Last updated: 2026-04-27
This statement explains StelaHome’s position under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) ("FCRA"). It describes how we view our products, what we believe they are not, and the limits we place on how customers and recipients of our content may use it.
StelaHome is not a "consumer reporting agency" as that term is defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f). Our property-intelligence reports (StelaReport), composite grades (SafetyGrade, WaterGrade, RoofGrade, HazardGrade, StelaSchoolScore), repair guides, repair-cost estimates (Stela Fix Oracle and Quote Upload), and Home Dashboard outputs are not "consumer reports" within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d). They are property-level, geographic, and educational outputs intended for the homeowner, prospective homeowner, or licensed professional acting on the homeowner’s behalf.
You may not use StelaHome content, in whole or in part, alone or in combination with other data, for any purpose authorized under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. Prohibited uses include but are not limited to: (a) determining eligibility for credit or insurance; (b) employment decisions; (c) tenant screening or rental decisions; (d) housing-eligibility decisions; (e) any other use that would convert a recipient into a "user" of a "consumer report" under FCRA.
StelaReport surfaces information about a property’s physical characteristics, geographic context, and public-record exposures derived from sources such as FEMA flood maps, EPA water-quality records, USGS seismic-hazard data, NOAA weather-event histories, NYC and BuildFax permit records, FCC broadband data, and similar property- or place-based registries. Stela Fix outputs reflect modeled labor and materials estimates derived from a contractor-collected pricing dataset. None of these surfaces produce a credit score, a tenant score, an employment score, or any other consumer-eligibility output.
Where a public registry that we consume contains identifiable persons — for example, state sex-offender registries — we surface only aggregate counts and distance bands at the property level. We do not surface registrant names, photographs, addresses, or other identifying details. This separation is enforced in code and is part of our internal lint regime.
Each composite grade is governed by a published methodology document under stelahome.com/methodology. Methodology versions are immutable: a report generated under v1.0 remains viewable under v1.0 even after a later version is published. Counsel and CEO sign-off is required before any methodology version is published, per our internal HD-18 governance policy.
You may share a StelaReport view link with another individual, but you may not republish, resell, or systematically distribute report content. You may not forward, present, upload, or otherwise transmit StelaHome content to any party who you know or reasonably should know intends to use it for an FCRA § 1681b purpose. We reserve the right to revoke share links and to restrict access where misuse is suspected.
Programmatic access to StelaHome data, including the Stela Fix Oracle pricing API and any inspector-facing endpoint, is conditioned on a separate business agreement that incorporates this FCRA posture by reference. Unauthenticated callers receive privacy-preserving fuzzed pricing bands; authenticated business customers must contractually warrant non-FCRA use and submit to anti-misuse controls.
If you become aware of any party using StelaHome content to make a decision that would be governed by FCRA § 1681b, contact legal@stelahome.com. We may investigate, suspend access, terminate accounts, and pursue contractual remedies.
This statement summarizes our position; it is not legal advice and does not modify your legal obligations. You remain solely responsible for ensuring that your own use of StelaHome content complies with FCRA, state-law analogues (including New York General Business Law and similar regimes), and any contractual restrictions imposed by your downstream recipients.