Guidelines & Terms

Comment Guidelines

The Housing Views Blog will serve as a vehicle to post interesting and topical articles, reports, and commentary that Standard & Poor’s produces on the topic of home prices, residential homebuilding and financing in the U.S. It is also our intention to create an intellectual forum for varying ideas and views so that you, the reader, can express your opinion. Blogs, after all, are about creating and sharing content that results in conversations. Comments are moderated and may be reviewed before posting. We ask you to use the following guidelines to promote thoughtful and productive discussions. Thank you for your patience while your comment is being reviewed.

• Comments are Encouraged: The comment section is designed for you to voice your opinion. We welcome debate, dissent and discussion. We ask you to articulate your arguments citing sources and to refrain from personal attacks or abuse. We do reserve the right to accept or reject comments. Please be respectful.
• Keep Comments On-Topic: Try to keep all comments in line with the original post. We understand some threads diverge significantly from the original post, especially with a topic as expansive as housing, but all comments should relate back to the original idea.
• No Spam Please: Spam kills conversations so please do not use this blog to post unrelated links and do not use the blog for promotional purposes of any kind.
• Your Email Address Is Kept Private: Email addresses are required for commenting.   They are not published on Housing Views Blog, nor shared.  To view our Privacy Notice, visit www.standardandpoors.com/privacy

• Read The Housing Views  Terms of Use: Participation in Housing Views is subject to Standard & Poor’s Terms of Use. Please read the following for our entire Terms of Use (see below).

Terms of Use

These Terms of Use were last updated on April 4, 2011.

By accessing and using Housing Views (the “Web Site”), you agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Use and you represent that you are 18 years or older. If any of these terms are unacceptable to you, you may not access the Web Site until agreement has been reached between you and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“Standard & Poor’s”) as to the applicable terms of use. The terms “you” and “User” refer to anyone who accesses the Web Site.

As you browse through the Web Site, you may access other Web Sites that are subject to different terms of use. When you use those sites, you may be legally bound by the specific terms of use posted on such sites. If there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and those other terms of use, the other terms of use will govern with respect to use of such other sites.

Subject to applicable laws and regulations, Standard & Poor’s may change these Terms of Use at any time without notice. Changes will be posted at www.housingviews.com under “Policies”. Your use of the Web Site after any changes have been posted will constitute your agreement to the modified Terms of Use and all of the changes. Therefore, you should read these Terms of Use from time to time for changes.

1. USE OF THE WEB SITE.

Standard & Poor’s grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license to access and use the Web Site under the terms set forth below.

The content of the Web Site made accessible by Standard & Poor’s on the Web Site includes, but is not limited to, text, data, reports, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (collectively, the “Content”).

Except as expressly permitted under these Terms of Use, you agree not to copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, or store any Content or display, perform, publish, distribute, transmit, broadcast or circulate any Content to anyone, or for any commercial purpose, without the express prior written consent of Standard & Poor’s.

You may, on an occasional, ad hoc basis, reproduce, distribute, display or transmit an insubstantial portion of Content, for a non-commercial purpose and without charge, to a limited number of individuals, provided you include all copyright and other proprietary rights notices and the Standard & Poor’s disclaimer with such portion of the Content in the same form in which the notices and disclaimer appear on the Web Site, the original source attribution, and the phrase “Used with permission from [name of site], a Web Site of Standard & Poor’s”. However, you may not post Content from the Web Site to forums, newsgroups, list serves, mailing lists, electronic bulletin boards, or other Web Sites, without the prior written consent of Standard & Poor’s. To request consent for uses such as linking to Content on your Web site, please contact Standard & Poor’s at research_request@standardandpoors.com.

The Content is the property of Standard & Poor’s or its providers, and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. All trade names, trademarks, service marks and other product and service names and logos on the Web Site and within the Content are proprietary to their respective owners and are protected by applicable trademark and copyright laws. Any of the trademarks, service marks or logos (collectively, the “Marks”) displayed on the Web Site may be registered or unregistered marks of Standard & Poor’s or others. Nothing contained on this Web Site should be construed as granting any license or right to use any of the Marks displayed on the Web Site without the express written permission of Standard & Poor’s or a third party owner of such Marks.

2. THE USER’S CONTENT

Material that appears on the Web Site that is entered by you or other Users, or that is otherwise made accessible by other than Standard & Poor’s, is referred to as “User Content” or “Other Content”).

The User grants to Standard & Poor’ the non-exclusive right to use all material entered into the Web Site by the User (other than third-party material transmitted through private electronic mail) in any of Standard & Poor’s or The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.’s print or electronic publications.

Users entering material into the Web Site are responsible for the content of that material. Neither Standard & Poor’s nor The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. has any responsibility for Other Content, including the content of any messages or information posted by Users or others, or for the content of information accessible via direct or indirect hyperlinks from the Web Site. However, Standard & Poor’s retains the right, which it may or may not exercise in its sole discretion, to review, edit, or delete Other Content that Standard & Poor’s deems to be illegal, offensive, irrelevant, or otherwise inappropriate.

You may not input or distribute any material through the Standard & Poor’s Web Site that is promotional in nature, including solicitations for funds or business, without the prior written authorization of Standard & Poor’s.

You agree (a) to use the Web Site in accordance with these Terms, (b) that you will not: (i) post or transmit any Content that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, tortuous, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, harassing, profane, invasive of another’s privacy, indecent, bigoted, hateful, or racially, ethnically, sexually or otherwise offensive; (ii) impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your professional or other affiliation with any person or entity; (iii) post or transmit any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party; (iv) disrupt others’ normal use of the Web Site; (v) post or transmit any information, software or other material which contains a virus or other harmful component; (vi) post, transmit, or in any way exploit any information, software or other material for commercial or political purposes; (vii) post or transmit any information, software or other material which contains advertising (including but not limited to “junk mail” or “pyramid schemes”), or any other form of solicitation; (viii) attempt to access or access another User’s account or attempt to access areas to which you do not have authorized access; (ix) use the Web Site to violate or attempt to violate, or assist any other person or entity in violating or attempting to violate, any contractual obligations you have with Standard & Poor’s, including without limitation any confidentiality, non-solicitation or non-competition agreements between you and Standard & Poor’s.

NOTE: Standard & Poor’s, at its sole discretion, shall determine whether any information transmitted, collected, or received violates these Terms of Use. While You understand that Standard & Poor’s has no obligation to monitor nor  pre-screen Content, Other Content on this Web Site may be pre-screened and otherwise monitored to assure compliance with these Terms of Use. Standard & Poor’s reserves the right to discontinue access to this Web Site either with or without notice if Standard & Poor’s has a reasonable basis to believe that a User is accessing or using Content in violation of these Terms of Use.  You also agree and understand that Standard & Poor’s may preserve and disclose Content and User Content if, in Standard & Poor’s sole discretion, such action is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with applicable law; (b) enforce these Terms of Use; (c) respond to claims that a User has violated the rights of third parties; or (d) protect the rights, interests, property, or safety of Standard & Poor’s, Users, or others. Your use of the Service constitutes your consent to such monitoring and disclosure.

The User agrees to indemnify Standard & Poor’s, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and any third party data providers, from all damages, liabilities, costs, charges and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, that Standard & Poor’s, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., their affiliates, employees, and authorized representatives may incur as a result of either: (i) the User’s breach of this Agreement; or (ii) material entered into the Standard & Poor’s Web Site with the use of the User’s screen name or password.

3. ANTI-HACKING PROVISION

You expressly agree not to:

• use or attempt to use any “deep-link,” “scraper,” “robot,” “bot,” “spider,” “data-mining,” “computer code” or any other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, process, or methodology or manual process having similar processes or functionality, to access, acquire, copy, or monitor any portion of the Web Site, any data or Content found on or accessed through the Web Site or any Other Content without the prior express written consent of Standard &Poor’s;
• obtain or attempt to obtain through any means any materials or information on the Web Site that have not been intentionally made publicly available either by their public display on the Web Site or through their accessibility by a visible link on the Web Site;
• violate the restrictions in any robot inclusion headers on this Web Site or in any way bypass or circumvent any other measure employed to limit or prevent access to the Web Site or its Content;
• violate the security of the Web Site or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Web Site, data, materials, information, computer systems or networks connected to any Standard & Poor’s server, through hacking, password mining or any other means;
• interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Web Site or any activities conducted on or through the Web Site, including accessing any data, content or other information prior to the time that it is intended to be available to the public on the Web Site;
• take or attempt any action that, in the sole discretion of Standard & Poor’s, imposes or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load or burden on the Web Site or Standard & Poor’s infrastructure.

4. REGISTRATION

As part of the registration process, you must select a member name and password and provide Standard & Poor’s with accurate, complete, and updated information. Failure to do so constitutes a breach of this Agreement, which may result in immediate termination of your access. Please see our Privacy Notice for information regarding how this information will be used and maintained.

5. LIMITATION ON WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY

You are entirely liable for activities conducted by you or anyone else in connection with your browsing and use of the Web Site. If you are dissatisfied with the Web Site or with these Terms of Use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to stop using the Web Site. Neither Standard & Poor’s nor any third party provider will pay you any damages in connection with your browsing or use of the Web Site.

Neither Standard & Poor’s, nor its affiliates, nor their third party providers guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or availability of any information provided through this Web Site. Standard & Poor’s, its affiliates or their third party providers and their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents are not responsible for any errors or omissions, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. STANDARD & POOR’S, ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. In no event shall Standard & Poor’s, its affiliates or their third party providers and their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of such information even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

The ratings and credit related analyses of Standard & Poor’s and its affiliates and the observations contained in reports and articles published on this Web Site are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or make any investment decisions. Standard & Poor’s assumes no obligation to update any information following publication. Users of the information provided through this Web Site should not rely on any of it in making any investment decision. Standard & Poor’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security. Standard & Poor’s does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor. While Standard & Poor’s has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, Standard & Poor’s does not perform an audit and undertakes no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. Standard & Poor’s keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of each of these activities. As a result, certain business units of Standard & Poor’s may have information that is not available to other Standard & Poor’s business units. Standard & Poor’s has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain non-public information received in connection with each analytical process.

The Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services business may receive compensation for its ratings and credit related analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. Standard & Poor’s reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. Standard & Poor’s public ratings and analyses are made available on its Web sites, www.standardandpoors.com (free of charge) and www. ratingsdirect.com and www.globalcreditportal.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via Standard & Poor’s publications and third party redistributors. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees.

6. ADDITIONAL LEGAL TERMS

Subject to applicable laws and regulations, Standard & Poor’s may discontinue or change the Standard & Poor’s Web Site, or its availability to you, at any time. The terms of this Agreement will survive any such discontinuation.

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties relating to the Web Site and supersedes any and all other agreements, oral or in writing, with respect to the Web Site. The failure of Standard & Poor’s to insist upon strict compliance with any term of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver with regard to any subsequent failure to comply with such term or provision. This Agreement is personal to you, and you may not assign your rights or obligations to anyone. If any provision in this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. This Agreement, your rights and obligations, and all actions contemplated by this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America and New York State. The parties agree that the State and Federal courts of New York shall be the exclusive forums for any dispute arising out of this Agreement and the parties hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.