# Chicago Cityscape usage guidelines *Some customers may infer these usage guidelines as a terms of service (TOS).* Chicago Cityscape, LLC, encourages members to use its real estate information platform frequently to find and extract information about properties in Cook County. The platform, which operates as a website, a database, and an API, is used by hundreds of people each day and we ask that members abide by these guidelines to keep the platform performing well for everyone. Anyone who accesses the platform is a "user", and those who have paid subscription fees are considered "members". Most information requires a Cityscape account to access, and it is free to create a Cityscape account. Users who create a free Cityscape account are given access to the features available to the "Cityscape Neighbor" tier. ## Access and membership levels Chicago Cityscape has various use and membership levels that provide varying degrees of access to information. Information takes the form of data and exclusive insights. Tiers that require membership (which requires a paid subscription) are: - Cityscape Permit Tracker - Generally, this membership level provides access to information about building permits in Chicago, contractors, and others named on building permits. - Cityscape Lead Finder - Generally, this membership level provides access to information about proposed projects and zoning change applications in Chicago, as well as access to the same features in Cityscape Permits. - Cityscape Real Estate Pro - Generally, this membership level provides access to information about properties (individually and in bulk) in Cook County, as well as access to the same features in Cityscape Leads. This tier also includes access to the platform's public API, and some add-ons. ### Discounts Chicago Cityscape may offer certain discounts according to the policy in this section. - Chicago Cityscape does not have a discount policy for non-profit organizations or elected officials. - Chicago Cityscape offers many reporters a free membership. See the [[#Pricing for reporters]] section below. - Each additional person (also called a "seat", "license" or "add a colleague") in your office can save time with their own Cityscape Real Estate Pro membership at a discounted price. The additional and discounted payment is collected through the original account holder's subscription. Access the [[Billing Portal]] to see the current price, specific to your account, to add a colleague to your membership. ## Customer and technical support Chicago Cityscape provides standard customer and technical support to all users. Inquiries that are made through our customer support channel (via the red button or contact us links) will receive a response within 24 hours. Inquiries from members take priority over non-members. We encourage requests for new or modified features, and we will discuss these with members before potentially adding them to our work plan. We may require a one-time fee to create the feature. ## Sharing Your "Cityscape account" is for one person's use only. You may not share your "Cityscape account" credentials or access with anyone else. Each "Cityscape account" must have its own membership, whether individually or as one of multiple "seats" in a group membership that has a single payer. *Note: Chicago Cityscape may occasionally offer a feature allowing members to share certain reports or webpages to non-members. This is the only authorized sharing use.* ## Payments Each membership tier has different pricing that is subject to change without notice, and may be discounted temporarily at any time. Whenever a new recurring (not fixed-length) membership begins, the pricing is good for 12 subsequent months for a monthly-recurring membership and 1 year for an annual membership. Upon renewal and after a 12-month period has elapsed, we may increase the fees to reflect future changes to our list prices. If this increase applies to you, we will notify you at least thirty (30) days in advance of the price increase. ### Payment dates Billing will recur on the same day each month or year, starting on the day you subscribe. For example, if you subscribe to a monthly membership on September 14, your next bill will be on October 14. We can customize the billing date if you contact us prior to subscription. ### Pricing for reporters Journalists and reporters who are based in Illinois and write about property, small businesses, neighborhood and economic development, and housing can request a free Cityscape Real Estate Pro membership. We request that applicants send 2-3 examples of salient reporting. The Chicago Cityscape staff reserves the right to deny applicants access to the free Cityscape Real Estate Pro membership for any reason. However, an applicant can appeal the denial to the Cityscape advisory board through the regular customer support channel. ### How to pay Chicago Cityscape uses Stripe – used by over 1.4 million websites – to accept and process payments. Credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and ACH transfers (bank debit) are accepted forms of payment. Users who want to pay by check must request and receive permission to do so; they will receive the P.O. Box mailing address. We will ask for a minimum 6-month payment and we may have specific delivery instructions to ensure timely and secure receipt (i.e. using a tracking number). ### Refunds & cancellations [Contact us](https://www.chicagocityscape.com/contact.php) for support or questions before ordering. Refunds are not automatic; they must be requested. See "Money-back guarantee" below for more details about our refund policy. Cancel a membership in the [[Billing Portal]]. #### Money-back guarantee Generally, after making a payment for a membership contact us within 48 hours of the payment being made to request that it be refunded. Additional details: - For recurring Cityscape Real Estate Pro memberships, cancel within the first 30 days and request a refund (this is our 30-day money-back guarantee for new members). After the first 30 days, cancel within 48 hours of the payment and then request a refund. - For non-recurring (fixed length) Cityscape Real Estate Pro memberships (which last a fixed number of months), cancel within 48 hours of the payment and then request a refund. - For recurring Cityscape Lead Finder memberships, cancel within 48 hours of the payment and then request a refund. - For recurring Cityscape Permit Tracker memberships, cancel within 48 hours of the payment and then request a refund. Refunds can be requested via our [Contact Us](https://www.chicagocityscape.com/contact.php) page. Refunds after these periods can be issued when there are technical issues that prevent members from being able to sign in and using Chicago Cityscape. Refunds after these periods can also be issued when the member cancels within 48 hours after any processed payment and requests a refund for that payment. For **one-time Property Reports, Place Reports, Company Profile, and Data purchases**, please contact us within 24 hours if you cannot find the information you expected or there is a technical issue that prevents information from appearing. Refunds will be considered on a case-by-case basis. ## Downloading Most data shown in tables and maps is downloadable, and there is no limit to the number of times members can download the data using the visual interface buttons provided on the website. Downloading through any other means is not allowed. Some information is not downloadable ([[Exporting to spreadsheet|learn how]]), including the MAPSCorps-provided data in the "Amenities & Social Infrastructure" section of Property Report and Place Report. The MAPSCorps data will not be included when a user clicks one of the visual download buttons in this section. Scraping the Chicago Cityscape website is not allowed. ### API Chicago Cityscape has several public and private Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Users may not use, access, or reverse engineer, any of the private APIs that power many of the platform's features. The public API is documented on Chicago Cityscape's Github repository and can be accessed by anyone with a valid API key. API keys are available to every Cityscape Real Estate Pro member, and those who subscribe to the API independently of any membership. ### Attribution When using data in a publication, project, or paper, members should cite the creator of the data and appended with a phrase such as "[data from SOURCE] as provided by Chicago Cityscape" or "[data from SOURCE] via Chicago Cityscape". Chicago Cityscape cites its sources on the ["Sources" page](http://chicagocityscape.com/sources.php). ## Service guarantee Chicago Cityscape makes every effort for every feature to be available 100 percent of the time, but this is not guaranteed. ## Version history - Version 1.0, last updated May 19, 2021 - Version 1.1.0, updated November 13, 2021, to clarify that we may increase prices after the 12-month initial price period. - Version 1.1.1, updated November 22, 2021, to add Apple Pay and Google Pay to the list of acceptable payment methods; added a link to the refund policy details page. - Version 1.2.0, updated July 7, 2024, to modify the "Sharing" section (refine language over who is a user, and add a note about being able to share specific webpages or reports); incorporated the refund policy that was previously only available on the Benefits/Membership options page; added a section called "Payment dates" that incorporates text that was previously only available on the Benefits/Membership options page; added a section called "Discounts" that incorporates text that was previously only available on the Benefits/Membership options page. - Version 1.21, updated November 7, 2024, to add a description of Stripe (which processes your payment to us), and clarify available payment methods and how to pay by check. # Related articles - [[Privacy policy]] - [[Billing Portal]]