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Terms of Use

Last updated: September 30, 2026

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of Chicago Building Violations(the “site”, “we”, “us”). By using the site you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

1. The service

The site lets you ask questions about Chicago properties. An automated assistant answers using City of Chicago and Cook County public records about building violations, inspections, permits and administrative hearing cases. Features may change, and the site may be unavailable at times.

2. Information only; no advice

Answers are general information, not legal, financial or professional advice, and not an official record. They may be incomplete, inaccurate or out of date. You are responsible for verifying information with official sources before relying on it. Please read the full Disclaimer.

3. Eligibility and accounts

  • You must be at least 13 years old to use the site.
  • You can use the site as a guest, or register with your email address. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping access to your email secure.
  • Guests may ask up to 100 questions per day and registered users up to 500 per day. We may change these limits.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • use the site to harass, stalk, threaten, or discriminate against anyone;
  • use the site for any purpose that is unlawful, including in violation of fair housing, fair lending, credit reporting or privacy laws;
  • use bots, scripts or other automated means to access the site, or copy its data in bulk;
  • interfere with, overload, probe or bypass the site's security, limits or bot protection;
  • try to make the assistant reveal its instructions or behave in ways it is not intended to.

We may suspend or end access for anyone who breaks these Terms.

5. Content and intellectual property

The underlying records are public data provided by government sources. The site's software, design and text are ours. You may use answers for your own personal, non-commercial purposes. Your questions remain yours; you give us permission to process and store them to operate and improve the site, as described in the Privacy Policy.

6. Feedback

If you rate an answer or send us suggestions, we may use that feedback to improve the site without any obligation to you.

7. Third-party services and links

The site relies on third-party services (for example Google Cloud and Firebase) and may link to other websites. We are not responsible for third-party services or websites.

8. No warranty

The site is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, availability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from your use of, or reliance on, the site or its answers. Our total liability for any claim relating to the site is limited to one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100).

10. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims arising from your misuse of the site or your violation of these Terms.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict of law rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms: sorbinoar@gmail.com.