RentSitch Services User Agreement
Effective as of 27th May 2021
What these terms cover.
Welcome to our ‘RentSitch’ tenancy dispute resolution platform. These are the terms and conditions on which Lawya Limited (“Lawya”) will supply the RentSitch Services to you (as defined by these terms). These terms incorporate:
Why you should read them.
Please read these terms carefully before you order RentSitch Services. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms please contact us to discuss.
Definitions and Interpretation.
“Compensation” means the sum that a landlord or letting agent User agrees to pay a tenant User if Resolution is reached.
“Compensation Fee” means the percentage of the Compensation retained by Lawya as a fee for the RentSitch Services.
“Dispute” means a type of tenancy dispute listed on the Platform between: (i) a landlord or letting agent User; and (ii) a tenant User.
“Documents” means the letters, agreements or any other tailored document provided by us to a User as part of the RentSitch Services.
“Platform” means the ‘RentSitch’ platform available at www.lawya.com/rent-sitch.
“RentSitch Services” means the tenant dispute resolution services as described on the Platform.
“Resolution” means a tenant User and landlord or letting agent User signing an agreement to reach settlement in relation to their Dispute.
“User” means the landlord, tenant or letting agency (as applicable) using the RentSitch Services.
“We”, “us”, “our” means Lawya Limited.
"Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.
“You”, “your”, “yours” means the User accessing the RentSitch Services.
Information about us and how to contact us
RentSitch Services
You must be at least 18 years of age and resident in the UK to use the RentStich Services.
The description of RentSitch services is set out on the Platform, and any other forms of advertisement.
All services which appear on the Platform are subject to availability.
Our contract with you
Our acceptance of your order for RentSitch Services will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.
If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for RentSitch Services. This might be because we believe that you do not meet the criteria required to resolve a Dispute on our Platform, because you have not provided us with enough information, because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for or because we have identified an error on the Platform.
We reserve the right to make changes to the RentSitch Services which are necessary for maintenance purposes, to comply with applicable law and for the operation of our business. We will notify you of any material changes where such notification is necessary.
User Responsibilities
You agree to co-operate with us in all matters relating to the RentSitch Services and provide to us, our authorised employees and representatives with all information required to perform the RentSitch Services and obtain any necessary licences and consents (unless otherwise agreed).
You warrant that the information and documentation you provide to us through the Platform (or otherwise) complies with the Platform Acceptable Use Policy and is up-to-date, accurate, true and not false or misleading.
To access the RentSitch Services you will be required to provide an email address and password. You agree to keep these details secure and will not provide this information to a third party. Lawya will not be liable for any unauthorised access by a third party using your email address and password.
If any Dispute becomes the subject of formally contested proceedings, whether in the courts or otherwise, you may need to disclose documentation, including electronic documents regarding your tenancy. You are therefore advised not to destroy or permit the destruction of any relevant documents as this could seriously compromise the outcome of the proceedings.
Failure to comply with any of your obligations under these terms may result in us suspending the RentSitch Services until you remedy it or, if you fail to remedy it following our request, we can terminate this agreement without notice or financial compensation for services purchased or only partially delivered.
Intellectual Property
Ownership in, and all rights created in relation to the provision of the RentSitch Services (including for the avoidance of doubt content on the Platform and any Documentation) vests in us absolutely unless otherwise indicated. We retain ownership of all intellectual property rights relating to the Platform and provision of the RentSitch Services, including copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary rights that exist in Documents or other materials that we create or otherwise provide to you.
You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence by us to use the RentSitch Services, including Documents, for the purpose specified by us, but not otherwise. If you generate a Document on the Platform, you will be granted permission to download your Document, sign it and re-upload it to the Platform.
You must not modify, copy, reproduct, upload, post, transmit, or distribute by any means or in any manner whatsoever, any Documents, material or other information or download from our Platform except where expressly invited to do so or as indicated on our Platform.
You shall not (i) license, sublicense, sell, resell, transfer, assign, distribute or otherwise commercially exploit or make available to any third party the Documents or any material relating to the RentSitch Services; (ii) modify or make derivative works based upon the RentSitch Services and Documents; (iii) embed a Document as an "iframe" or "frame" from within another application; or (iv) reverse engineer or access the Platform, the RentSitch Services or Documents in order to (a) build a competitive product or service, (b) build a product using ideas, features, functions or graphics that are similar to those related to us, or (c) copy any ideas, features, functions or graphics of the Platform.
You retain all of the intellectual property rights in your data. You grant to us a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, worldwide, royalty free and unlimited licence to use, modify, keep, share, save, copy, and utilise, your data for the purpose of providing Documents and all RentSitch Services to you.
Our Platform
As a User, you must at all times comply with the Platform Terms and Conditions of Use and Platform Acceptable Use Polic linked at the top of this policy.
You must not interfere with the working of our Platform (or any page on the wider Lawya website (www.lawya.com) nor must you circumvent security on the site, tamper with, or hack into, or otherwise attempt to disrupt our computer system, server, Platform, router or any other internet connected device or service.
Use of Documents
Any Documents or other materials that you access through using the RentSitch Services are intended for your use only, and to the extent applicable, the other party to your Dispute. You warrant that Documents and other materials accessed through use of the RentSitch Services are not for resale.
Unless otherwise required by law or court order, you agree not to make our work output by way of documents or materials available to third parties without our prior written permission. We are not liable for third-party the use of any digital content or Documents.
Certain Documents made available to you as part of the RentSitch Services will be capable of alteration to create a bespoke letter or agreement. The alterations which can be made to Documents through use of the RentSitch Services will be limited to set fields such as the names and addresses of the parties to the dispute and you will be able to make unlimited changes to these areas by ordering the RentSitch Services. You will not be permitted to change or alter certain text on the Documents, as will be indicated to you on the Platform.
