Doc 01 of 04 · v1 draft

Terms of Service.

Last revised May 2026 · v1 · counsel-review pending · Governing law: California

On this page

  1. Scope & acceptance
  2. Accounts
  3. Homeowner content
  4. Builder accounts & response right
  5. Content license to HBR
  6. AI features & disclaimers
  7. Prohibited use
  8. Fees & subscriptions
  9. Third-party services
  10. No warranty
  11. Limitation of liability
  12. Indemnification
  13. Arbitration & class waiver
  14. Governing law & venue
  15. Changes to these terms
  16. Contact

This is a v1 draft prepared for counsel review before launch. Final binding terms will be set by qualified counsel familiar with internet platform law in your jurisdiction. Do not rely on this draft for any operational decision. Citations are accurate as of the revision date.

§1 Scope & acceptance

These Terms govern your use of Homebuilder Review ("HBR," "we," "our") services, including the websites at staas.fund/hbr and staas.fund/hbr-mobile, mobile applications, APIs, and any related products (collectively, the "Services"). By creating an account, posting content, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms.

If you are using the Services on behalf of an entity (e.g., as a homebuilder company), you represent that you have authority to bind that entity, and "you" refers to both you individually and that entity.

§2 Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and capable of forming a binding contract. You agree to provide accurate information and keep it current. You are responsible for activity under your account.

HBR may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, including accounts that misrepresent identity or relationship to a closed-on home.

§3 Homeowner content

If you are a homeowner using HBR to document defects, file warranty claims, or rate a builder, you affirm that:

  • You have firsthand experience with the home and builder you are describing.
  • Your statements are truthful and based on your own observation.
  • Photographs are your own or you have permission from the owner of the rights.
  • You are the author of any drafted warranty letter sent through the Service; HBR provides only the editable template.
  • You will not name individual employees, identify minors, or include personally identifying information about non-parties.

§4 Builder accounts & response right

Verified builders may claim accounts associated with their state contractor license, business EIN, or domain. Verified builders receive the following at no charge:

  • The right to post a public response on any claim or rating tied to their license.
  • The ability to privately flag factual errors, duplicate records, or out-of-scope complaints.
  • Read-only visibility into the homeowner-facing reputation card for their license.

Paid Builder Tiers (Tier S/M/L and the Data Access add-ons described at /hbr/builders/) provide additional analytics, multi-seat access, and roll-up data scopes. No paid tier conveys the right to edit, suppress, or curate homeowner content tied to your license; paid tiers buy data access, not content control.

§5 Content license to HBR

You retain ownership of content you post. You grant HBR a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for technical purposes such as resizing and format conversion), display, perform, and distribute your content for purposes of operating, providing, and improving the Services, and to permit downstream uses consistent with these Terms and the Privacy Policy.

This license terminates with respect to a given record when you delete that record from your account, except (a) to the extent the content has been incorporated into anonymized aggregate statistics that are no longer reasonably re-identifiable, and (b) for backup retention as described in the Privacy Policy.

§6 AI features & disclaimers

HBR uses automated vision and language models to:

  • Estimate defect classification and severity from photographs you upload.
  • Produce editable template language for warranty correspondence.
  • Aggregate and summarize records under the data ladder (see Trust hub §07).

AI outputs are estimates only and are not legal advice, structural-engineering opinions, or licensed inspections. You must review and accept any AI output before it is saved or sent. You are the author and sender of any warranty correspondence generated through the Service; HBR provides the template.

HBR does not guarantee any particular AI output, accuracy rate, or warranty outcome.

§7 Prohibited use

You will not (and will not assist others to):

  • Post content you know to be false or content lacking firsthand experience.
  • Impersonate any person, builder, or organization.
  • Post content that infringes intellectual property rights.
  • Use the Services to harass, threaten, dox, or stalk any person.
  • Scrape, mass-download, or reverse-engineer the Services except as permitted by law.
  • Use the Services to compete with HBR's data or analytics offerings.
  • Bypass any access controls, fee gates, or technical restrictions.

HBR may, at its sole discretion, remove content, suspend accounts, and pursue any other remedy available at law for violations.

§8 Fees & subscriptions

The homeowner-side Service is free at the time of these Terms. Optional premium homeowner features may be offered for a fee in the future. Builder Tiers (S/M/L) and Data Access add-ons are paid subscriptions billed monthly or annually as elected. Pricing is stated at /hbr/builders/.

Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled before the renewal date. Refunds are at HBR's discretion and not guaranteed for partial periods.

§9 Third-party services

The Services rely on third-party providers including cloud hosting (Cloudflare), email delivery, payment processing, and AI inference. Use of those providers is subject to their own terms. HBR is not responsible for failures, outages, or changes in third-party services.

§10 No warranty

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

§11 Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HBR'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (a) THE FEES YOU PAID HBR IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (b) $100. HBR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations; in those jurisdictions, the limitations apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.

§12 Indemnification

You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HBR, its officers, directors, employees, and contractors from and against any claim, demand, liability, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

  • Content you post or transmit through the Services.
  • Your violation of these Terms, the AUP, or applicable law.
  • Your violation of the rights of any third party, including defamation, privacy, or intellectual property rights.
  • Warranty correspondence you send through the Services.

§13 Arbitration & class waiver

Please read carefully. This section affects your legal rights.

You and HBR agree to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitrator will issue a written decision and may grant any relief a court could grant.

Class action waiver. You and HBR agree to bring any dispute only on an individual basis, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, consolidated, or representative action.

Carve-outs. Either party may bring (i) an individual action in small-claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdiction, and (ii) an action in court for injunctive or other equitable relief to protect intellectual property rights.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of arbitration by sending a written notice to the address in §16 within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.

§14 Governing law & venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Except as provided in §13, any dispute that is not subject to arbitration shall be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and the parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

This choice of forum and law is made deliberately to anchor anti-SLAPP coverage under California Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 and related provisions for any dispute arising from user-generated content.

§15 Changes to these terms

HBR may modify these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email and through the Services at least 30 days before they take effect, except for changes required by law, which take effect on the date stated. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

§16 Contact

Legal notices, opt-out requests, and DMCA notices may be sent to:

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