Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and HOAReview, LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company ("HOAReview," "Company," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your access to and use of the HOAReview.com website, mobile-optimized interfaces, APIs, and all related services (collectively, the "Service").

By clicking 'I agree,' checking a box, creating an account, submitting a review, or otherwise accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. This constitutes a click-wrap agreement enforceable under applicable law. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you are not permitted to access or use the Service. Your continued use of the Service after any modification to these Terms constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

2. Nature of the Platform — Section 230 Interactive Computer Service

HOAReview.com is an interactive computer service as defined by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230 ("CDA § 230"). The Company is not the author, publisher, editor, or speaker of user-generated content, including reviews, ratings, comments, and other submissions made by third-party users.

Under CDA § 230(c)(1), the Company shall not be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. Accordingly, the Company is not liable for any user-generated content, including content that is defamatory, inaccurate, offensive, or otherwise objectionable. Users who submit content are solely responsible for that content and any legal consequences arising from it.

The Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to screen, review, edit, refuse to publish, or remove any user-generated content that violates these Terms, applicable law, or our Review Guidelines — but is not obligated to do so. Exercise of this editorial discretion does not transform the Company into a publisher of any remaining content under CDA § 230.

3. User Accounts

3.1 Registration

To submit reviews or access certain features, you must register for an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update your information promptly if it changes. You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account. By registering, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement.

3.2 Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to: (a) use a strong, unique password; (b) notify us immediately at legal@hoareview.com upon discovering any unauthorized access or suspected breach; and (c) ensure you log out after each session on shared devices. The Company will not be liable for losses arising from your failure to maintain account security.

3.3 One Account Per User

You may maintain only one active account. Creating multiple accounts to evade a ban, circumvent rating limits, post duplicate reviews, or manipulate aggregate scores is a material breach of these Terms and grounds for immediate termination of all associated accounts.

3.4 Account Closure

You may request account deletion at any time by emailing legal@hoareview.com. Upon closure, your profile information will be removed. Reviews you submitted may be retained in anonymized or pseudonymized form to preserve the integrity of the public record and our historical data, unless you submit a separate deletion request under our Privacy Policy. Certain data may be retained as required by applicable law.

4. User-Generated Content and Reviews

4.1 Eligibility to Review

To submit a review of an HOA community, you must have direct, firsthand experience with that community. Eligible reviewers include: current homeowners or renters residing within the HOA's geographic jurisdiction; former residents who lived in the community within the past five (5) years; and prospective buyers who have completed a formal offer, inspection, or due-diligence process for a property within the HOA. HOA board members, management company employees, and any person with a financial or competitive interest in the HOA's rating are prohibited from submitting reviews of that HOA. One (1) review per user per HOA community is permitted.

4.2 License Grant

You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights in your User Content. By submitting User Content, you grant HOAReview, LLC a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual, and irrevocable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and create derivative works from your User Content for any purpose related to operating, promoting, and improving the Service — including display within HOA profiles, search results, API responses, aggregated data products, and marketing materials. "User Content" includes reviews, ratings, titles, pros/cons text, votes, flags, and any other content you submit through the Service.

4.3 Representations and Warranties

By submitting User Content, you represent, warrant, and covenant that:

• You have direct, firsthand personal experience with the HOA or community you are reviewing and meet the eligibility criteria in Section 4.1
• All statements of fact in your review are true and accurate to the best of your knowledge at the time of submission
• Your review reflects your genuine, independent opinion and has not been solicited, directed, or compensated by any person or entity with an economic interest in the HOA's ratings
• You are the sole author of the User Content and have all rights necessary to grant the license in Section 4.2
• Your User Content does not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any third-party intellectual property right, privacy right, publicity right, or other proprietary right
• Your User Content does not contain any private personal information about any identifiable individual — including full names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, financial information, or other identifying details — without that individual's express written consent
• Your User Content does not constitute an unlawful act, including defamation under applicable law, and does not knowingly make false statements of fact
• Your User Content does not violate any applicable federal, state, or local law, including laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604, or analogous state laws
• You understand that you — not HOAReview, LLC — are solely legally responsible for the content, accuracy, and legality of your review
• You have read and agree to comply with the HOAReview.com Review Guidelines, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference

