Terms of Service

You may use the Services only if you can form a binding contract with us and are not barred from using the Services under applicable law. If you use Hives on behalf of a company or organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity. You must meet the minimum age required in your jurisdiction (typically at least 18 for contracts; where the law allows 13+ with parental consent, a parent or guardian must accept these Terms on your behalf).

Hives provides websites, mobile apps, APIs, and related features that allow users to browse residential and commercial real estate listings, save properties, follow people and organizations, post and discover content in the Hives feed, explore listings on a map, submit rent requests and buy offers, book short stays, manage organizations and teams, access verification and trust tools, and use transaction, payment, and payout features where we make them available (collectively, the "Services"). Optional paid tiers such as Hive Prestige may add premium distribution, analytics, or concierge-style capabilities as described at checkout.

Listings, photographs, pricing, availability, and descriptions are supplied by users or third-party data providers. We do not guarantee that any property is available, accurately described, or suitable for your needs.

Not professional advice

Nothing on Hives constitutes legal, tax, insurance, investment, or architectural advice. Consult qualified professionals before you sign leases, purchase agreements, or make material financial commitments.

You may need an account to access certain features. You agree to provide accurate registration information and keep it current. You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for activity under your account.

Hives supports individual explorers and providers as well as organization accounts with team members, roles, and shared listing workspaces. Organization administrators are responsible for permissions they grant and for activity performed under their organization.

Where we offer identity or business verification, passing verification does not constitute our endorsement of a user, listing, or transaction. We may suspend verification or accounts when we detect fraud, risk, or policy violations.

If you publish listings or profile content, you represent that you have the right to market the property or service, that material facts you disclose are not misleading, and that you will comply with fair housing, advertising, licensing, and anti-discrimination laws. You must honor confirmed booking, tour, or transaction commitments unless a lawful exception applies or the parties agree otherwise on-platform.

Sale listings on Hives are subject to our Property Compliance Policy, including document upload, review, and property access requirements. By creating a sale listing you agree to cooperate with those steps.

Prohibited listing practices

• Bait-and-switch pricing, fake availability, or impersonation of owners or agents.
• Discrimination in violation of applicable housing laws.
• Posting malware, spam, or unrelated commercial solicitations in bad faith.
• Circumventing Hives contact-protection or fee rules by sharing off-platform contact details in restricted fields.

Hives supports structured transaction workflows for rent, purchase, and short-stay bookings. Depending on listing type and provider settings, you may submit a rent request, make a buy offer, or book a short stay directly. Providers may accept, reject, counter, or request additional information before a deal progresses.

Hives Link

Hives Link is a structured communication layer tied to a specific property and transaction. It records questions, responses, decisions, and system events in a timeline—it is not a general-purpose chat replacement. You agree to use Hives Link honestly and in good faith for transaction-related communication where the platform requires or recommends it.

Transaction center

Signed-in explorers and providers can view transaction status, timelines, and next steps in the transaction center. Status labels and payment prompts reflect platform rules and provider choices; they do not guarantee that a transaction will close or that any party will perform off-platform obligations.

Counter-offers and negotiation

Buy and rent flows may support counter-offers or information requests. A counter-offer or acceptance on Hives is an expression of intent within the platform—it does not by itself create a binding contract off-platform. Parties remain responsible for formalizing agreements under applicable law.

Payment timing and amounts depend on listing type, provider payment preferences, and transaction stage:

• Rent and buy: submission is typically free; online payment, if required, generally becomes available only after the provider accepts your request or you reach agreement (including via counter-offer).
• Short stays: payment is generally collected at booking checkout according to the quoted stay total and provider rules.
• Partial payments: where enabled, providers may accept full, partial, or flexible payment schedules within bounds they configure and we validate.

When you initiate a payment through Hives, additional terms may apply (for example, cancellation policies, service fees, subscription renewal terms for Prestige, or processor terms). Unless we expressly act as merchant of record, payments may be processed by third parties such as Paystack; their terms and privacy notices govern those transactions.

Providers may configure payout accounts and settlement preferences where supported. Hives may hold, route, or settle funds according to our payment architecture and applicable law. You authorize us to charge payment methods you provide for applicable fees, taxes, subscriptions, and adjustments you approve. If you believe a charge is incorrect, contact Support promptly with details.

Public payment links (for example, /pay/…) may be issued for specific invoices or requests. Only pay through links you trust and that match an expected amount and description from a verified counterparty.

Hives includes social discovery features such as the feed, hashtags, bookmarks, follows, and Connect profiles. Content you post may be visible to other users according to product settings and your choices. You are responsible for content you publish and for interactions that comply with these Terms and applicable law.

• Do not harass, threaten, or dox other users.
• Do not post misleading listing promotions, undisclosed paid endorsements, or illegal content.
• Respect others' intellectual property and privacy when sharing media or commentary.

We may remove or limit distribution of feed content, suspend accounts, or restrict social features that violate these Terms or create safety risk.

You retain rights to content you submit ("Your Content"). To operate the Services, you grant Hives a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, modify format for display, distribute, and publicly perform Your Content in connection with the Services and our reasonable marketing (for example, featuring your listing in editorial or social channels you do not opt out of where settings allow).

Except for Your Content, all rights in the Services, branding, and software remain with Hives and its licensors. You may not copy, scrape, or reverse engineer the Services except where law forbids that restriction.

You agree not to:

1. Use the Services in any unlawful manner or to facilitate fraud, harassment, or harm.
2. Circumvent technical limits, probe our systems without authorization, or overload the Services (including denial-of-service style activity).
3. Collect user data from the Services through automated means without our prior written consent, except as allowed by public search engines for public pages.
4. Misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
5. Manipulate transaction, payment, or verification flows to evade fees, taxes, or compliance checks.

We may remove content, limit distribution, suspend features, or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, create legal risk, or harm users or the integrity of the marketplace. We may also terminate inactive accounts or discontinue features with reasonable notice where feasible.

You may stop using the Services at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive (including licenses you granted for content already distributed, disclaimers, and limitations) will survive termination.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT LISTINGS ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR LAWFUL, OR THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HIVES AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT OR TRANSACTION FACILITATED THROUGH THEM.

OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100) OR (B) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO HIVES FOR THE SERVICES GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM IN THE SIX (6) MONTHS BEFORE YOU FIRST ASSERT THE CLAIM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS; IN THOSE CASES OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Unless applicable law requires otherwise, these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. For disputes not subject to arbitration or small-claims court, you and Hives consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Delaware.

Informal resolution. Before filing a claim, you agree to contact us at the address below and attempt to resolve the dispute in good faith for at least thirty (30) days.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the revised version on this page and update the effective date. If changes are material, we will provide additional notice as required by law (for example, by email or in-product notice). Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

For questions about these Terms, contact us through Contact or the mailing address we publish for legal notices on Support.