1. Short Title.

These rules will be known as the LVP Rules. The LVP Rules are a part of, and are incorporated into, PissedConsumer's Terms of Use.

2. Purpose.

PissedConsumer (“PC”) established the Legitimacy Verification Program (“LVP”) to provide an efficient, inexpensive and unbiased alternative dispute resolution process that will allow an interested person (a “Complainant”) to commence a process in which a neutral third party will decide whether particular content, including, without limitation, the title and body of a post, a comment, a question, etc., published on PC by a user (a “Post”), complies with PC’s Terms of Use. LVP allows the interested person a process to challenge Posts that the Complainant believes violate PC's Terms of Service (“PC’s Terms”) by submitting a Complaint to PC and thereafter notifying the author of the Post (“Poster”) of the Complaint in accordance with the procedures set forth in the LVP Rules. The Poster, having been notified of a Complaint regarding one or more Posts, will have an opportunity to respond by completing an answer form (“Answer”) in accordance with the procedures set forth in the LVP Rules. PC will forward both the Complaint and Answer to an independent, neutral third-party (“Third-Party Neutral”). The Third-Party Neutral will review both the Complaint and Answer and render a decision regarding whether the Post complies with PC’s Terms of Use. If the Third-Party Neutral determines that a Post violates the Terms of Use, PC will remove such Post and replace it with the Third-Party Neutral’s written decision. The URL of the Post, however, will remain the same (please see examples of LVP decisions here). Hereby, any existing comments to such a Post will be removed, the Comments section will be blocked, and no future comments can be posted. If the Third-Party Neutral determines that only portions of the Post violate the Terms of Use, the Third-Party Neutral has the discretion to decide that only those portions of such Post will be removed. The LVP applies only to the cases when the Complainant wishes to remove 10 Posts or fewer. In the event the Complainant wishes to remove more than 10 Posts, PC will only accept a corresponding Court Order (please refer to Legal Information, section “A valid court order”) Once the Complainant utilized the LVP for 10 Posts, such a Complainant may use the LVP again no earlier than upon the expiration of 6 months from the date of submission of the previous Complaint to PC.

Exclusion: You may not participate in the LVP if you are currently in litigation against PC, have previously been engaged in litigation with PC (or its predecessors in interest), or if you have threatened legal action against PC. In the event that you meet any of these conditions, PC will transmit that information to the Third-Party Neutral, and the Third-Party Neutral specifically does not have the power to adjudicate any dispute involving a party that meets any of these conditions.

3. Third-Party Neutral.

Each Third-Party Neutral will be an independent attorney who is not an employee of PC and whose firm has contracted with PC to provide attorneys who will serve as Third-Party Neutrals in conformity with the LVP Rules. PC shall have no input or influence over the Third-Party Neutral’s decision. The Third-Party Neutral will make a decision based solely on the information contained in the Complaint and Answer, as is more fully described in paragraphs 11 and 12 of these Rules. The Third-Party Neutral is a third-party beneficiary of PC’s Terms of Use, including, without limitation, the LVP Rules.

The Third-Party Neutral’s involvement in the LVP does not constitute an attorney-client relationship with PC, the Complainant or the Poster, and neither PC, the Complainant nor the Poster shall construe or attempt to construe the Third-Party Neutral’s actions in connection with the dispute resolution process described in the LVP Rules as constituting an attorney-client relationship with any such person.

4. Fee.

The LVP utilizes a two-tiered fee structure based on the number of reviews in dispute. If 1 review of a Poster is in dispute, the fee charged to the Complainant for filing a Complaint shall be $1,200.00. If multiple reviews, up to 5, of a Poster are in dispute, the fee charged to the Complainant for filing a Complaint shall be $2,000.00.

In the event the Complainant wants to remove not a review(s), but other Posts (comment(s), question(s) in Q&A(s), etc.) that are not congruent with the scenarios described above, the following occurs:

- the Complainant files a Complaint (please see paragraph 5 below);

- PC sends the Complaint to a TPN;

- the Complainant decides whether he/she wants to proceed with the LVP process.

The LVP applies only to the cases when the Complainant wishes to remove 10 reviews or less.

Please note that only a TPN can determine fees. All fees are paid directly to a TPN. PC does not participate in a payment process in any way. Neither does PC profit from the LVP in any way. PC has established the LVP on a completely voluntary basis.