4.4 Prohibited Content

The following content is strictly prohibited and will be removed upon detection. Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent termination:

• False statements of fact — including fabricated violations, invented incidents, fictitious financial figures, or events you did not personally witness or experience
• Defamatory content — statements that are false, presented as fact, harmful to reputation, and not protected as opinion or fair comment
• Private personal information — full names of private individuals (including board members in their personal capacity), home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, financial account information, medical information, or any other information that could identify or harm a private person
• Threatening, harassing, or intimidating language directed at any individual, board member, management company employee, or resident
• Content submitted in exchange for payment, gift cards, discounts, services, or any other form of compensation
• Promotional content for competing real estate, HOA review, or property management platforms
• Content that is not genuinely about the HOA community itself — including complaints about individual neighbors unrelated to HOA governance, or reviews of a real estate agent's services
• Discriminatory content referencing protected characteristics — race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability, or other characteristics protected under the Fair Housing Act or applicable state law — in a manner that violates those laws
• Duplicate reviews — submitting the same or substantially similar review of the same HOA community under the same or different accounts
• Coordinated review campaigns — organizing, directing, or participating in any effort to flood an HOA's profile with reviews intended to inflate or suppress its ratings
• Content containing malware, scripts, tracking pixels, or any other malicious code
• Reviews submitted by individuals who do not meet the eligibility criteria in Section 4.1, including competitors, vendors, or paid agents

4.5 Moderation

All submitted reviews undergo a multi-stage moderation process before publication, including automated spam and fraud detection, AI-assisted content analysis, and human moderator review where triggered. Most reviews are published within 24 hours; reviews requiring additional manual review may take up to 5 business days. We will email you if your review is published or rejected. Rejected reviews include a general reason category; detailed moderation criteria are not disclosed to prevent circumvention.

The Company's decision to publish, reject, or remove any review is final and is made in our sole discretion. The Company is not obligated to publish any review and exercises no editorial control that would render it a publisher under CDA § 230.

4.6 Flagging, Reports, and Takedowns

Any user may flag a review as potentially non-compliant using the "Report" feature on a review card. HOA representatives with a claimed and verified profile may submit a formal dispute through our Legal & Abuse Reports form at /legal/contact. We investigate all reports within 5 business days and remove content that materially violates these Terms. We do not remove content solely because it is unflattering, negative, or disputed — provided it constitutes protected opinion or is otherwise legally permissible.

Users whose reviews are removed may appeal the moderation decision within 30 days by emailing abuse@hoareview.com with the subject line 'Moderation Appeal' and the review ID. Appeals are reviewed by a senior moderator within 10 business days. The appeal decision is final.

4.7 Anonymity

Users may elect to publish their review anonymously, in which case only the verified-resident badge (if applicable) and your star ratings will be publicly displayed alongside your review text — your name and account details will not be shown. Selecting anonymity does not exempt you from these Terms or from legal responsibility for the content of your review. In response to a valid court order, subpoena, or other legally compelled process, the Company may be required to disclose account information associated with an anonymous review. See our Privacy Policy for more detail.

5. HOA and Management Company Representatives

HOA boards and authorized management company representatives may claim and verify their HOA's profile on HOAReview.com to access response tools, subscription analytics, and profile-enrichment features. Claiming a profile does not grant the right to remove, edit, or suppress legitimate user reviews. HOA representatives may post one official response per review, visible beneath the original review. Official responses must comply with these Terms and may not themselves be defamatory, threatening, or in violation of applicable law.

By claiming a profile, HOA and management company representatives additionally represent and warrant that: (a) they are authorized to act on behalf of the HOA or management company; (b) all information they submit to the profile is accurate and not misleading; and (c) they will not use profile access to attempt to identify, contact, or retaliate against anonymous reviewers. Violation of this section is grounds for immediate revocation of claimed-profile access and account termination.

6. Intellectual Property

6.1 Company Intellectual Property

The Service and all of its original content, features, functionality, design, code, algorithms, database compilations, and trade dress — excluding User Content — are the exclusive property of HOAReview, LLC and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property laws. The compilation of HOA data, including aggregate ratings and derived statistics, constitutes protectable intellectual property of HOAReview, LLC. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in the Service or Company intellectual property except the limited license to use the Service as expressly provided herein.

