Legal
Terms of Service (draft)
Not legal advice. This draft is for structure and UX only. A licensed attorney must review and replace it before you rely on it for liability, fair housing, or defamation posture.
Set SUPPORT_EMAIL or NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPPORT_EMAIL in production to show a public contact here.
Service and eligibility
Rent Review Boston offers tools for renters to share opinions and factual information about past tenancies tied to specific addresses in Boston. Listings, landlords, and third parties are not parties to these Terms unless you add them elsewhere.
Draft age rule: the service is intended for users who are at least 18 years old. Final Terms should match COPPA/children’s privacy choices and any signup enforcement you implement.
User content, fair housing, and defamation
You are responsible for your reviews. Counsel should define prohibited content, including harassment, discrimination or steering (federal and state fair housing), privacy violations (e.g. posting someone else’s contact info), clearly unlawful material, and bad-faith false statements. Describe how moderation works, approximate timelines, and appeals.
Reviews are user opinions and experiences, not professional inspections or legal conclusions. Final Terms often include disclaimers of warranties and a liability cap—your lawyer should tailor those.
Reporting, takedowns, and repeat infringement
The product includes reporting flows for reviews. Your final Terms should describe how reports are handled, any counter-notification or appeal steps, and (if you allow photos or other media) a DMCA/copyright agent block with designated agent name, address, and email for takedown notices.
Privacy
Data practices are summarized in the draft Privacy Policy. The final Terms should cross-reference it and any subprocessors (hosting, email, SMS, analytics).
Massachusetts and general provisions
Counsel typically chooses governing law, venue or arbitration, class action waivers (where enforceable), assignment, and how you may change these terms. For a Boston-focused product, Massachusetts law and local consumer rules may deserve explicit treatment.