diff --git a/bin/cli-serve b/bin/cli-serve
index d861d8c5d..0427dcf34 100755
--- a/bin/cli-serve
+++ b/bin/cli-serve
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ const app = require('../app');
 const program = require('./commander');
 const debug = require('debug')('talk:server');
 const http = require('http');
-const init = require('../init');
 const scraper = require('../services/scraper');
 const mailer = require('../services/mailer');
 const kue = require('../services/kue');
@@ -87,19 +86,13 @@ function onListening() {
  * Start the app.
  */
 function startApp() {
-  init().then(() => {
 
-    /**
-    * Listen on provided port, on all network interfaces.
-    */
-    server.listen(port);
-    server.on('error', onError);
-    server.on('listening', onListening);
-  })
-  .catch((err) => {
-    console.error(err);
-    util.shutdown(1);
-  });
+  /**
+  * Listen on provided port, on all network interfaces.
+  */
+  server.listen(port);
+  server.on('error', onError);
+  server.on('listening', onListening);
 }
 
 //==============================================================================
diff --git a/bin/cli-setup b/bin/cli-setup
index 1c348d212..7645e171d 100755
--- a/bin/cli-setup
+++ b/bin/cli-setup
@@ -31,20 +31,21 @@ program
 console.log('We\'ll ask you some questions in order to setup your installation of Talk.\n');
 
 SettingsService
-  .retrieve()
-  .catch(() => new SettingModel())
+  .init()
   .then((settings) => {
-
-    if (settings && settings.id) {
-      console.log('We found preexisting settings in the database, we\'ll use it\'s values as defaults.\n');
-    }
-
     return inquirer.prompt([
       {
         type: 'input',
         name: 'organizationName',
         message: 'Organization Name',
-        default: settings.organizationName
+        default: settings.organizationName,
+        validate: (input) => {
+          if (input && input.length > 0) {
+            return true;
+          }
+
+          return 'Organization Name is required.';
+        }
       },
       {
         type: 'list',
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ SettingsService
         }
       });
 
-      return SettingsService.update(settings);
+      return settings.save();
     });
   })
   .then(() => {
diff --git a/bin/cli-users b/bin/cli-users
index 3ce418927..ab89626eb 100755
--- a/bin/cli-users
+++ b/bin/cli-users
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ const mongoose = require('../services/mongoose');
 const util = require('../util');
 const Table = require('cli-table');
 
-const validateRequired = (msg = 'Field is required') => (input) => {
-  if (input && input.length > 0) {
+const validateRequired = (msg = 'Field is required', len = 1) => (input) => {
+  if (input && input.length >= len) {
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -53,18 +53,36 @@ function getUserCreateAnswers(options) {
       name: 'password',
       message: 'Password',
       type: 'password',
-      validate: validateRequired('Password is required')
+      filter: (password) => {
+        return UsersService
+          .isValidPassword(password)
+          .catch((err) => {
+            throw err.message;
+          });
+      }
     },
     {
       name: 'confirmPassword',
       message: 'Confirm Password',
       type: 'password',
-      validate: validateRequired('Confirm Password is required')
+      filter: (confirmPassword) => {
+        return UsersService
+          .isValidPassword(confirmPassword)
+          .catch((err) => {
+            throw err.message;
+          });
+      }
     },
     {
       name: 'displayName',
       message: 'Display Name',
-      validate: validateRequired('Display Name is required')
+      filter: (displayName) => {
+        return UsersService
+          .isValidDisplayName(displayName)
+          .catch((err) => {
+            throw err.message;
+          });
+      }
     },
     {
       name: 'roles',
diff --git a/init.js b/init.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cd0c0bbc9..000000000
--- a/init.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-const SettingsService = require('./services/settings');
-
-module.exports = () => Promise.all([
-
-  // Upsert the settings object.
-  SettingsService.init({
-    moderation: 'POST',
-    wordlist: {
-      banned: [],
-      suspect: []
-    }
-  })
-]);
diff --git a/models/setting.js b/models/setting.js
index 26faf1319..25882b3f8 100644
--- a/models/setting.js
+++ b/models/setting.js
@@ -6,13 +6,6 @@ const MODERATION_OPTIONS = [
   'POST'
 ];
 
-const WordlistSchema = new Schema({
-  banned: [String],
-  suspect: [String]
-}, {
-  _id: false
-});
-
 /**
  * SettingSchema manages application settings that get used on front and backend.
  * @type {Schema}
@@ -48,7 +41,16 @@ const SettingSchema = new Schema({
     type: String,
     default: 'Expired'
   },
-  wordlist: WordlistSchema,
+  wordlist: {
+    banned: {
+      type: Array,
+      default: []
+    },
+    suspect: {
+      type: Array,
+      default: []
+    }
+  },
   charCount: {
     type: Number,
     default: 5000
diff --git a/services/settings.js b/services/settings.js
index 5d4133fe4..2bb15319d 100644
--- a/services/settings.js
+++ b/services/settings.js
@@ -44,15 +44,14 @@ module.exports = class SettingsService {
 
   /**
    * This is run once when the app starts to ensure settings are populated.
-   * @return {Promise} null initialize the global settings object
    */
-  static init(defaults) {
+  static init(defaults = {}) {
+    return SettingsService
+      .retrieve()
+      .catch(() => {
+        let settings = new SettingModel(defaults);
 
-    // Inject the defaults on top of the passed in defaults to ensure that the new
-    // settings conform to the required selector.
-    defaults = Object.assign({}, defaults, selector);
-
-    // Actually update the settings collection.
-    return SettingsService.update(defaults);
+        return settings.save();
+      });
   }
 };
diff --git a/services/users.js b/services/users.js
index 7a888ede1..635e39e47 100644
--- a/services/users.js
+++ b/services/users.js
@@ -189,6 +189,18 @@ module.exports = class UsersService {
     return Wordlist.displayNameCheck(displayName);
   }
 
+  static isValidPassword(password) {
+    if (!password) {
+      return Promise.reject(errors.ErrMissingPassword);
+    }
+
+    if (password.length < 8) {
+      return Promise.reject(errors.ErrPasswordTooShort);
+    }
+
+    return Promise.resolve(password);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Creates the local user with a given email, password, and name.
    * @param  {String}   email       email of the new user
@@ -205,15 +217,10 @@ module.exports = class UsersService {
     email = email.toLowerCase().trim();
     displayName = displayName.toLowerCase().trim();
 
-    if (!password) {
-      return Promise.reject(errors.ErrMissingPassword);
-    }
-
-    if (password.length < 8) {
-      return Promise.reject(errors.ErrPasswordTooShort);
-    }
-
-    return UsersService.isValidDisplayName(displayName)
+    return Promise.all([
+      UsersService.isValidDisplayName(displayName),
+      UsersService.isValidPassword(password)
+    ])
       .then(() => { // displayName is valid
         return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
           bcrypt.hash(password, SALT_ROUNDS, (err, hashedPassword) => {
diff --git a/test/routes/api/auth/index.js b/test/routes/api/auth/index.js
index 4882d859e..1bf8f4992 100644
--- a/test/routes/api/auth/index.js
+++ b/test/routes/api/auth/index.js
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ describe('/api/v1/auth/local', () => {
 
   describe('email confirmation enabled', () => {
 
-    beforeEach(() => SettingsService.init({requireEmailConfirmation: true}));
+    beforeEach(() => SettingsService.update({requireEmailConfirmation: true}));
 
     describe('#post', () => {
       it('should not allow a login from a user that is not confirmed', () => {
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ describe('/api/v1/auth/local', () => {
           .post('/api/v1/auth/local')
           .send({email: 'maria@gmail.com', password: 'password!'})
           .catch((err) => {
-            err.response.should.have.status(401);
+            expect(err).to.have.status(401);
 
             return UsersService.createEmailConfirmToken(mockUser.id, mockUser.profiles[0].id);
           })