5. Complaint.

The Complaint consists of (i) the completed Complaint Form, and (ii) any supporting documents (including witness statements) attached to the Complaint. The complaint and attachments cannot exceed 20 pages in total. If the complaint and the attachments exceed 20 pages, the Third-Party Neutral has the discretion to disregard the additional pages. The Complaint must be signed by the Complainant (if an individual) or an authorized representative of the Complainant (if the Complainant is a business entity). The completed Complaint must be e-mailed in PDF format to PC at the following e-mail address: lvp@pissedconsumer.com. See Legitimacy Verification Program (LVP) Complaint Form Instructions for more detail.

6. Review of Complaint for Proper Completion.

Upon receipt of a Complaint, PC will forward it to the Third-Party Neutral. Within five business days of receiving the Complaint, the Third-Party Neutral will e-mail to the Complainant a letter with instructions for paying the Third-Party Neutral applicable fee described in paragraph 4 of the LVP Rules (the "Fee Letter"). The Third-Party Neutral will determine if the Complaint has been properly completed. If the Third-Party Neutral determines that the Complaint has not been properly completed, the Third-Party Neutral will notify the Complainant of the deficiency by e-mail within five business days after receiving the Complaint. Complainant will then have five business days to correct the deficiency by resubmitting a properly completed Complaint. A unique identification number (the “LVP ID”) will then be assigned to the Complaint.

7. Payment of Fee to Third-Party Neutral.

Within five business days of receiving the Fee Letter from the Third-Party Neutral, the Complainant shall pay the Third-Party Neutral the applicable fee in full in accordance with the payment instructions set forth in the Fee Letter.

8. Notice of Complaint.

a. Complainant to Notify Poster. Within 5 business days of receiving the payment referenced in paragraph 7 of the LVP Rules, the Third-Party Neutral will e-mail the Complainant a letter (the “Notice of Complaint Letter”) instructing the Complainant to post the following “Notice of Complaint” in the comment section of the Post or Posts at issue:

*NOTICE OF COMPLAINT*

Please take notice that Complainant has initiated a Complaint against this Post due to alleged violations of PissedConsumer's Terms of Service pursuant to Pissed =Consumer’s Legitimacy Verification Program. To receive a copy of the Complaint send an email that includes the review number for this Post to lvp@pissedconsumer.com requesting a copy. You, the Poster, have a right to respond to the Complaint to establish the truth of the Post’s statements. If you intend to respond, you have 20 days from the date when this Notice was posted to answer the Complaint. Your Answer must be submitted within 20 days from the date when this Notice was posted. Failure to submit an Answer within 20 days waives your right to participate in the Legitimacy Verification Program as to this particular Complaint.

All Legitimacy Verification Program disputes are decided by an independent attorney who is not an employee of PissedConsumer and whose firm has contracted with PissedConsumer to provide attorneys who will serve as Third-Party Neutrals in conformity with the rules of the Legitimacy Verification Program. PissedConsumer WILL NOT reveal your identity or email address to Complainant without your express consent or pursuant to a subpoena or court order.

For more information regarding the Legitimacy Verification Program, please refer to the program’s rules found at https://www.pissedconsumer.com/static/legitimacy-verification-program-rules-and-conditions.html.

LVP ID:___________

Please note that username/ nickname you use to post the notice will remain on the page.

The Notice of Complaint Letter from the Third-Party Neutral shall also instruct the Complainant to send an e-mail to the Third-Party Neutral at the e-mail address set forth in such letter within five business days of posting the Notice of Complaint in substantially the following form:

*CERTIFICATION OF POSTING OF NOTICE OF COMPLAINT*

[Name of Complainant] (the “Complainant”) certifies the following facts to [Insert name of Third-Party Neutral identified in the Notice of Complaint Letter] (the “Third Party Neutral”);

1. Complainant initiated a Complaint in accordance with the terms and conditions of PissedConsumer’s Legitimacy Verification Program.

2. The relevant Complaint has been assigned the following review number: [Insert the review number set forth in the Notice of Complaint Letter].

3. In accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice of Complaint Letter, on [insert date of posting the Notice of Complaint], Complainant posted the Notice of Complaint in the comment section of each Post that is the subject matter of the Complainant’s Complaint.

b. Third-Party Neutral to Notify Poster. In addition to the notification procedure described in 8.a above, when available, PC will provide the Third-Party Neutral with the e-mail address of the Poster. When PC provides the Third-Party Neutral with an e-mail address, within 5 business days of the Complainant e-mailing the “Certification of Posting of Notice of Complaint” to the Third-Party Neutral, described in 8.a above, the Third-Party Neutral will e-mail a copy of the Complaint and the Answer form to the e-mail address provided by PC. The text of the e-mail shall read, in substantive part, as follows:

“[insert Post’s title]”, found at [insert link to Post] (the “Post”) posted by you on PissedConsumer.com (“PC”) has been the subject of a Legitimacy Verification Program (the “LVP”) Complaint (for a full overview of the LVP please see the LVP Rules and Conditions at ). A copy of the Complaint is attached hereto for your convenience.

