Terms of Service

Last updated: 20 October 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the Hausen mobile applications for Android and iOS and thehausen.com (together, “Hausen”, “we”, “us”). Before using your Hausen account, you must select “Agree and continue” to agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. Acknowledging that policy is not blanket consent to personal-information processing or marketing.

If you do not agree, do not use Hausen. If you use Hausen for an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation.

1. Who we are

Hausen is a property platform operated from South Africa. You can contact us at support@thehausen.com.

Hausen is a technology marketplace. We help people list and discover properties, book short stays, enter long-term leases, pay rent or stay charges, message other users, verify identity, and request maintenance. We are not a landlord, tenant, estate agent, attorney, insurer, or bank unless we say so in writing for a specific product.

2. Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must be able to form a binding contract under the law that applies to you.
• You must provide accurate information and keep it up to date.
• You may not use Hausen if we have previously suspended or closed your account for breach of these Terms.

3. Your account

You may sign up with email and password, Google, or Apple. You are responsible for activity on your account and for keeping sign-in details secure. Tell us promptly if you think someone else has used your account.

You may hold more than one role (for example guest, host/owner, tenant, or service provider). These Terms apply to every role you use.

We may require identity verification before you list, book, sign a lease, receive payouts, or use other features. See section 11.

4. The Hausen platform

Agreements for stays, leases, and maintenance work are between the users involved (for example host and guest, owner and tenant, or owner and service provider). Hausen is not a party to those agreements except as payment facilitator and platform operator.

We do not guarantee that a listing, user, stay, lease, or job is accurate, lawful, available, or fit for your purpose. You must do your own checks, including viewing a property where that is reasonable.

Hausen is not a substitute for legal, tax, or professional advice. Lease templates and in-app wording are tools. You remain responsible for complying with South African law that applies to you, including the Rental Housing Act, 1999, the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, and local by-laws, where they apply.

5. Roles

Guests

If you book a short stay, you agree to:

• Pay the total shown at checkout, including applicable fees
• Occupy only the dates and guest count you booked
• Follow house rules, check-in instructions, and applicable law
• Treat the property and neighbours with care and leave it in a reasonable condition
• Not copy or share access codes, manuals, or addresses except as needed for your stay

Hosts and owners

If you list or manage a property, you agree that:

• You have the legal right to list it and to accept bookings or tenants
• Listing details, photos, availability, pricing, fees, and house rules are accurate
• You will honour confirmed stays and signed leases, except where law or these Terms allow otherwise
• You are responsible for taxes, levies, insurance, and any licence or zoning rules that apply to your listing
• You will not collect extra undisclosed charges that contradict the listing or lease

Tenants

If you sign a lease through Hausen, the signed lease (and any addenda) is the contract between you and the owner. You agree to pay rent, deposits, and fees as shown in that lease and at checkout, and to use the property as the lease allows.

Service providers

If you offer maintenance or other services, you are an independent contractor, not a Hausen employee. You are responsible for your workmanship, licences, insurance, and invoices. A job awarded on Hausen is an agreement between you and the owner (or other hiring user), unless we say otherwise in writing.

6. Listings and user content

You keep ownership of content you upload (photos, descriptions, messages, reviews, documents). You grant Hausen a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, display, and share that content as needed to operate, promote, and improve the service — for example showing a listing to guests or a public profile to other users.

You must not upload content that is unlawful, misleading, infringing, or discriminatory, or that violates another person’s privacy or rights.

We may remove content, unpublish a listing, or limit distribution if we believe it breaks these Terms, our policies, or the law, or if it creates risk for users or Hausen.

7. Short-term stays

A short-stay booking is confirmed when payment succeeds (instant book) or when the host accepts a request and payment succeeds. Access details such as the full address, Wi-Fi, and entry instructions are provided after confirmation.

Each listing shows a cancellation policy (for example Flexible, Moderate, or Strict). Guest refunds follow that policy, the amount actually paid, and the rules of the payment processor. Host cancellations of a confirmed stay without a valid legal or safety reason may lead to refunds to the guest and limits on the host account.

8. Long-term leases

Any lease document generated through Hausen is a template and general guideline only, not legal advice. It may not cover every term, circumstance, or legal requirement relevant to an owner or tenant. Hausen does not claim that a generated lease is complete or suitable for every situation. Before signing, both parties must carefully review it, make any changes needed for their circumstances and applicable law, and seek independent legal advice if they are unsure. The owner and tenant are responsible for ensuring the signed lease reflects their agreement.

Offers, e-signing, and move-in payments on Hausen are intended to form a written lease between owner and tenant. Electronic signatures are used so that the parties can conclude the lease in the app.

Ending, renewing, or varying a lease, and any deposit deductions, follow the signed lease and applicable law. Short-stay cancellation policies do not apply to long-term leases.

9. Payments, fees, and payouts

Payments on Hausen are processed by Paystack. We do not store full card numbers. Saved cards and owner payout or bank details are handled by Paystack on our instructions or under Paystack’s terms.

