HOWSEY Terms of Service

1. Introduction

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the HOWSEY property management platform, website and associated services.

HOWSEY provides software designed to help property owners, landlords, property managers and property management companies administer properties, buildings, units, tenants, rental records, payment records, maintenance requests, communications and related activities.

By registering an account, creating a company workspace or accessing the platform, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree with these Terms, you should not access or use the services.

2. Definitions

For these Terms:

• HOWSEY: The property management software platform and its operator.
• Platform: The HOWSEY website, application, company workspaces, portals and associated functionality.
• Customer: A company, landlord, property manager or other organisation that registers for and uses HOWSEY.
• Company Administrator: A user authorised to administer a customer’s workspace.
• Authorised User: An employee, staff member or other individual granted access by a customer.
• Tenant: An individual whose tenancy or property-related information is managed through the platform.
• Workspace: A company-specific environment created within HOWSEY.
• Customer Data: Information submitted, uploaded, generated or maintained by a customer or its authorised users through the platform.
• Services: The software features and functionality made available by HOWSEY.

3. Eligibility and Account Registration

To create and administer a company workspace, you must have the legal authority to act on behalf of the relevant business or organisation.

You agree to:

1. Provide accurate and current registration information.
2. Maintain the accuracy of your account details.
3. Protect your login credentials.
4. Ensure that only authorised individuals access your workspace.
5. Notify HOWSEY of suspected unauthorised account access.
6. Comply with these Terms and applicable laws.

You must not register a company workspace using another person’s identity or falsely claim authority to represent an organisation.

HOWSEY may request reasonable information to verify an account or investigate suspected misuse.

4. Company Workspaces and Multi-Tenant Access

HOWSEY allows customers to create company-specific workspaces.

Each customer is responsible for managing its workspace, including:

• User accounts.
• Staff access.
• Role assignments.
• Permissions.
• Property records.
• Building and unit records.
• Tenant information.
• Rental and payment records.
• Company settings.

Company Administrators are responsible for ensuring that users receive access appropriate to their duties.

Customers must not attempt to access another company’s workspace, information or records without proper authorisation.

HOWSEY is designed to maintain separation between customer workspaces. Customers must nevertheless report any suspected cross-company access or data exposure immediately.

5. Permitted Use

You may use HOWSEY only for lawful property management and related administrative purposes.

Permitted activities include, where supported by the platform:

• Creating and managing property records.
• Managing buildings and units.
• Maintaining tenant records.
• Recording tenancy information.
• Managing rent obligations.
• Recording payment information.
• Generating receipts and reports.
• Managing maintenance requests.
• Communicating with authorised users and tenants.
• Managing staff and permissions.

You must not use HOWSEY to:

• Violate applicable laws or regulations.
• Access information without permission.
• Interfere with another customer’s workspace.
• Attempt to bypass security or access controls.
• Upload malicious software or harmful content.
• Submit fraudulent or deliberately misleading records.
• Interfere with the availability or integrity of the platform.
• Use the platform to harass, threaten or unlawfully discriminate against individuals.
• Reverse engineer, copy or exploit the platform except where permitted by applicable law.

6. Customer Responsibilities

Customers are responsible for the accuracy, legality and appropriateness of the information they submit to HOWSEY.

In particular, customers must:

1. Ensure they have an appropriate legal basis for collecting and processing personal information.
2. Provide required privacy notices to tenants, staff and other affected individuals.
3. Obtain consent where required by law.
4. Ensure that property and tenancy information is accurate.
5. Maintain appropriate records and supporting documentation.
6. Manage staff permissions responsibly.
7. Respond appropriately to tenant enquiries and data rights requests.
8. Comply with applicable tenancy, housing, consumer protection, tax and data protection laws.
9. Avoid entering sensitive information that is not necessary for the platform’s intended purpose.
10. Maintain independent copies of important business and legal records.

Customers remain responsible for their underlying relationships with landlords, tenants, employees, contractors and other third parties.

7. Tenant and Authorised User Access

Where a customer enables tenant or staff access, those individuals may use the relevant parts of the platform according to the permissions established by the customer.

Users must:

• Provide accurate information.
• Protect their login credentials.
• Use only the functions authorised for their account.
• Avoid accessing another person’s information without permission.
• Notify the relevant company administrator or HOWSEY of suspected unauthorised access.

The company administering the workspace remains responsible for the accuracy of its property-management records and for decisions made using those records.

HOWSEY does not independently determine tenancy rights, rent obligations or disputes between landlords and tenants merely because the relevant information is recorded on the platform.

8. Rent, Payments and Financial Records

HOWSEY provides tools for recording and managing rental obligations, payments, payment claims, receipts and related financial information.

Unless a separate payment-processing service has been expressly activated and agreed upon:

• Recording a payment in HOWSEY does not itself transfer funds.
• A payment record is not necessarily proof that funds have cleared.
• A payment claim may require verification by the relevant customer.
• HOWSEY does not guarantee that a tenant has paid rent merely because a record has been entered.
• Customers remain responsible for independently verifying actual receipt of funds.

Customers must ensure that payment information is accurate and that financial records are maintained in accordance with applicable law.

HOWSEY is not a bank, financial institution, escrow service or payment institution merely by providing payment-record management functionality.

Where a third-party payment provider is integrated and activated, the provider’s own terms, fees, privacy policy and transaction conditions will also apply.

9. Property and Tenancy Decisions

HOWSEY provides administrative software. It does not provide legal advice, property valuation, professional surveying, tax advice or guaranteed property investment outcomes.

Customers are responsible for:

• Verifying property ownership and authority to manage properties.
• Ensuring tenancy agreements are legally valid.
• Determining appropriate rental terms.
• Complying with applicable tenancy laws.
• Handling eviction, possession and tenancy disputes through lawful processes.
• Verifying information before making financial or legal decisions.

