Skip Navigation Logo for: Community Economic Development Fund Community Economic Development Fund

Community Economic Development Fund

Terms of Use

Version 2.0. Effective September 24, 2026. These Terms of Use replace all prior terms of use posted on this website.

1. Who We Are; Scope of These Terms

Welcome to our website. If you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy policy govern the Foundation's relationship with you in relation to this website. These Terms apply to the websites located at cedf.com and cedf.org, and to any successor or replacement domain operated by the Foundation, together with all pages, content, forms, chat features, and other functionality made available on them (each, and collectively, the “Site”).

The term ‘CEDF’ or ‘us’ or ‘we’ refers to The Community Economic Development Fund Foundation, Inc., a Connecticut nonstock corporation (the “Foundation”), whose principal office is located at 965 East Main Street, Meriden, CT 06450. The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.

“CEDF Parties” means the Foundation together with The Community Economic Development Fund Corporation, The Community Economic Development Fund I, LLC, and The Community Economic Development Fund Pool 2, LLC, and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, licensors, and service providers. “The Community Economic Development Fund” and “CEDF” are trade names used by these entities and are not themselves separate legal entities. Every disclaimer, limitation of liability, release, indemnity, and dispute resolution provision in these Terms runs to the benefit of all CEDF Parties.

2. Acceptance; Eligibility; Changes

By accessing or using the Site, you accept these Terms on your own behalf and on behalf of any entity you represent, and you represent that you have the authority to do so. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not access or use the Site.

The Site is intended for users who are at least 18 years of age. If you are under 18, please do not use the Site or submit any information through it.

We may modify these Terms at any time by posting the revised Terms on the Site and updating the effective date above. Changes apply prospectively from the date they are posted. Your continued use of the Site after that date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. We may also modify, suspend, or discontinue the Site or any part of it at any time, with or without notice, and we will have no liability to you for doing so.

Users outside Connecticut and the United States. The Site is operated from Connecticut and is directed to users in the United States. We make no representation that the Site or its content is appropriate or available in other places. If you access the Site from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative, you are responsible for complying with the laws that apply where you are, and you consent to the transfer and processing of your information in the United States as described in the privacy policy. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under the consumer protection laws of your state or country that cannot be waived by agreement.

3. General Terms of Use

The use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:

  1. The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use only. It is subject to change without notice.
  2. Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  3. Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.
  4. This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions.
  5. All trademarks reproduced in this website, which are not the property of, or licensed to the operator, are acknowledged on the website.
  6. Unauthorized use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offence.
  7. From time to time this website may also include links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. They do not signify that we endorse the website(s). We have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s). The Site also makes available features that are hosted or operated by third parties, including online forms, application intake pages, scheduling tools, and chat functionality. When you use one of those features, or follow a link or redirect to a third-party page, that third party’s own terms and privacy practices govern the information you provide there. Section 5 describes these features in more detail.
  8. You may not create a link to this website from another website or document without CEDF’s prior written consent.
  9. Your use of this website, and any dispute arising out of or relating to the Site or these Terms, is governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut and is subject to the dispute resolution procedures in Section 12 and the governing law and venue provisions in Section 13.

4. Informational Purpose Only; No Advice; No Lending Commitment

The Site is informational. Nothing on the Site is legal, tax, accounting, financial, investment, or business advice, and nothing on the Site creates a professional or advisory relationship between you and any CEDF Party. You should consult your own qualified advisors before acting on anything you read here.

Nothing on the Site is an offer, commitment, or promise to lend, to extend credit, to provide technical assistance, or to enter into any transaction. Rates, terms, program descriptions, and eligibility criteria are illustrative, are subject to change without notice, and do not survive as representations. Any credit decision is subject to a complete application, underwriting, program availability, funding availability, and a written agreement signed by an authorized officer. Descriptions of past outcomes are not a prediction of any future result.

Loan servicing notices, payoff figures, account balances, and other transaction-specific communications are governed by your loan documents and not by the Site. If information on the Site conflicts with your loan documents, your loan documents control.

5. Third-Party Content, Links, and Hosted Features

The Site includes content, tools, and functionality provided by third parties. These may include hosted online forms and application pages, appointment scheduling, video and audio players, mapping, analytics, advertising and social media tools, and live or automated chat. Some of these features run on our pages; others send you to a page operated by the third party under its own domain.

We do not control third-party services and we are not responsible for them, for their availability, or for their handling of information you provide to them. When you leave the Site or submit information through a hosted third-party feature, the third party’s terms of service and privacy policy apply to that information. We encourage you to read them before you provide any information.

