diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d2c3534..a83b1e3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
 node_modules
 output/
 passModels/
-certificates/pass.cer
-certificates/passCertificate-exported.p12
-certificates/passcertificate.pem
-certificates/passkey.pem
-certificates/source-AppleWWDRCA.cer
+certificates/
 improvements.rtf
+config.json
diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
deleted file mode 100644
index e22ef3a..0000000
--- a/config.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-{
-	"certificates": {
-		"dir": "certificates",
-		"files": {
-			"wwdr": "WWDR.pem",
-			"signerCert": "passcertificate.pem",
-			"signerKey": "passkey.pem"
-		},
-		"credentials": {
-			"privateKeySecret": "123456"
-		}
-	},
-	"output": {
-		"dir": "output"
-	},
-	"models": {
-		"dir": "passModels"
-	}
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 2613952..8f3b5e2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -391,20 +391,41 @@ function init(configPath) {
 
 	let setup = require(configPathResolved);
 
-	loadConfiguration(setup).then(function(config) {
-		Certificates.wwdr = config[0];
-		Certificates.signerCert = config[1];
-		Certificates.signerKey = config[2];
+	let queue = [
+		new Promise(function(success, reject) {
+			fs.access(path.resolve(setup.models.dir), function(err) {
+				if (err) {
+					return reject("A valid pass model directory is required. Please provide one in the configuration file under voice 'models.dir'.")
+				}
+
+				return success(null);
+			});
+		}),
+		new Promise((success) => fs.access(path.resolve(setup.output.dir), success)),
+		loadConfiguration(setup)
+	];
+
+	Promise.all(queue)
+	.then(function(results) {
+		let paths = results.slice(0, 2);
+		let certs = results[results.length-1];
+
+		if (!paths[0]) {
+			Configuration.passModelsDir = setup.models.dir;
+		}
+
+		if (!paths[1] && setup.output.shouldWrite) {
+			Configuration.output.dir = setup.output.dir;
+		}
+
+		Certificates.wwdr = certs[0];
+		Certificates.signerCert = certs[1];
+		Certificates.signerKey = certs[2];
 		Certificates.status = true;
 	})
 	.catch(function(error) {
-		throw new Error(`Error: ${error}`);
+		throw new Error(error);
 	});
-
-	Configuration.passModelsDir = setup.models.dir;
-	Configuration.output.dir = setup.output.dir;
-	// for a future implementation
-	Configuration.output.shouldWrite = false
 }
 
 module.exports = { init, RequestHandler };