What this service is
Scan the Block compiles public records held by the City and County of San Francisco about a parcel and the area around it, and presents them with the city's own figures for comparison. Every number is a count of records a public body published. Nothing is scored, rated, graded or predicted.
What you may not use it for
This is the most important clause on the page, and it is a legal line rather than a preference.
This service is not a consumer reporting agency and its reports are not consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You may not use them, in whole or in part, to establish anyone's eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, housing or tenancy, or for any other purpose covered by that Act.
Screening a tenant with this report is prohibited. Reports describe a place. They are not about a person, and using them as though they were would harm someone and expose you both.
You may not use this service to harass, profile or make decisions about any individual, and you may not scrape, resell or redistribute it as a data feed.
What a report is not
- Not a valuation or an appraisal. Assessed values reflect Proposition 13 and commonly sit far below market.
- Not a statutory Natural Hazard Disclosure. It reports several of the same zones, which is a different thing from being the disclosure a seller owes a buyer.
- Not legal, financial or engineering advice.
- Not a substitute for inspection, title work, or a professional's judgement.
Accuracy
The records come from public systems that are sometimes late, sometimes wrong and sometimes changed after the fact. We reproduce them faithfully and say where they are known to be incomplete; we cannot make them true. Reports are supplied as they are, without warranty of any kind.
Your account
Accounts are issued by invitation and are for one person. Do not share your sign-in link. Plans carry a monthly allowance of newly run reports; re-opening a report you already ran does not count against it. We may suspend an account that is used in breach of these terms.
Liability
To the extent the law allows, our total liability arising from this service is limited to the amount you paid for it in the twelve months before the claim. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including any decision made about a property.
Who you are contracting with
This service is provided by Scan the Block, operated as a sole proprietorship in San Francisco, California. Where these terms say “we”, that is who is meant, and it is who any obligation here runs to.
No separate company stands behind this service today, so the operator is personally the other party to this agreement. That is stated plainly rather than dressed up, because you are entitled to know who you are dealing with.
Who may open an account
You must be at least 18 and able to enter a contract. Accounts are issued by invitation, are for one named person, and the sign-in link is not to be shared. A plan covers a stated number of users at one company; adding people beyond that number requires a plan that covers them.
Cancelling, and what happens to your month
Every plan is billed monthly and you may cancel at any time, effective at the end of the period you have paid for. There is no notice period and no cancellation fee.
We do not refund part-months, because the allowance is available for the whole of it and a report you have already run cannot be returned. If something has gone wrong on our side, write to us — we would rather fix it than stand on this paragraph.
Reports you have already run stay available while the account is open. Ask before you close it if you want copies; they are yours.
Suspension and closure
We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, in particular the prohibition on tenant screening and other Fair Credit Reporting Act uses. Where the breach is not deliberate we will say what the problem is and give you a chance to stop.
You may close your account at any time by writing to us. We will delete the account and, if you ask, its report history.
Changes to the service and to prices
This service is in early operation and will change. We may add, alter or withdraw parts of it. If a change materially reduces what your plan provides we will tell account holders by email before it takes effect.
Prices may change. An existing subscriber keeps their current price until the end of the period they have paid for, and will be told by email before any new price applies.
Your responsibility for how you use it
You agree to indemnify Scan the Block against claims, losses and reasonable legal costs arising from your use of a report in a way these terms prohibit — screening a tenant, making a decision about an individual, or presenting a report as a valuation or a statutory disclosure.
This clause is narrow on purpose. It covers using a report for something it says plainly it is not for, and nothing else.
Sources and attribution
Reports are compiled from public records published by the City and County of San Francisco through DataSF and the Planning Department's public map services. Those bodies publish the underlying data; they do not produce, review or endorse this service, and nothing here should be read as their statement.
If part of this is unenforceable
If a court sets aside any part of these terms, the rest continue to apply. These terms, together with the acknowledgement you confirm each time you run a report, are the whole agreement between us.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of the State of California, and the courts of San Francisco have jurisdiction.
Contact
Questions about these terms go to hello@scantheblock.com.