If a chat feature is made available on the Site, your conversation may be recorded, transcribed, stored, and reviewed by us and by the third-party provider that operates the feature, for service quality, training, recordkeeping, and security purposes. Notice of that recording is presented in the chat window before the conversation begins. Please do not enter account numbers, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive personal information into a chat window. The chat feature is operated by an automated assistant rather than a person. Its responses are generated automatically, are general information only, are not legal, financial, tax, or lending advice, and may be inaccurate or incomplete. No commitment, approval, or decision of any kind is made through the chat feature. A notice that you are communicating with an automated assistant appears in the chat window before the conversation begins. The provider that operates the chat feature states that it does not use conversations to train its own artificial-intelligence systems. That provider relies on outside artificial-intelligence services to deliver the feature, and it does not represent that those outside services refrain from using the information they receive to train their own models. Please do not enter anything in the chat that you would not want handled on those terms.

5.1 Your Express Consent to Recording, Monitoring, and Analytics

By using the Site, you knowingly and expressly consent, in advance and as a condition of use, to the recording, transcription, storage, monitoring, and analysis of your communications and interactions with the Site, and to the collection, transmission, and processing of information about those interactions, by the CEDF Parties and by the service providers that operate the Site's features on our behalf. This consent covers chat conversations, form and application entries, page interactions, and information collected through cookies, pixels, tags, and similar technologies, in each case as described in our privacy policy and, where applicable, subject to your choices in the consent banner.

You agree that each service provider that records, receives, or processes such communications does so as our agent and at our direction, for the sole purpose of providing services to us, and that it is a party to the communication for that purpose and not an independent eavesdropper or interceptor. You further agree that this consent is given voluntarily, that you may withdraw it at any time by discontinuing use of the Site and, where applicable, by withdrawing consent through the banner, and that your withdrawal operates prospectively only. Where the Privacy Policy states that a named measurement or advertising platform also uses information for its own purposes, your consent under this Section extends to that use as described there.

This Section is intended to satisfy any consent requirement under applicable federal and state electronic communications, wiretapping, eavesdropping, and privacy laws, in every state whose law may apply, including states requiring the consent of all parties to a communication. Nothing in this Section is a consent to any use of information that applicable law prohibits regardless of consent.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to do any of the following, and not to permit or assist anyone else in doing any of the following:

  • use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms;
  • access or attempt to access any portion of the Site, or any account, system, or network connected to the Site, that you are not authorized to access, including by password mining, credential stuffing, or any other means;
  • upload or transmit any virus, worm, malware, or other code intended to damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site or any related system;
  • use any robot, spider, scraper, script, or other automated means to access, copy, index, harvest, or monitor the Site or its content, or to extract data about other users, except that operators of public search engines may use spiders to create publicly available searchable indices in accordance with our robots.txt file;
  • interfere with or disrupt the Site or the servers or networks that support it, or take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionate load on them;
  • circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security, authentication, rate-limiting, or access-control feature of the Site;
  • submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information through any form, application, or chat feature on the Site;
  • impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
  • use the Site to send unsolicited commercial messages, chain letters, or spam; or
  • frame, mirror, or reproduce any part of the Site, or remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice, except as expressly permitted in Section 11;
  • use any content from the Site to train, fine-tune, ground, or otherwise develop any machine learning model, large language model, or other artificial intelligence system, or to build any dataset for that purpose, without our prior written consent. We expressly reserve all rights in the Site's content for text and data mining and for machine learning purposes, and this reservation is a machine-readable opt-out for the purposes of any applicable law;
  • access or use the Site other than in good faith and for its intended purposes, including by accessing it through automated means, scripted sessions, emulators, or artificial or manufactured interactions created for the purpose of generating, manufacturing, or supporting a claim or demand rather than for a bona fide interest in our programs or content; or
  • sell, assign, or transfer to any third party any claim arising out of or relating to your use of the Site, or authorize any third party to assert such a claim on your behalf other than in an individual capacity in accordance with Section 12. Any purported assignment in violation of this provision is void.

We may investigate any suspected violation of this Section and may take any action we consider appropriate, including removing content, restricting or blocking access, and reporting the matter to law enforcement. We are not obligated to monitor the Site, and our failure to act on any particular violation is not a waiver of our right to act on that violation or any other.

7. Submissions and Feedback

Except for information governed by our privacy policy and by applicable law, any material you submit through the Site, including through a form, an email link, or a chat window, is not confidential and is not submitted in confidence. Please do not send us confidential or proprietary information through the Site, and do not send us trade secrets or unsolicited business ideas.

