diff --git a/dependency-check-cli/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/App.java b/dependency-check-cli/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/App.java
index b89580df1..de11e4cbe 100644
--- a/dependency-check-cli/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/App.java
+++ b/dependency-check-cli/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/App.java
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public class App {
             } catch (ExceptionCollection ex) {
                 if (ex.isFatal()) {
                     exitCode = -13;
-                    LOGGER.error("One or more fatal errors occured");
+                    LOGGER.error("One or more fatal errors occurred");
                 } else {
                     exitCode = -14;
                 }
diff --git a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/Engine.java b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/Engine.java
index c3d0f6584..86d144239 100644
--- a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/Engine.java
+++ b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/Engine.java
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ public class Engine implements FileFilter {
         LOGGER.debug("\n----------------------------------------------------\nEND ANALYSIS\n----------------------------------------------------");
         LOGGER.info("Analysis Complete ({} ms)", System.currentTimeMillis() - analysisStart);
         if (exceptions.size() > 0) {
-            throw new ExceptionCollection("One or more exceptions occured during dependency-check analysis", exceptions);
+            throw new ExceptionCollection("One or more exceptions occurred during dependency-check analysis", exceptions);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/data/update/EngineVersionCheck.java b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/data/update/EngineVersionCheck.java
index 690b3aa75..27614e2cb 100644
--- a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/data/update/EngineVersionCheck.java
+++ b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/data/update/EngineVersionCheck.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public class EngineVersionCheck implements CachedWebDataSource {
             }
         } catch (DatabaseException ex) {
             LOGGER.debug("Database Exception opening databases to retrieve properties", ex);
-            throw new UpdateException("Error occured updating database properties.");
+            throw new UpdateException("Error occurred updating database properties.");
         } catch (InvalidSettingException ex) {
             LOGGER.debug("Unable to determine if autoupdate is enabled", ex);
         } finally {
diff --git a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/exception/ExceptionCollection.java b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/exception/ExceptionCollection.java
index 1932dc79a..5587fcbde 100644
--- a/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/exception/ExceptionCollection.java
+++ b/dependency-check-core/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/exception/ExceptionCollection.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 /**
  * A collection of several exceptions.
  *
- * @author Jeremy Lomg
+ * @author Jeremy Long
  */
 public class ExceptionCollection extends Exception {
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class ExceptionCollection extends Exception {
      * Instantiates a new exception collection.
      *
      * @param exceptions a list of exceptions
-     * @param fatal indicates if the exception that occurred is fatal - meaning
+     * @param fatal indicates if any of the exceptions that occurred is fatal - meaning
      * that no analysis was performed.
      */
     public ExceptionCollection(List<Throwable> exceptions, boolean fatal) {
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class ExceptionCollection extends Exception {
      *
      * @param msg the exception message
      * @param exceptions a list of exceptions
-     * @param fatal indicates if the exception that occurred is fatal - meaning
+     * @param fatal indicates if any of the exceptions that occurred is fatal - meaning
      * that no analysis was performed.
      */
     public ExceptionCollection(String msg, List<Throwable> exceptions, boolean fatal) {
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ public class ExceptionCollection extends Exception {
      */
     @Override
     public void printStackTrace(PrintWriter s) {
-        s.println("Multiple Exceptions Occured");
+        s.println("Multiple Exceptions Occurred");
         super.printStackTrace(s);
         for (Throwable t : this.exceptions) {
             s.println("Next Exception:");
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ public class ExceptionCollection extends Exception {
         final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
         final String msg = super.getMessage();
         if (msg == null || msg.isEmpty()) {
-            sb.append("One or more exceptions occured during analysis:");
+            sb.append("One or more exceptions occurred during analysis:");
         } else {
             sb.append(msg);
         }
diff --git a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/AggregateMojo.java b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/AggregateMojo.java
index 75ae844bb..6a84d10ab 100644
--- a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/AggregateMojo.java
+++ b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/AggregateMojo.java
@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ public class AggregateMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
                 exCol.addException(ex);
             }
             if (this.isFailOnError()) {
-                throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occured during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
+                throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occurred during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
             } else {
-                getLog().debug("One or more exceptions occured during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
+                getLog().debug("One or more exceptions occurred during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
             }
         }
         showSummary(this.getProject(), engine.getDependencies());
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ public class AggregateMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
             if (getLog().isDebugEnabled()) {
                 getLog().debug("Database connection error", ex);
             }
-            final String msg = "An exception occured connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
+            final String msg = "An exception occurred connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
             if (this.isFailOnError()) {
                 throw new MojoExecutionException(msg, ex);
             }
diff --git a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/CheckMojo.java b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/CheckMojo.java
index a707dcd36..57b697288 100644
--- a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/CheckMojo.java
+++ b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/CheckMojo.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public class CheckMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
             if (getLog().isDebugEnabled()) {
                 getLog().debug("Database connection error", ex);
             }
-            final String msg = "An exception occured connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
+            final String msg = "An exception occurred connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
             if (this.isFailOnError()) {
                 throw new MojoExecutionException(msg, ex);
             }
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public class CheckMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
                     engine.analyzeDependencies();
                 } catch (ExceptionCollection ex) {
                     if (this.isFailOnError() && ex.isFatal()) {
-                        throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occured during analysis", ex);
+                        throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occurred during analysis", ex);
                     }
                     exCol = ex;
                 }
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class CheckMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
                     showSummary(getProject(), engine.getDependencies());
                     checkForFailure(engine.getDependencies());
                     if (exCol != null && this.isFailOnError()) {
-                        throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occured during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
+                        throw new MojoExecutionException("One or more exceptions occurred during dependency-check analysis", exCol);
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/UpdateMojo.java b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/UpdateMojo.java
index bedb80a7c..9d546b7d4 100644
--- a/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/UpdateMojo.java
+++ b/dependency-check-maven/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/maven/UpdateMojo.java
@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ public class UpdateMojo extends BaseDependencyCheckMojo {
             if (getLog().isDebugEnabled()) {
                 getLog().debug("Database connection error", ex);
             }
-            final String msg = "An exception occured connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
+            final String msg = "An exception occurred connecting to the local database. Please see the log file for more details.";
             if (this.isFailOnError()) {
                 throw new MojoExecutionException(msg, ex);
             }
             getLog().error(msg);
         } catch (UpdateException ex) {
-            final String msg = "An exception occured while downloading updates. Please see the log file for more details.";
+            final String msg = "An exception occurred while downloading updates. Please see the log file for more details.";
             if (this.isFailOnError()) {
                 throw new MojoExecutionException(msg, ex);
             }
diff --git a/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Settings.java b/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Settings.java
index 359d24171..12b463e52 100644
--- a/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Settings.java
+++ b/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Settings.java
@@ -370,8 +370,11 @@ public final class Settings {
         try {
             in = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(propertiesFilePath);
             props.load(in);
+        } catch (NullPointerException ex) {
+            LOGGER.error("Did not find settings file '{}'.", propertiesFilePath);
+            LOGGER.debug("", ex);
         } catch (IOException ex) {
-            LOGGER.error("Unable to load default settings.");
+            LOGGER.error("Unable to load settings from '{}'.", propertiesFilePath);
             LOGGER.debug("", ex);
         } finally {
             if (in != null) {