If you wish to respond to the Complaint, you have 20 days from the date the “Notice of Complaint” was published as a comment to the Post. In order to respond, please review the LVP Rules and Conditions, complete and submit your Answer by following this link [insert a URL containing the corresponding LVP ID].

All Legitimacy Verification Program disputes are decided by an independent attorney who is not an employee of PissedConsumer and whose firm has contracted with PissedConsumer to provide attorneys who will serve as Third-Party Neutrals in conformity with the rules of the Legitimacy Verification Program. PissedConsumer WILL NOT reveal your identity or email address to Complainant without your express consent or pursuant to a subpoena or court order."

9. Answer.

From the date the Notice of Complaint described in paragraph 8 is posted by the Complainant and published by PissedConsumer.com, the Poster will have 20 days to submit an Answer to the Complaint. If the Poster fails to submit an Answer within such 20 days period, the Poster will be deemed to have irrevocably waived its right to participate in the LVP in connection with the Complaint. The Answer consists of (i) the completed Answer Form (you may also complete it online if the Third-Party Neutral emailed you a corresponding link - please see 8.b above), and (ii) any supporting documents (including witness statements) attached to the answer. The answer and attachments cannot exceed 20 pages in total. If the answer and the attachments exceed 20 pages, the Third-Party Neutral has the discretion to disregard the additional pages. As discussed in paragraph 10, the Poster may submit its Answer on an anonymous basis. The Poster has the option to either sign the completed Answer or elect not to sign the Answer in order to preserve the Poster’s anonymity. The completed Answer must be timely e-mailed in PDF format (the LVP ID must be included in the subject line of the email) or submitted using an online form. Within five business days of receiving a completed Answer, PC will e-mail the Answer to the Third-Party Neutral and Complainant. See Legitimacy Verification Program (LVP) Answer Form Instructions for more details.

10. Protecting the name and e-mail address of the Poster.

PC respects the anonymity of the Poster. Accordingly, a Poster may answer a Complaint without disclosing its name or phone number, or email to the Complainant. However, the Poster must disclose at least his/her email address to PC and the Third-Party Neutral to participate in the LVP process. If the Poster signs the Answer with his/her name or otherwise includes identifying information in the text of the Answer, the Poster acknowledges that PC will be authorized to send the Answer to the Third-Party Neutral in accordance with the LVP Rules. The Third-Party Neutral has the discretion to give less weight to a Poster’s Answer that is submitted without disclosure of a Poster's name.

Although the Poster has no obligation under the LVP Rules to disclose the name or phone number, if the Poster elects to participate in the LVP by submitting the Answer to PC, the Poster is required to include his/her e-mail address in the Answer Form. That address is needed so that the decision of the Third-Party Neutral can be communicated to the Poster.

If the Poster chooses to reveal its name and phone number to PC and the Third-Party Neutral, neither the Third-Party Neutral nor PC will disclose the Poster’s name or phone number to the Complainant or anyone else; provided, however, that the Third-Party Neutral or PC may disclose identifying information of the Poster to the extent required by a court order, subpoena or similar investigative demand.

11. Standard for Verification.

The Complainant bears the initial burden of coming forward with evidence that the Post violates PC’s Terms of Use. This burden may be met by the contents of the Complaint. If the Complainant meets this burden, the burden shifts to the Poster to provide evidence that the statements in the Post comply with PC’s Terms of Use. This burden may be met by the contents of the Answer. The Third-Party Neutral will decide, based on the submissions of the parties whether it is more likely than not that the Post, or part of the Post, violates PC’s Terms of Use. If, in the Third-Party Neutral’s sole discretion, the submitted evidence makes it more likely than not the Post violates PC’s Terms of Use, the Third-Party Neutral will issue a decision that the Post should be removed or redacted. Otherwise, the Third-Party Neutral will issue a decision recommending no changes to the Post. PC will abide by the Third-Party Neutral’s decision by removing or redacting the Post consistent with the Third-Party Neutral’s decision. In reaching its decision, the Third-Party Neutral reviews only the Posts, Complaint, and Answer, if any, and PC’s Terms of Service (the “LVP Record”). The Third-Party Neutral has no obligation to, consider anything in addition to the LVP Record, including, but not limited to, trademark law, defamation law, harassment law, and obscenity law. The Third-Party Neutral may, in the Third-Party Neutral’s sole discretion, request additional information from the Complainant or Poster in reaching a decision.