If you send us comments, suggestions, or other feedback about the Site or our programs (“Feedback”), you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, and otherwise exploit that Feedback for any purpose, without any obligation of compensation, attribution, or confidentiality to you. You represent that you have the right to grant that license.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SITE AND ALL CONTENT, INFORMATION, MATERIALS, AND FEATURES AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH IT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE CEDF PARTIES DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICE OR SYSTEM OR ANY LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM IT.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS LIMITS ANY WARRANTY OR RIGHT THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED OR EXCLUDED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL ANY CEDF PARTY BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, LOST GOODWILL, OR LOST OR CORRUPTED DATA, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, AND EVEN IF A CEDF PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE CEDF PARTIES FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SITE, FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (U.S. $100). THE EXISTENCE OF MORE THAN ONE CLAIM WILL NOT ENLARGE THIS LIMIT.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the limitations in this Section apply to all categories of damages, including statutory, minimum, and liquidated damages, and apply regardless of the number of claims or the number of alleged violations.

The limitations in this Section apply to your use of the Site and do not limit, and are not intended to limit, the rights or obligations of any party under a signed loan agreement, note, guaranty, or other written contract with a CEDF Party, which are governed by their own terms. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of certain damages, so some or all of the above may not apply to you. These limitations are an essential basis of the bargain between you and us and apply even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or personal injury or death caused by negligence, and nothing in these Terms is intended to exempt any CEDF Party from responsibility for a violation of law. If any provision of these Terms would be unenforceable because it purports to do so, that provision applies only to the extent the law permits and the remainder of these Terms continues in full force.

No reliance. You acknowledge that you have not relied on any statement, promise, representation, assurance, or warranty about the Site that is not expressly set out in these Terms, and that your remedies for any statement that is set out are limited as provided here. This does not limit any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the CEDF Parties from and against any claim, demand, action, proceeding, loss, liability, damage, judgment, settlement, cost, or expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of or relating to (a) your use of or access to the Site, (b) your violation of these Terms, (c) your violation of any applicable law or regulation, (d) your violation of the rights of any third party, or (e) any content or information you submit through the Site.

We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with that defense. You will not settle any such matter without our prior written consent. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of a claim upon becoming aware of it, and a failure to do so does not relieve you of your obligations except to the extent you are materially prejudiced.

10.1 Release

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release and forever discharge the CEDF Parties from every claim, demand, controversy, liability, and cause of action of any kind, known or unknown, arising directly or indirectly out of or relating to your use of the Site, your interactions with any third-party feature made available through the Site, and any act or omission of another Site visitor. This release does not apply to any claim arising under a signed loan agreement, note, guaranty, or other written contract with a CEDF Party, and it does not release any liability that cannot lawfully be released.

IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, YOU WAIVE CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542 IN CONNECTION WITH THE FOREGOING, WHICH STATES: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS THAT THE CREDITOR OR RELEASING PARTY DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE AND THAT, IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER, WOULD HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR OR RELEASED PARTY.” If you are a resident of another state with a comparable statute, you waive it to the same extent.

11. Copyright and Trademark Notice

All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without prior permission of CEDF. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from materials contained within this site.

You may download content, pages and downloadable materials from this website for your personal, non-commercial use only.

Our marks. CEDF® is a registered trademark of The Community Economic Development Fund Foundation, Inc., United States Registration No. 8,046,936. We Teach Success™ and the We Teach Success graduation cap design are common law trademarks of the Foundation. Nothing on the Site grants you any license or right to use these marks, and you may not use them, or any confusingly similar mark, without our prior written consent. All other trademarks appearing on the Site are the property of their respective owners.

12. Dispute Resolution

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. IT REQUIRES WRITTEN NOTICE AND MEDIATION BEFORE ANY CLAIM IS FILED, REQUIRES MOST DISPUTES TO BE RESOLVED BY INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION RATHER THAN IN COURT, AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. IT ALSO GIVES YOU A 30-DAY RIGHT TO OPT OUT.

12.1 Scope

This Section applies to any dispute, claim, or controversy between you and any CEDF Party arising out of or relating to the Site, these Terms, our privacy policy, or the information practices described in it, whether based on contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, and whether arising before or after the effective date of these Terms. It applies to the CEDF Parties and to their respective predecessors, successors, and assigns.

12.2 Notice of Dispute and Informal Resolution

Before starting a mediation, an arbitration, or a lawsuit, the complaining party must send the other a written Notice of Dispute describing the nature and basis of the claim and the relief sought, and must give the other party thirty (30) days from receipt to resolve it. A Notice of Dispute to us must be sent to: The Community Economic Development Fund Foundation, Inc., Attention: Legal Notices, 965 East Main Street, Meriden, CT 06450. A Notice of Dispute to you will be sent to the most recent email or mailing address we have for you. All applicable statutes of limitation and contractual limitations periods are tolled from the date the Notice of Dispute is received until the requirements of Sections 12.2 and 12.3 are satisfied or lapse.