The availability of a document template or generated rental agreement does not guarantee that the document is suitable for every transaction or jurisdiction.

10. Availability and Service Changes

We aim to provide a reliable service, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability.

The platform may occasionally be unavailable because of:

• Scheduled maintenance.
• Software updates.
• Hosting or infrastructure failures.
• Network interruptions.
• Security incidents.
• Third-party service disruptions.
• Circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

We may modify, improve, suspend or discontinue features where reasonably necessary for maintenance, security, legal compliance or product development.

Where reasonably practicable, we will provide advance notice of material changes that significantly affect customers.

11. Pricing and Fees

Workspace creation is currently offered free of charge, subject to the functionality and conditions made available at the time of registration.

HOWSEY may introduce paid plans, optional services, usage limits or additional features in the future.

Where a change introduces fees for an existing service, the applicable pricing and effective date will be communicated before the change takes effect.

No customer is required to purchase an optional paid service unless they expressly agree to the applicable terms.

Any applicable third-party service fees will be disclosed by the relevant provider or in the applicable service terms.

12. Customer Data and Intellectual Property

12.1 Customer Data

Customers retain their rights in the information they submit to HOWSEY, subject to the rights of other individuals and applicable law.

Customers grant HOWSEY a limited, non-exclusive right to host, store, process, display and transmit Customer Data only as necessary to provide, secure, maintain and support the services and fulfil applicable legal obligations.

This permission does not transfer ownership of Customer Data to HOWSEY.

12.2 HOWSEY intellectual property

The HOWSEY platform, including its software, source code, design, branding, logos, interface elements, documentation and related materials, is owned by or licensed to the service operator.

Except as expressly permitted, users must not:

• Copy or redistribute the software.
• Sell or sublicense access to the platform.
• Remove proprietary notices.
• Reproduce HOWSEY branding without permission.
• Exploit the platform or its intellectual property for unauthorised commercial purposes.

These Terms do not transfer ownership of HOWSEY intellectual property to customers.

13. Privacy and Data Protection

Use of HOWSEY is also subject to the HOWSEY Privacy Policy:

https://howsey.site/privacy

Customers must ensure that their use of the platform complies with applicable data protection law, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 where applicable.

Customers must not upload or process personal information unless they have an appropriate legal basis and authority to do so.

Where HOWSEY processes Customer Data on behalf of a customer, additional data processing terms may apply.

14. Security and Account Suspension

We may restrict, suspend or terminate access where reasonably necessary if:

• An account is suspected of being compromised.
• A user attempts unauthorised access.
• A customer materially breaches these Terms.
• The platform is being used unlawfully.
• Continued access creates a material security risk.
• Suspension is required by law or a competent authority.

Where appropriate and legally permissible, we will notify the affected customer and provide an opportunity to address the issue.

We will take reasonable steps to avoid unnecessary disruption to legitimate customer access.

15. Termination and Account Closure

Customers may request closure of their workspace through the available account-management process or by contacting HOWSEY.

Before requesting closure, customers should export or otherwise preserve the business records they are legally required to retain.

Following termination, access may be disabled and Customer Data may be deleted or retained according to applicable law, the Privacy Policy and any separate agreement.

Certain information may need to be retained for legal, accounting, security, dispute-resolution or backup purposes.

Termination does not automatically cancel any outstanding legal obligations between the customer and its tenants, employees or other third parties.

16. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by applicable law:

• HOWSEY is provided as a software service for property administration.
• We do not guarantee that every feature will be available without interruption.
• We do not guarantee the accuracy of information entered by customers or their users.
• We do not guarantee rental collection, tenant payment, occupancy levels or property investment returns.
• We do not guarantee that a customer will comply with tenancy or other legal obligations merely by using the platform.
• We do not replace professional legal, financial, accounting or property advice.

Customers should independently verify important information before relying on it for legal, financial or operational decisions.

17. Limitation of Liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, HOWSEY will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential losses arising from the use or inability to use the platform.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

The parties’ liability for direct losses, negligence, data protection obligations, confidentiality breaches and other matters may be further addressed in a separate written agreement.

Any monetary liability cap must be agreed in a separate, legally reviewed provision appropriate to the actual commercial arrangement. No unsupported liability cap is created by these Terms.

18. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a customer may be responsible for losses, claims and reasonable costs arising directly from:

• Its unlawful use of the platform.
• Its material breach of these Terms.
• Its infringement of another person’s rights.
• Its unauthorised collection or submission of personal information.
• Its misuse of Customer Data or the accounts of other users.

This provision does not remove any rights or protections that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19. Third-Party Services

HOWSEY may rely on or link to third-party services, including hosting, communications, storage or other infrastructure providers.

Third-party services are subject to their own terms and privacy policies.

HOWSEY is not responsible for the independent operation of third-party services outside its reasonable control.

20. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes in the platform, services, business operations or applicable law.

Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify customers before they take effect.

The updated Terms will be published at:

https://howsey.site/terms

Continued use after the effective date of an update will be subject to the revised Terms, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

21. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are intended to be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The parties will first attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith discussions.

Where a dispute cannot be resolved informally, it may be referred to a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria, subject to applicable law.

Nothing in this section prevents a person from exercising statutory rights or making a complaint to a competent regulatory authority.

22. General Provisions

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.

A failure to enforce a provision does not constitute a permanent waiver of that provision.

These Terms, together with any applicable service agreement and the Privacy Policy, govern the relevant use of HOWSEY.

Where a separate written agreement conflicts with these Terms, the separate agreement will prevail to the extent of the conflict, provided it is valid and applicable.

23. Contact Information

For questions concerning these Terms, contact: