Guidelines

Updated on July 26, 2023

Welcome to the CreditInfoCenter.com Forums (CIC Forums). These forums are a free educational platform for U.S. consumers to share their knowledge and personal experiences with other members of this online consumer community in the topics detailed in each forum.

Registration and Privacy

While no registration is required to view the forums, participants wishing to post a message must register by creating an account with CreditInfoCenter.com/community/. The personal information provided by CIC Forums participants as part of this registration process is governed by our Terms and Rules and Privacy Policy. This personal information is NEVER shared with third parties unrelated to CIC Forums.

User Expectations

Above all, users are expected to be kind, helpful, and respectful. Assume the best of people and try to make things better. Beyond just seeking solutions, users are encouraged to help others. If they know the answer to someone else’s question, it is greatly appreciated that they offer assistance. This is by no means mandatory, and no one is compelled to help anyone else.

All users are required to follow moderator instructions. The guidelines below are not exhaustive, but give users a good baseline in which to engage with one another. From time to time, Moderators will ask users to change their message and tone to generate clarity, correctness, and civility.

Guideline violations can result in a wide range of outcomes, from an outright block to certain restrictions being placed on the user relative to commenting or engagement to restricted access and engagement. Some restrictions are permanent and others are meant to be temporary and will be lifted when the moderators feel the situation has been resolved. If a user cannot follow the guidelines after that, their account will be blocked from posting.

Contacting the Moderators

If a post needs moderator attention, there is a ‘Report’ link on every comment. That will add the post to a queue moderators will watch and follow up with. It can often help if you also add a reply explaining your report.

Do Not Spam

The forums are here to provide users with a venue to get help with problems. In light of this, please refrain from using new topics or responses to existing topics as a venue to promote products or services owned by you or others. This will result in an immediate block.

Do Not Offer to Pay for Help

Any thread that offers any service for money can be closed at any time. We are not against paid services but these forums are not the right place for them.

Do Not Offer to Work For Hire

Don’t offer to work for hire in replies on these forums. Help on the forums should be given freely.

Do Not Create Multiple Accounts (Sockpuppets)

Do not create multiple accounts, aka sockpuppets. Sockpuppetry is often used for nefarious reasons, and as such we ask that you simply don’t do it. If a sockpuppet account is identified, it will be blocked immediately.

When Creating Links to Other Resources

Public links used in the forum should be done in a very limited fashion. That’s because links may come and go, websites change, URLs change, and this all could mean that someone looking for an answer in the future ends up on a topic that only has links to a website no longer running, or to a site now owned by someone else with different content from what is expected.

Most support-related websites have guidelines asking users to post their answers in full, instead of linking to different places, and this is why. By sharing the information on CIC Forums, you ensure that it is kept available for all Forums users.

The Bad Stuff

We need to keep the forums friendly, so, occasionally, topic content will be moderated. In severe cases, users may be blocked. This might mean anything from the light editing of some posts to the complete removal of topics and deactivation of accounts. It should really go without saying, but the following are likely candidates for moderation or intervention:

• Do not post email addresses, ask others to post their email or solicit contacting people off of the forums.
• Do not post, offer, or ask for login information and passwords.
• Do not post another person’s private information (job, gender, living situation, location, etc).
• Do not harass or abuse people..
• Do not abuse the ‘Report’ system.
• Do not post spam and affiliate links, offensive posts, posts without content, or flames.
• Do not post in all caps.
• Avoid asking questions that are more about opinion, like “which is the best credit repair company” or other “discussion topics”, that may lead to pointless wars and/or attract spam replies.
• Do not abuse the @ mentions; they are not a tool to get faster responses.
• Do not disregard/ignore direct communication from forum moderators.
• Do not seek legal advice on the forums: We are not lawyers, and if we were we would then open ourselves to liability.
• Do not threaten lawsuits or any other legal action on the forums.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Every post is judged on its own merits. And that’s all.

Enjoy your stay at the forums!