When preparing Documents we have no responsibility and will accept no liability for verifying:
Guidance notes are provided to assist you with the execution of your Document in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. It is entirely your responsibility to follow such notes and to ensure that the Document is validly executed and we shall have no liability for your failure to properly execute your Document. A failure to do so will result in an invalid and unenforceable Document. We shall have no liability for the guidance notes or for the enforceability of any Document.
Future changes to the law may mean that your Document becomes out of date or obsolete and we cannot guarantee that the Document you produce will remain up to date, complete and accurate. It is not our responsibility to notify you of changes in the law or the impact of these changes on your Document and we shall bear no liability for this. The responsibility for future reviews of the terms of your Document rests with you.
We do not review the data you provide to create or generate a Document for the purpose of checking for legal accuracy, correctness, suitability or completeness. Where you have generated and produced a Document on the RentSitch Platform we cannot accept responsibility for the appropriateness of the Document or that it will be suitable for your particular situation.
The Documents and RentSitch Services are suitable for use in England and Wales only. If the Dispute relates to a tenancy outside of England and Wales it may not be suitable and we shall have no liability for the suitability of the Document and/or RentSitch Services.
Your rights to make changes
If you wish to make a change to the RentSitch Services you have ordered please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any changes to the price of the product, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change.
Due to the bespoke nature of our Documents, you are not entitled to return the Documents unless the file(s) cannot be opened or is/are corrupted when you try to download the Document. The right to cancel the contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 does not apply to Documents provided as part of the RentSitch Services.
Providing the RentSitch Services
We will make the RentSitch Services available to you as soon as we accept your order and will continue to do so until the services are completed, or until we end the contract by written notice to you as described in these terms.
If our supply of the RentSitch Services is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event.
We reserve the right to suspend the supply of the RentSitch Services to: (i) deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes; or (ii) make updates to reflect changes in relevant laws and/or regulatory requirements.
If you are a tenant User
If Resolution is reached, the landlord or letting agent User should transfer to your elected bank account the Compensation agreed in the Documents. You agree that, once you have received Compensation from the landlord or letting agent User, within 7 days, you will pay to us (Lawya Limited) the 20% Compensation Fee using the payment details provided to you by us.
Unless we expressly agree otherwise, you agree that if you reach Resolution you will not accept any sums from your landlord or letting agent falling outside of the Compensation listed in the Documents . If a landlord or letting agent pays you any sums unexpectedly you agree to inform us immediately. We reserve the right to charge reasonable compensation if you do not comply with these payment terms.
For the avoidance of doubt if Resolution is not reached or no Compensation is payable by a landlord or letting agent User, you will not be liable for the Compensation Fee, nor any other costs.
If you are a landlord or letting agent User
If Resolution is reached, you agree to make any payments to the tenant User, including Compensation, exclusively through our RentSitch payment portal.
Out of the Compensation, you agree that we can retain a 20% Compensation Fee, and that we will pay the remaining balance to the tenant User’s elected bank account.
For the avoidance of doubt, if Resolution is not reached or no Compensation is payable by you, you will not be liable for the Compensation Fee, nor any other costs.
Personal information and confidentiality
In respect of any personal data processed by Lawya pursuant to the RentSitch Services, we warrant and undertake that it complies, and will continue to comply with, all applicable data protection legislation; and, shall comply at all times with the terms and conditions of the Lawya Cookie & Privacy Policy [LINK] which applies to your use of the RentSitch Services.
We keep all information you pass to us confidential and will not disclose it to any third party except as authorised by you, as required to provide the RentSitch Services, or as required by law.
When providing the RentSitch Services to you it will be necessary to share information you have provided to us to another User involved in the Dispute. By accepting these terms, you authorise us to disclose information to other Users which we consider necessary to provide the RentSitch Services.
If you have a problem
If you have any questions or complaints about the RentSitch Services, please contact us. You can write to us at info@lawya.com.
Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
Lawya is not a law firm and is not registered or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Any use of the RentSitch Services or our Documents does not create or constitute a lawyer-client relationship between Lawya or any employee of or other person associated with Lawya and you.
It is for you to satisfy yourself that the nature of the RentSitch Services and the Documents provided to you meet with your requirements and are satisfactory for your purposes and any legal requirements. We cannot accept any responsibility to you if the Documents and/or RentSitch Services from us are not legally correct for your situation.
We only supply the RentSitch Services and Documents for domestic and private use in England and Wales. If you use the RentSitch Services or Documents for use outside England and Wales or for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability for their suitability or for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services. Subject to this, we are not liable for (i) loss which was not reasonably foreseeable to both parties at the time when the agreement was made; (ii) any loss of profits, loss of data or any indirect, special, or consequential loss.
If we are found liable for any loss or damage to you such liability is limited to the amount you have paid for the relevant Document or Service.
Other important terms
We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract .
Nobody else has any rights under this contract (except someone you pass your guarantee on to). This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
We may vary these terms. We reserve the right to alter or vary these terms and conditions (and any other policy or terms incorporated into this agreement) at any time without notice to you.
Entire Agreement. These terms and conditions together with: the policies and terms incorporated into these terms, any order form and payment instructions, constitute the entire agreement between you and us for the RentSitch Services. No other terms whether expressed or implied shall form part of these terms and conditions. In the event of any conflict between these terms and conditions and any other term or provision on the Platform, these terms and conditions shall prevail.
If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.
Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. You and we submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
These terms were last updated on 22nd March 2021
