Terms and Conditions

Welcome to Flatchat. These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of flatchat.co.nz (the “Site”), operated by Flatchat (“we”, “our”, or “us”). By accessing or using the Site you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.

1. Age requirement

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Site or create an account. By using the Site you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older.

2. Your account

To submit reviews you must create an account. You are responsible for:

• Providing accurate information when registering.
• Keeping your login credentials confidential.
• All activity that occurs under your account.

Please notify us immediately using the contact details on the Site if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account.

3. User-generated content

Flatchat is a platform for tenants to share honest reviews of rental properties and landlords. Reviews and other content you submit to the Site (“User Content”) do not represent the views or opinions of Flatchat.

By submitting User Content you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate, and distribute your content in any current or future media for the purposes of operating and improving the Site.

You represent and warrant that your User Content is accurate and based on your genuine first-hand experience, that you own or have the right to submit the content, and that it does not violate any third party’s rights or any applicable law.

4. Acceptable use

When using the Site you must not post or submit content that:

• Is false, misleading, or not based on a genuine tenancy experience.
• Is unlawful, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, or discriminatory.
• Identifies, names, or discloses personal information about any individual (including landlords, property managers, or other tenants) beyond what is necessary to describe your tenancy experience.
• Contains the personal contact details (phone number, email, home address) of any individual.
• Constitutes advertising, spam, or solicitation of any kind.
• Infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party.
• Contains viruses, malware, or other harmful code.

You must not:

• Use the Site in any way that could damage, overload, or impair its operation.
• Conduct automated scraping, data mining, or data harvesting without our prior written consent.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Site or its related systems.
• Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.

5. Content moderation

We reserve the right (but are not obliged) to review, edit, or remove any User Content at our sole discretion, at any time and without notice, where we consider it to be in breach of these Terms or otherwise inappropriate. Removal of content does not affect our other rights or remedies.

6. Third-party and historical data

Some property and review data on the Site may have originated from third-party sources or been imported from other platforms. We make no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of such data. If you believe any information about a property is incorrect, please get in touch using the contact details on the Site.

7. Intellectual property

Unless otherwise stated, all intellectual property rights in the Site and its content (excluding User Content) are owned by or licensed to Flatchat. You may view and print pages from the Site for your own personal, non-commercial use. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from any part of the Site without our prior written consent.

8. Disclaimer

The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we make no warranties, express or implied, regarding the Site, including but not limited to:

• The accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content on the Site.
• That the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or harmful components.
• That any particular property or landlord review reflects an accurate or typical experience.

Reviews on the Site represent the opinions of individual users only. Flatchat does not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for any review content.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by New Zealand law, Flatchat and its owners, employees, and agents will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special loss or damage arising out of or in connection with:

• Your use of, or inability to use, the Site.
• Any content posted on the Site by users.
• Any reliance you place on information found on the Site.
• Unauthorised access to or alteration of your data.

Where liability cannot be excluded by law, our total liability to you in respect of any claim is limited to the amount (if any) paid by you to use the Site.

10. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Flatchat and its owners, employees, and agents from and against any claims, losses, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with your breach of these Terms, your use of the Site, or any content you submit.

11. Account termination

We may suspend or terminate your account and access to the Site at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or are using the Site in a way that is harmful to others or to Flatchat. You may also delete your account at any time by contacting us.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Updated Terms will be posted on this page with a revised “Last updated” date. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. We recommend checking this page periodically.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand. Any disputes arising under or in connection with these Terms will be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.

14. Contact us

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