Before you pay, Hausen shows the amounts due. Those may include the stay or rent, cleaning or other listing charges, a guest service fee, an owner hosting fee, a lease onboarding admin fee, VAT where it applies, and payment-processor charges. The amount displayed at checkout is the amount you agree to pay. Fee rates may change; new rates apply to future transactions once shown to you.

Owner payouts are made to the payout account the owner has verified, after Hausen fees, applicable VAT treatment, refunds, chargebacks, and processor fees. Payout timing depends on Paystack and on whether a payment has cleared.

You authorise us and Paystack to charge your selected payment method for confirmed bookings, lease move-in amounts, scheduled rent where you have set up auto-pay, and amounts you otherwise confirm in the app. Failed or late payments may result in retries, late status in the app, and the owner’s contractual remedies. Hausen may notify parties and keep payment records; we do not run court or eviction processes for you.

Chargebacks, payment disputes, and suspected fraud may lead us to pause payouts, reverse a transaction where the processor requires it, or suspend accounts while we review.

10. Cancellations, refunds, and disputes between users

Refunds are not guaranteed except as required by the listing cancellation policy, the signed lease, these Terms, Paystack’s rules, or applicable law (including the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, where it applies).

If users disagree about a stay, lease, deposit, or job, they should try to resolve it directly. Hausen may, at its discretion, help with communication or review a payment issue. We are not a court or arbitrator and do not guarantee an outcome.

11. Identity verification

We may ask you to verify your identity with Didit. That can include a government identity document, a selfie or liveness check, and device permissions described in the Privacy Policy.

We may decline, limit, or reverse access if verification fails, is incomplete, looks fraudulent, or later changes. A verification badge is not a warranty about a person or listing.

12. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Break the law, including housing, consumer, tax, sanctions, or anti-discrimination law
• List a property you do not have the right to offer
• Post false, scraped, or misleading listings, reviews, or profiles
• Use Hausen to discriminate unlawfully against another person
• Interfere with payments, KYC, App Check, or other security measures
• Scrape, overload, reverse engineer, or probe the service except as allowed by law
• Create accounts to evade a suspension, or share an account in a way that hides who is transacting
• Use Hausen to send spam or to harvest personal information

We may investigate, involve authorities, withhold payouts, cancel bookings, or close accounts where we reasonably believe this section has been broken.

13. Messages, reviews, and support

In-app chat, reviews, and support requests must be lawful and respectful. We may review reports and may remove content or limit messaging.

Transactional email and, if you allow it, push notifications are part of the service (bookings, payments, leases, security, and support). You can manage some notification preferences in the app. You cannot opt out of messages we must send to operate an account or complete a transaction.

14. Intellectual property

Hausen’s name, logos, app, website, and software are owned by us or our licensors. You may not copy, lease, or create derivative works from them except as needed to use the official app or website.

15. Third-party services

Hausen uses third parties such as Google (including Firebase), Apple, Didit, Paystack, and email providers. Their terms and privacy policies apply to their services. We are not responsible for a third-party service we do not control.

16. Privacy

How we collect and use personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy. Where POPIA applies, that policy describes Hausen as the responsible party for personal information processed through the app and website.

To request deletion of your account, follow thehausen.com/delete-account.

17. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep Hausen available but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free service. Features may change, and some features may be limited by region, verification status, or role.

18. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Hausen is provided “as is” and “as available”. We disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that a stay, tenant, host, property, or service provider will meet your expectations, or that user content is complete or current.

19. Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under South African law, including liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 that cannot be excluded.

Subject to that, Hausen is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive loss, or for lost profits, data, goodwill, or business interruption, arising from your use of the platform or from agreements between users.

Subject to the same reservation, our total liability to you for claims arising out of these Terms or the service is limited to the greater of (a) the Hausen fees you paid to us in the 12 months before the claim, and (b) ZAR 2 000.

20. Indemnity

You will indemnify Hausen and our officers, employees, and contractors against claims, damages, and reasonable costs arising from your content, your listings or stays, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of law or of another person’s rights, except to the extent we caused the loss by our own gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

21. Suspension and termination

You may stop using Hausen at any time and may request account deletion as described on the delete-account page. Outstanding stays, leases, payments, or legal duties may survive deletion as explained there.

We may suspend or close an account, unpublish listings, or refuse a transaction if we reasonably believe it is needed to protect users, to comply with law, to prevent fraud, or because these Terms were broken. We will give notice where it is practical and lawful to do so.

22. Changes

We may update these Terms. The “Last updated” date will change, and the current version will always be at https://thehausen.com/terms. We will request a new agreement in the app for material changes to these Terms. We may also notify you by email. You can read the updated documents before deciding whether to agree or stop using your account.

23. General

These Terms are the agreement between you and Hausen about the service. If a court finds a part unenforceable, the rest still applies. If we do not enforce a right, we do not waive it. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a reorganisation or sale of the service.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Subject to any non-excludable consumer rights, the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction.

These Terms are intended to be concluded electronically, including by selecting “Agree and continue” in the app. We record the document versions and the time of your agreement.

24. Contact

Email: support@thehausen.com
Website: https://thehausen.com
Privacy: https://thehausen.com/privacy
Delete account: https://thehausen.com/delete-account