Content Guidelines

Flatchat exists to help tenants make informed decisions about where they live. Honest, helpful reviews are what make this platform valuable. These guidelines explain what we expect from every review submitted to the site.

1. Be honest and genuine

Reviews must be based on your real, first-hand experience as a tenant at the property. Do not review properties you have not lived in. Do not exaggerate, fabricate, or misrepresent your experience. Honest negative reviews are welcome — dishonest ones are not.

2. Be specific and helpful

The best reviews help future tenants understand what it’s actually like to live somewhere. Try to include details about:

• Warmth and insulation — was the flat cold, damp, or draughty?
• Condition — what state was the property in? Any maintenance issues?
• Landlord or property manager — were they responsive and fair?
• Value for money — was the rent reasonable for what you got?
• Anything else a future tenant should know.

3. Do not name individuals

Do not include the full name of any landlord, property manager, flatmate, or other individual in your review. You can describe your experience with a landlord or property manager without naming them. Reviews that name individuals with serious accusations may be flagged or removed to protect against defamation.

4. No personal information

Do not include phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles, or home addresses of any person in your review. This protects everyone’s privacy.

5. Keep it respectful

You can be critical without being abusive. Reviews must not contain hate speech, threats, harassment, discrimination, or excessive profanity. We want honest feedback, not personal attacks.

6. No spam or advertising

Reviews must not contain advertising, promotional content, referral links, or solicitations of any kind. Keep reviews focused on the property and your tenancy experience.

7. One review per tenancy

Submit one review per property per tenancy. If you lived at the same address across multiple years, you may submit a new review reflecting your updated experience. Do not submit multiple reviews for the same tenancy period.

8. What happens if you break these guidelines

Reviews that do not meet these guidelines may be:

• Held for manual review before publishing.
• Edited to remove identifying information or inappropriate content.
• Removed from the site entirely.

Repeated violations may result in your account being suspended or terminated. See our Terms and Conditions for full details.

9. Reporting a review

If you see a review that you believe violates these guidelines, use the “Report” button on the review. We review all reports and will take action where appropriate.

You can also email legal@flatchat.co.nz if the issue is legal in nature (defamation, privacy, copyright). For our full complaints process and SLAs, see /complaints.

10. If you are a reviewer and someone objects

If you receive a legal letter, formal complaint, or unsolicited contact about a review you wrote in good faith based on your first-hand experience, you do not have to handle it alone. Two free resources in New Zealand can help:

• Netsafe offers free advice on online communications, including under the Harmful Digital Communications Act: netsafe.org.nz.
• Community Law Centres provide free legal advice across New Zealand: communitylaw.org.nz.

You can also let us know at legal@flatchat.co.nz if you have been contacted about a review on Flatchat — we will not identify you without valid legal process.

11. Questions?

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please get in touch using the contact details available on the Site.

12. For landlords and property managers

• If a review on your property contains content you believe breaches these guidelines or the law, please use the Report button on the review or email legal@flatchat.co.nz.
• You can also publicly respond to any review on your property by claiming the property at /management/signup. A response is often the most effective reply to a review you disagree with.
• We will not remove honest negative reviews based on the reviewer’s first-hand experience just because the subject objects. We will remove content that breaches these guidelines, the law, or our Terms.