Compliance with Sections 12.2 and 12.3 is a condition precedent to commencing arbitration or filing suit, and either party may seek from a court or the arbitrator an order staying a proceeding brought without it until the requirement is met. A Notice of Dispute must be sent by the individual claimant personally or by counsel authorized to act for that individual, must identify the claimant by name and address, and must be signed.

12.3 Mandatory Non-Binding Mediation

If the dispute is not resolved within the 30-day period, the parties must submit it to non-binding mediation before a single neutral mediator before either party may commence arbitration or file suit. Mediation is a condition precedent to arbitration and to any court proceeding other than one permitted by Section 12.8. The mediation will be conducted remotely by videoconference unless both parties agree in writing to meet in person, and any in-person session will be held in New Haven County, Connecticut. The Foundation will pay the mediator’s fees. Each party will otherwise bear its own costs of the mediation, subject to Section 12.6. If the mediation has not been completed within sixty (60) days after the end of the 30-day informal period, through no fault of the party seeking to proceed, this requirement lapses and either party may proceed under Section 12.4.

12.4 Individual Binding Arbitration

Except for the claims described in Section 12.8, any dispute that survives Sections 12.2 and 12.3 will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, before a single neutral arbitrator. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration agreement. If the AAA is unavailable or declines to administer the arbitration, the parties will agree on a substitute administrator, and if they cannot agree, a court of competent jurisdiction in New Haven County, Connecticut may appoint one.

The arbitration will be conducted remotely, on written submissions or by videoconference, unless the arbitrator determines that an in-person hearing is necessary. The seat of the arbitration, and any in-person hearing, will be in New Haven County, Connecticut. The arbitrator will apply Connecticut law, will have authority to award any individual remedy that a court could award to the individual claimant, and will issue a written, reasoned award. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Who decides questions about this agreement. The arbitrator, and not any court, has exclusive authority to resolve any dispute about the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, scope, or formation of this Section 12, including any claim that all or part of it is void or voidable, except that a court, and not the arbitrator, decides any dispute about the enforceability, scope, or application of the class, collective, and representative action waiver in Section 12.7. If a court finds this paragraph unenforceable as to a particular claim, the remainder of Section 12 continues to apply to that claim.

This Section applies to claims against any CEDF Party, including claims against a service provider that operates a feature of the Site on our behalf and that arise out of or relate to that feature. Each such service provider is an intended third-party beneficiary of this Section and of Sections 8, 9, and 10.1, and may enforce them directly.

12.5 Arbitration Costs; Cost Off-Ramp

The Foundation will pay any arbitration provider and arbitrator fees that exceed what it would cost you to file the same claim in a Connecticut state court of competent jurisdiction. If, despite that, the costs of arbitration would still exceed the cost of filing that claim in court, you may elect instead to bring your claim in the Connecticut Small Claims Court or, if the claim exceeds that court’s jurisdictional limit, in a Connecticut state court located in New Haven County or in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Nothing in this Section requires the Foundation to pay a claimant’s attorneys’ fees except as provided in Section 12.6 or as required by applicable law.

12.6 Prevailing Party Attorneys’ Fees

In any mediation, arbitration, or court proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site, the prevailing party is entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert fees, and costs, including those incurred in enforcing or collecting a judgment or award. This provision is mutual and applies equally to you and to the CEDF Parties. It does not apply in the Connecticut Small Claims Court, where each party bears its own fees and costs.

Nothing in this Section limits, waives, or reduces any statutory right to recover attorneys’ fees or costs that you may have under applicable law, including the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, and nothing in it makes you liable for fees where applicable law prohibits shifting them. To the extent Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-150bb applies, the parties intend that this provision be construed and enforced reciprocally.

12.7 Class Action Waiver; Jury Waiver; No Consolidation

YOU AND THE CEDF PARTIES AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE THE CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE PERSON AND MAY NOT PRESIDE OVER ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. TO THE EXTENT ANY CLAIM PROCEEDS IN COURT, YOU AND THE CEDF PARTIES EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

If a court or arbitrator determines that the class, collective, or representative action waiver in this Section is unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, then that claim or request for relief, and only that claim or request for relief, will be severed from the arbitration and brought in a Connecticut state court located in New Haven County or in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, and all other claims will proceed in arbitration. Under no circumstances will any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding be arbitrated.

12.8 Claims Not Subject to Arbitration

Either party may bring an individual claim in the Connecticut Small Claims Court at any time, so long as it remains an individual claim in that court. Either party may also seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief in a Connecticut state court located in New Haven County or in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut to address unauthorized access to or misuse of the Site or systems, or actual or threatened infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property. Seeking that relief is not a waiver of any right under this Section.

12.9 Mass and Coordinated Filings

If twenty-five (25) or more demands for arbitration raising substantially similar claims are filed against a CEDF Party by or with the assistance of the same law firm or coordinated group of firms, the demands will be administered in batches of no more than fifty (50), with a single arbitrator and a single set of provider fees per batch. The parties will cooperate with the administrator to sequence the batches. All applicable limitations periods are tolled for demands awaiting assignment to a batch. This provision applies equally to demands filed by a CEDF Party.

12.10 Your Right to Opt Out

You may opt out of Sections 12.4 through 12.9 (arbitration, the class action waiver, and the mass filing procedure) by sending written notice within thirty (30) days after you first accept these Terms to: The Community Economic Development Fund Foundation, Inc., Attention: Arbitration Opt-Out, 965 East Main Street, Meriden, CT 06450. The notice must include your name, mailing address, and a clear statement that you are opting out of arbitration. Opting out has no effect on your relationship with us and does not affect Sections 12.1 through 12.3, 12.11, or 12.12. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in Section 13.

12.11 Confidentiality

The parties will keep the existence, content, and result of any mediation or arbitration confidential, except as necessary to prepare or present the case, to enforce or challenge an award, to comply with law, or to satisfy a party’s obligations to its insurers, auditors, or regulators.

12.12 Severability and Survival

Except as provided in the second paragraph of Section 12.7, if any part of this Section is found unenforceable, that part will be severed and the remainder will continue in effect. This Section survives termination of these Terms and any termination of your use of the Site.

13. Governing Law; Venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or to the Site are governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut, without regard to its conflict of laws rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of Section 12.4. For any proceeding permitted to be brought in court, you and we consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the Connecticut state courts located in New Haven County and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, and each party waives any objection to that venue and any defense of inconvenient forum.

14. Time Limit on Claims

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim accrues, or it is permanently barred. That period is tolled while a Notice of Dispute and mediation under Sections 12.2 and 12.3 are pending. This Section does not apply where a shorter limitations period is prohibited by law, and it does not shorten any limitations period applicable to a claim under a signed loan agreement or other written contract with a CEDF Party.

15. Electronic Communications

You consent to receive communications from us electronically, including by email and by notices posted on the Site, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing. This Section does not waive any right you have under applicable law to receive a particular communication in another form, and it does not apply to notices required to be given in a specific manner under a signed loan agreement or other written contract.

To receive and retain electronic communications you need a device with internet access, a current web browser, an active email account, and the ability to view and save PDF files. You may withdraw your consent to electronic communications, or request a paper copy of any communication at no charge, by writing to us at the address in Section 17. Withdrawing consent applies prospectively only and may mean you can no longer use features of the Site that operate electronically.

You agree that your electronic acceptance of these Terms, including by selecting a button or checkbox presented with a link to these Terms, is your signature, has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature, and may be proved by our records of that acceptance, including the identifier, date, time, and version accepted.

16. General

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our privacy policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding your use of the Site and supersede all prior terms of use and understandings on that subject. They do not supersede or modify any signed loan agreement, note, guaranty, or other written contract between you and a CEDF Party.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or if it cannot be, it will be severed, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that provision or of any other, and no waiver is effective unless it is in writing and signed by an authorized representative.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights under them without our prior written consent, and any attempted assignment without consent is void. We may assign these Terms without restriction, including to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, reorganization, or transfer of assets.

No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights, except that each CEDF Party is an intended beneficiary of the disclaimers, limitations of liability, releases, indemnities, and dispute resolution provisions and may enforce them directly.

Relationship of the parties. Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, agency, employment, or fiduciary relationship between you and any CEDF Party.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. “Including” means “including without limitation.”

Force majeure. No CEDF Party is liable for any failure or delay caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, severe weather, fire, flood, epidemic, labor disruption, war, civil unrest, terrorism, government action, utility or telecommunications failure, internet or hosting outage, denial of service attack, or the failure or unavailability of a third-party service on which the Site depends.

Survival. Sections 4 through 14 and this Section 16 survive any termination of these Terms or of your use of the Site.

17. How to Contact Us

Questions about these Terms may be directed to:

The Community Economic Development Fund Foundation, Inc.
Attention: Legal Notices
965 East Main Street, Meriden, CT 06450

Telephone: 203.235.2333
Email: kmaciorowski@cedf.com

Effective Date: September 24, 2026