities.

Trusts

Gifts in the form of a trust are reviewed by the Director of Development and submitted to the Board for evaluation and approval.

Endowments

Donors are encouraged to contact the Director of Development during estate planning so NCCC has a record of intent. Bequest endowments must contain express instructions and are reviewed prior to acceptance. If instructions are incomplete or too restrictive, NCCC will work with the donor’s representative to reach an acceptable agreement.

Gifts of Insurance

NCCC accepts life insurance policies as gifts when NCCC is named as the irrevocable owner and sole beneficiary. Planned gifts of insurance should name NCCC as beneficiary upon death or as both beneficiary and owner. Donors should contact the Director of Development for assistance.

Life Estate

Donors may gift a primary residence or farm while retaining full use and rights during life. See the Real Estate section or contact the Director of Development for details on retained life estates.

Reporting Policy

Irrevocable planned gifts are reported at full fair market value, consistent with applicable standards.