"Legitimo" nearly says it all... a Spanish word that means legitimate in English. The smartphone app that employs the word is a tool that manages to create legitimate contracts that act to safeguard those involved in domestic services, such as painting, cleaning, and minor home remodeling, and more.

The United States has an active cash-based, informal economy that's driven by 19 percent of the 313.9 million citizens residing. Nearly one-fifth of the population dwell in cash-based communities -- many undocumentented immigrants, and they are susceptible to fraud or scams because there's no written record to support the fact that they've completed a service, made an exchange, or met an agreement. Because of a lack of resources, the 60 million+ individuals are the least likely of demographics to hire a lawyer, and consequently failing to adequately protect their rights.

Enter Legitimo: an effective phone app that allows users to create comprehensive contracts within a minute, in English or Spanish. The binding contracts created by the app protect a collection of individuals, empowering them to guard themselves with a few simple flicks of the finger.

With the philosophy, "everyone deserves access to free legal protection regardless of race or socio-economic status," former law student Nikhil Jhunjhnuwala and his best friend and talented designer Keval Amin conceived the idea for Legitimo, inspired by a middle school mentee Julia, whose family was swindled while planning her quinceañera party without a written agreement. Because of language barriers, Julia's parents, like many Latinos and non-native English-speakers, failed to take protective measures. Legitimo will protect other families who find themselves in similar situations.

"Julia's parents primarily speak Spanish and usually avoid legal matters because of the language gap," Jhunjhnuwala said in an interview with Latin Post. "By allowing users to translate contracts into their native language, we give people confidence in legal matters."

Aware of her role as idea initiator, Julia was ecstatic to find out about the development of the app, and looks forward to testing out the page and suggesting improvements.

Legitimo makes low cost legal protection accessible to the Latino American community and the general public; and, prior to becoming what it is today... it was an admirable idea that came into fruition at the LATISM NYC 2013 Hackathon, which Legitimo won. The hackathon was a function that drew together different ideas and skill sets, for the purpose of creating functional product prototypes in 24 hours. Jhunjhnuwala and Amin collaborated with talented bilingual lawyer Maria Gutierrez and programing genius and businessman Sameer Kanda to execute the creation.

6 a.m. on the morning of the hackathon, still in need of a name and hoping to produce one that made since in both English and Spanish, Keval woke, skimmed the Spanish to English dictionary and his eyes fell across the word "Legitimo." The word rang with exactness, and tested well with others. The tagline, "it's legit!" sealed the deal. The name perfectly complemented the program's abilities and what it will grow to be.

"Each contract template contains a set of clauses that are shown or hidden depending on how a user answers the in-take questionnaire. Answers also trigger different questions via built in logic in the backend," Jhunjhnuwala said. "At the moment, Legitimo can handle most simple contracts, but as we grow and learn, we plan on increasing the number of options and customizations, allowing users to tailor exceedingly personalized agreements." Service contracts can be generated for a number of uses. In fact, "on Valentine's Day, we saw a few service contracts where love was exchanged by couples. We also saw some bets made on Superbowl Sunday," said Jhunjhnuwala.

The startup Legitimo came after Jhunjhnuwala's first two startups, myRight and LegalCrunch. myRight was accepted into an accelerator program called StartEngine, and it provided users with a simple questionnaire that would automatically evaluate situations from a legal perspective. It gained the support of LegalZoom executives and startup investors, but unfortunately shut down in Jan 2013. Jhunjhnuwala and Amin then built LegalCrunch, a document automation service that helps first time offenders erase minor violations off their criminal records, and they currently assist more than 100 customers who are unable to afford legal representation. Language barriers posed a problem for many who were assisted, which rests close to home with Legitimo's creators.

"All of our parents are originally not from America and generally avoid the legal system due to the language and culture gap. However, the U.S. does not allocate legal rights based on native language and everyone is entitled to fairness under the law." Jhunjhnuwala stated on the subject of the application being available in English and Spanish. "As our society grows more diverse, it becomes important to accommodate people to achieve equality. In fact, some states such as California, translate many court documents into different languages, including Spanish. We plan on supporting more languages in the future."

Jhunjhnuwala was born to immigrant parents from India, who were always supportive and taught him the value of volunteering and assisting others. In college, he became interested in inequality, prejudice, and "and bias with respect to race," and planned to obtain a PhD in social psychology. Conducting research in NJ state prisons changed that, however. When Jhunjhnuwala carried out research in NJ state prisons, he heard first-hand stories on rights violations and legal inaccessibility, which geared him toward enrolling in law school. However, he left law school after becoming frustrated with the fact that the majority of Americans don't have access to basic legal rights. This lead to the creation of the myRight, and the eventual manifestation of Legitimo.

Arizona Beverage Company and Airbnb are two startup companies that inspired Jhunjhnuwala, because the two took to the streets in order to talk to real consumers to gather actionable marketing data. Also, Paypal is a startup that inspires him because they "initially leveraged eBay to gain its first users." While startups tend to default to traditional marketing methods, non-scalable tactics may need to be used in the beginning.

On a personal note, Jhunjhnuwala find inspiration when talking to different people... and in private moments: "I find inspiration through talking to different people. When I hear a problem, I like to think about a solution. Lucky for me, people love complaining. Also, the shower. My best ideas are formulated in the shower."

Jhunjhnuwala is also influenced by a Steve Jobs quote:

"When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you're life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.

"That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use"

Legitimo's entire team actively contributes to the maintenance and evolution of their product. Sameer Kanda, coding genius and savvy businessman, morphs ideas into tangible reality without hesitation, and will "find the optimal way to build it." Kanda believes in providing the best experience for each user and works diligently to maintain that level of excellence. Maria Gutierrez, who Jhunjhnuwala met when she interviewed for LegalCrunch, is a gifted lawyer and "has the rare ability to simplify legalese into common language, both in English and Spanish." Gutierrez volunteers in the Bronx, and she is fiercely passionate about helping others. Keval Amin is a clever designer and is able to "organize diverse people with varying values and skill sets to work towards a common goal and purpose." Without him startup success would have been virtually impossible for the group, who's currently recruiting motivated and equipped thinkers to complete their team.

Legitimo prepares its users for any potential contractual obstacles, and safeguards exposed people of all races and ethnicities. Poised to become the "Rosetta stone for contracts and a global force," the startup that launched in January currently has about 1000 users and hopes to have 100,000 by the fall.

Google Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.legitimo.app
iTunes Store:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/legitimo/id788492057?mt=8
Main website:https://legitimoapp.com

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