6.2 Trademarks

"HOAReview," "HOAReview.com," the HOAReview logo, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks or service marks of HOAReview, LLC. You may not use these marks without the prior written permission of the Company. All other trademarks, service marks, and trade names referenced on the Service are the property of their respective owners.

6.3 Feedback

If you provide any feedback, ideas, or suggestions regarding the Service ("Feedback"), you grant the Company a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sublicensable license to use, implement, and incorporate that Feedback into the Service or other products and services without any obligation or compensation to you.

6.4 Prohibited Data Extraction

You may not, without the Company's express written permission: scrape, crawl, spider, or systematically download any portion of the Service; use automated tools to extract review data, HOA profiles, or aggregate statistics; republish or commercially redistribute Service content; or create derivative databases or products from Service data. Unauthorized data extraction may constitute copyright infringement and a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030.

7. Limitation of Liability

8. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless HOAReview, LLC and its members, managers, officers, employees, agents, successors, and assigns (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and litigation costs) arising out of or related to:

• Your violation of any provision of these Terms or the Review Guidelines
• Any User Content you submit, including claims that your review is defamatory, false, infringes any intellectual property right, violates any privacy right, or otherwise causes harm to any person or entity
• Your misrepresentation that you meet the eligibility criteria in Section 4.1 when you do not
• Your submission of a review that you knew or should have known to be false, misleading, or fabricated
• Your submission of a review solicited, directed, or compensated by a third party in violation of Section 4.3
• Your violation of any applicable federal, state, or local law, including the Fair Housing Act or analogous state laws
• Your unauthorized access to or use of another user's account
• Your violation of any third party's rights, including intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights
• Any breach of any representation or warranty you have made in these Terms
• Any claim by an HOA, management company, board member, or other person arising from User Content you submitted
• Your use of the Service in any manner not expressly authorized by these Terms

The Company reserves the right, at your expense, to assume exclusive control of the defense and settlement of any matter subject to indemnification by you. You agree to cooperate fully with the Company in the defense of any such claim. You shall not settle any claim without the Company's prior written consent.

9. Fair Housing Compliance

HOAReview.com is committed to compliance with the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619, and all applicable state and local fair housing laws. You may not use the Service to express a preference for, or against, any person based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability, or to make, print, or publish any statement indicating a limitation or preference based on a protected characteristic.

Legitimate factual descriptions of HOA policies, enforcement practices, demographic characteristics of the community as you experienced them, or descriptions of incidents you personally witnessed are generally permissible. However, reviews that express an explicit preference for or against prospective residents based on protected characteristics, or that advocate for such discrimination, will be removed and may be reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Users who believe they have experienced housing discrimination in connection with an HOA may contact the HUD Fair Housing hotline at 1-800-669-9777 or file a complaint at hud.gov/fairhousing. The Company does not adjudicate fair housing complaints and is not a government agency.

10. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

10.1 Governing Law

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or related to them or the Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Wyoming, without giving effect to any choice-of-law or conflict-of-law provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction.

10.2 Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal dispute resolution proceeding, you agree to contact the Company at legal@hoareview.com and describe your dispute in reasonable detail. The parties agree to negotiate in good faith for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of the initial notice. If the dispute is not resolved within that period, either party may proceed to binding arbitration as described below.

10.3 Binding Arbitration

Except as provided in Section 10.5 (Small Claims) and Section 10.6 (Injunctive Relief), any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation, or validity thereof, or to the use of the Service, shall be determined by binding arbitration administered by JAMS pursuant to its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures, with the arbitration conducted in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before a single arbitrator. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

The arbitrator shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of these Terms, including any claim that all or any part of these Terms is void or voidable. The JAMS Consumer Arbitration Minimum Standards shall apply to any consumer arbitration. Filing fees and arbitrator costs shall be allocated in accordance with JAMS Rules; for disputes under $10,000, the Company will pay all JAMS filing fees if you are a consumer acting in good faith.

10.5 Small Claims Exception

Notwithstanding Section 10.3, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court for disputes that qualify under applicable small claims court rules, provided the action remains in small claims court and is not removed or appealed to a court of general jurisdiction.

