Legal
Refund Policy
Effective date: 2026-09-02
Short version: all sales are final. One-time products (the appeal brief and the lead lists) are not refundable. Monthly plans — the Commercial API pre-sale included — can be cancelled at any time and keep access to the end of the paid period, but are not refunded. The only thing we reverse is a billing error on our side.
1.One-time purchases (appeal brief, lead lists)
All sales are final. The appeal brief, the Trade territory list, and the Appeal season pass are digital products delivered the moment payment clears. There is nothing to cancel, and we do not refund them — not for a change of mind, not because a list produced fewer replies than hoped, and not because an appeal was denied or reduced. The Assessor and the Board of Review decide every appeal; the outcome is not a defect in the brief.
The only exceptions are our own mistakes: you were charged twice or at the wrong price, the file was corrupt or empty, or what you received was not the town or product described. Write to us within 14 days of purchase and we correct the charge or replace the file. Nothing else qualifies.
2.Monthly subscriptions
Personal and Pro are month-to-month. Cancel at any time from your account page: you keep access until the end of the period you already paid for, and nothing further is charged.
Subscription charges are not refundable — not partial months, not months you did not use, not a plan you forgot to cancel. Cancelling means the next charge simply does not happen. The one exception is a billing error on our side: a duplicate charge, a charge after a confirmed cancellation, or a charge at the wrong price is reversed in full.
3.Commercial API pre-sale
The pre-sale is a promise to deliver something that is not live yet. Pre-sale subscribers receive Pro-level access to the site while they wait, and the pre-sale rate stays in place for as long as the subscription remains continuously active. Pre-sale charges follow the same rule as every subscription: cancel at any time, keep access to the end of the paid period, no refund. If the API has not launched within twelve months of your purchase, you may cancel, or keep the pre-sale rate for as long as you stay subscribed.
After launch the plan follows the normal monthly rules above.
4.How to report a billing error
Email support@cookcountyrecords.com from the address on the account with the words “billing error” in the subject. Tell us which charge and why. We reply within two business days; a reversed charge goes back to the original payment method through Stripe and typically appears within 5–10 business days depending on your bank.
Email is the fastest route. If you must send a notice on paper: Cook County Records, 205 West Touhy Avenue, Suite 328, Park Ridge, IL 60068.
5.Disputes
Please ask us before opening a card dispute — we resolve almost everything faster directly. Accounts with an open chargeback are paused until it is resolved. Nothing is refundable except the billing errors listed above, and a dispute opened to reverse a delivered download or brief will be contested with the delivery record.
This policy is part of the Terms of Service.