12. Third-Party Neutral’s Decision.

The Third-Party Neutral will e-mail PC, Complainant, and the Poster (if Poster consented to PC disclosing the Poster’s e-mail address to the Third-Party Neutral) of its decision within 10 business days of receiving the Answer or, if the Poster failed to submit an Answer, within 10 business days of the expiration of the 20 day deadline for submitting an Answer. PC shall implement the decision of the Third-Party Neutral within 30 days.

Examples of LVP Decisions

13. No Right of Appeal.

The Third-Party Neutral’s decision is final and neither the Complainant nor the Poster shall have any right of appeal.

14. Future Postings.

If (a) the same Poster republishes an identical Post or a Post substantially similar to an original Post removed or redacted in connection with the LVP on Pissedconsumer.com, or (b) a different Poster reposts an identical Post or a Post substantially similar to an original Post removed or modified in connection with the LVP (a “Repost”), the Complainant may, within 30 days of the Repost’s publication, request removal of the Repost from Pissedconsumer.com. Complainant may make this request by emailing lvp@pissedconsumer.com. The removal request must (i) identify each Repost by its URL, (ii) the date of the LVP decision removing or modifying the original Post, and (iii) the LVP Case ID. Upon receipt of the Complaint and PC’s determination that the Repost is identical or substantially similar to the original Post, PC will remove or redact the Repost in a manner consistent with the original decision of the Third-Party Neutral. The decision as to whether the Repost is either identical or substantially similar to the original Post will be at the sole discretion of PC. This paragraph applies to the reposting of Reposts removed or modified under this paragraph. This paragraph will not apply where the Repost in the issue was published more than 6 months after the date of the original LVP decision.

Please note that the LVP applies only to the cases when the Complainant wishes to remove 10 Posts or fewer. In the event the Complainant wishes to remove more than 10 Posts, PC will only accept a corresponding Court Order (please refer to Legal Information, section “A valid court order” - https://www.pissedconsumer.com/static/legal-information.html) Once the Complainant utilized the LVP for 10 Posts, such a Complainant may use the LVP again no earlier than upon the expiration of 6 months from the date of submission of the previous Complaint to PC.

15. Record Retention Policy.

The Third-Party Neutral shall maintain all records associated with an LVP proceeding for a period of 6 months from the date of the Third-Party Neutral’s decision.

16. Lack of Confidentiality.

Neither the Poster nor the Complainant should provide proprietary or non-public information in connection with the LVP program. Such information will be available to PC, the Third-Party Neutral, the Complainant, and the Poster.

17. No Liability.

By initiating a Complaint or taking part in the LVP program, Complainant and Poster each waive any and all claims and causes of action, actual and potential, known and unknown, against PC and/or the Third-Party Neutral relating to the subject matter of a Complaint and the Posts that are the subject of the Complaint, accruing from the beginning of time until the conclusion of the LVP action with respect to the Complaint at issue. Further, neither PC nor the Third-Party Neutral is liable to either the Poster or the Complainant for any act or omission in connection with the LVP program. IN NO EVENT WILL PC OR THE THIRD-PARTY NEUTRAL BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, BUSINESS INTERRUPTIONS, LOSS OF DATA OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM PARTICIPATION IN OR RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION VIEWED REGARDING THE LVP PROGRAM, EVEN IF PC OR THE THIRD-PARTY NEUTRAL IS EXPRESSLY ADVISED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. PC and/or the Third-Party Neutral’s maximum liability arising out of or in connection with the LVP Program, regardless of the cause of action (whether in contract, tort, breach of warranty or otherwise), will not exceed the LVP fee paid, or fifty dollars ($50), whichever is more. In some jurisdictions, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, the foregoing limitations on liability may not apply to you.

18. Immunity.

The Third-Party Neutral is entitled to full immunity from any and all civil liability for failure to exercise care or skill in connection with the LVP proceedings.

19. Amendments.

The LVP Rules may be amended from time to time. The version of the LVP Rules in effect at PC’s receipt of a Complaint shall be the applicable version.

20. Complainant’s Non-Compliance.

If the Complainant fails to comply with any of the LVP Rules, the Third-Party Neutral may, in the Third-Party Neutral’s sole discretion, request compliance of the Complainant, dismiss the Complaint, or waive the non-compliance.