10.6 Injunctive Relief

Either party may seek emergency injunctive or other equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent irreparable harm pending the outcome of arbitration. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Laramie County, Wyoming for such purposes.

11. Anti-SLAPP Notice

HOAReview.com is a platform for consumer speech on matters of public concern — specifically, the governance, management, and financial practices of homeowners associations. Such speech is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and under anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statutes enacted in numerous states. The Company will vigorously enforce users' legal rights against meritless litigation designed to silence protected speech.

The following anti-SLAPP statutes may apply to claims arising from HOA reviews, depending on the jurisdiction:

• California — Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 (California Anti-SLAPP Law): Provides for early dismissal of claims arising from protected activity, including written or oral statements made in a public forum in connection with a public issue, and entitles prevailing defendants to mandatory attorneys' fee awards
• Texas — Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 27 (Texas Citizens Participation Act): Provides for early dismissal of legal actions based on a party's exercise of the right of free speech or the right to petition, and entitles prevailing movants to attorneys' fees, court costs, and sanctions
• Florida — Florida Statutes § 768.295 (Florida Anti-SLAPP Law): Prohibits governmental entities and private parties from filing suits that are substantially motivated by retaliatory intent against persons exercising their constitutional right of free speech on matters of public concern, including HOA governance and management practices
• Wyoming — Wyoming Statutes § 1-29-101 et seq. (Wyoming Citizen Participation in Government Act): Protects lawful conduct in furtherance of the right of free speech and petition in connection with a matter of public concern, and provides for early dismissal and mandatory fee-shifting against plaintiffs who bring meritless actions

If an HOA, management company, board member, or any other party files or threatens to file legal action against a user in connection with a review published on HOAReview.com, the user should promptly consult qualified legal counsel. The Company may, in its discretion and to the extent permitted by law, provide assistance in identifying anti-SLAPP remedies available to affected users, but does not provide legal advice and is not obligated to provide legal representation.

12. DMCA Copyright Policy

HOAReview, LLC respects the intellectual property rights of others and complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512 ("DMCA"). The Company qualifies for safe harbor protection under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) as an online service provider hosting third-party content.

12.1 Submitting a DMCA Takedown Notice

If you believe that User Content on the Service infringes your copyright, you may submit a written notice of alleged infringement to our Designated DMCA Agent. To be valid, your notice must include all of the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if multiple works are covered by a single notice, a representative list)
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with sufficient information for us to locate it on the Service (e.g., the full URL of the specific page)
4. Your contact information: name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed

12.2 Counter-Notification

If your User Content was removed in response to a DMCA notice and you believe the removal was made in error or based on misidentification, you may submit a counter-notification to our Designated DMCA Agent containing: (a) your physical or electronic signature; (b) identification of the material removed and its prior location; (c) a statement under penalty of perjury that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; (d) your name, address, and telephone number; and (e) a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district in which your address is located, or any judicial district in which the Company may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the DMCA complainant.

12.3 Designated DMCA Agent

12.4 Repeat Infringer Policy

In accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A), the Company maintains a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are determined to be repeat infringers of copyright.

13. Modifications to Terms

The Company reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time in its sole discretion. When we make material modifications, we will: (a) update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page; (b) post a prominent notice on the Service; and (c) where feasible, send an email notification to the address associated with your account at least 14 days before the changes take effect for material changes. For non-material changes, the updated Terms will take effect immediately upon posting.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service and may request account deletion pursuant to Section 3.4. The most current version of these Terms will always be available at hoareview.com/legal/terms.

14. Miscellaneous

14.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Review Guidelines (each incorporated herein by reference), constitute the entire agreement between you and HOAReview, LLC with respect to the Service and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Service.

14.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, that provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent necessary such that the remaining provisions of these Terms shall continue in full force and effect.

14.3 No Waiver

The failure of the Company to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that right or provision unless specifically acknowledged and agreed to by the Company in writing. A waiver of any default shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default.

14.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without the Company's prior written consent. The Company may assign these Terms in whole or in part without restriction, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of the Company's assets. These Terms will bind and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns.

14.5 Force Majeure

The Company shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, pandemics, accidents, strikes, or shortages of transportation, fuel, energy, labor, or materials.

14.6 Contact Information

For legal inquiries, please contact HOAReview, LLC at: