Terms of Service

Effective date: [DATE] · Hearthling is provided by [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] ("Hearthling", "we", "us")

Please read these Terms carefully. They are a binding contract and include a disclaimer of warranties (Section 14), a limitation of liability (Section 15), and an agreement to resolve disputes by individual arbitration with a class-action waiver (Section 17). The short version: Hearthling gives general home-care reminders and information. It is not a licensed professional, home maintenance carries real risks, and you decide what to do in your home and how to do it safely.

1. Acceptance

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Hearthling mobile app, the website at gethearthling.com, and related features (together, the "Service"). By checking the acceptance box, creating a profile, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Who we are

The Service is provided by [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], an Indiana limited liability company.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Service. You may use the Service only for your own personal, non-commercial purposes related to homes you own, rent, or manage for yourself, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

4. What the Service is

Hearthling helps you keep track of home maintenance. Depending on the version you use, it may include: a personalized maintenance schedule built from answers you give during setup; reminders and notifications; weather-based alerts; links to third-party how-to videos; general cost estimates; product suggestions, some with affiliate links; storage of documents and appliance records such as warranties, manuals, and receipts; and an AI-powered chat assistant that you can name and that is referred to here as "Ask your hearthling". We may add, change, or remove features at any time.

5. Not professional advice; safety; assumption of risk

5.1 Information only. All content in the Service, including schedules, task descriptions, difficulty labels, safety notes, reminders, videos, estimates, product suggestions, weather alerts, and responses from Ask your hearthling (together, "Content"), is general information for educational purposes. It is not professional, engineering, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, structural, legal, insurance, financial, or home-inspection advice. Hearthling is not a licensed contractor and has not inspected your home.

5.2 Content may be wrong for your home. Content is based on general guidance and the information you provide. It may be inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, or unsuitable for your home, equipment, climate, or local codes. Manufacturer instructions, product labels, local building codes, and the advice of a qualified professional always take priority over Content.

5.3 Difficulty labels are not safety guarantees. A label such as "Easy DIY" or "DIY with prep" is a general guide. It does not mean a task is safe for you or for your home. Decide for yourself whether you have the skill, tools, and physical ability to do a task, and stop if you are unsure. When a task says to call a professional, call a licensed professional.

5.4 Home maintenance is dangerous. Work involving electricity, natural gas or propane, fuel-burning appliances, water heaters, pressurized systems, roofs, ladders, heights, power tools, chemicals, mold, asbestos, lead paint, or structural elements can cause serious injury, death, fire, explosion, flooding, carbon monoxide exposure, or property damage. Some work legally requires a licensed professional or a permit.

5.5 Your decision and your risk. You alone decide whether to perform any task, how to perform it, and whether to hire a professional. You are responsible for using appropriate safety equipment, shutting off power, gas, and water as needed, following manufacturer instructions, complying with laws and permit requirements, and stopping when a task is beyond your skill. YOU VOLUNTARILY ASSUME ALL RISKS of personal injury, death, and property damage arising from any task you perform or choose not to perform in connection with the Service, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

5.6 Emergencies. The Service is not an emergency or monitoring service. If you smell gas, see smoke, sparks, or flooding, or face any danger, leave the area and call 911 or your utility provider. Do not use the app.

5.7 Warranties, insurance, and home value. Following or not following any Content may affect manufacturer warranties, home warranties, insurance coverage, or resale value. Check those documents and providers yourself. We make no promise that using the Service will prevent damage, reduce costs, preserve warranties, or satisfy insurance requirements.

6. Ask your hearthling (AI features)

6.1 What it is. Ask your hearthling generates responses using artificial intelligence provided by a third party (currently Anthropic). Responses are produced automatically and are not reviewed by a person before you see them. The AI assistant is available in the iPhone app only.

6.2 It can be wrong. AI responses can be incorrect, incomplete, unsafe, or stated with more confidence than they deserve, and may not reflect your home's actual conditions. Verify any response with the manufacturer, a qualified professional, or another reliable source before acting on it, especially for electrical, gas, structural, roofing, or safety-related work. Section 5 applies fully to AI responses.

6.3 What you send. When you use Ask your hearthling, the text you type, along with the home details from your profile that the feature needs to answer, is sent to our servers and to our AI provider to generate a response. Do not enter passwords, financial account numbers, government ID numbers, or other sensitive information you do not want transmitted. See our Privacy Policy for how this data is handled.

6.4 Proper use and limits. Use Ask your hearthling only for questions about home care and ownership. You may not use it to generate unlawful, harmful, or abusive content, to try to bypass its safeguards, or in any way that violates our AI provider's usage policies. Use is limited to a number of questions per day, which is higher with a Hearthling Plus subscription. We may change those limits, or limit, suspend, or turn off AI features at any time, including to manage cost or abuse.

7. Reminders, weather alerts, and estimates

7.1 Reminders may not arrive. Reminders and notifications depend on your device, operating system, settings, battery and storage management, network connection, and our systems. They may be delayed, duplicated, or never delivered. You are responsible for keeping track of maintenance that matters to your safety and property, including testing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Do not rely on Hearthling as your only record or reminder for safety-critical tasks.

7.2 Weather alerts. Weather information and freeze alerts use forecasts from the U.S. National Weather Service and a location based on your zip code. Forecasts can be wrong, late, or unavailable, and alerts may not be delivered. Do not rely on Hearthling to protect your property from freezing, flooding, storms, or any other event.

7.3 Starting dates are estimates. To avoid showing you a long list of overdue tasks on day one, the Service may estimate when tasks were last completed based on your setup answers. These estimates are not records of actual work. Update them if you know the real dates.

7.4 Cost estimates. Any cost estimate is a rough, general range. Actual costs vary by location, home, materials, contractor, and time. Estimates are not quotes, bids, or offers, and you should not rely on them for budgeting, insurance, or legal purposes. Get written quotes before hiring anyone.

8. Third-party content, links, and affiliate disclosure

8.1 Third-party content. The Service links to or embeds content we do not own or control, including videos hosted on YouTube and product listings on Amazon. We do not create, verify, or endorse that content and are not responsible for its accuracy, safety, availability, or the practices of those sites. Your use of third-party sites is governed by their terms and privacy policies and is at your own risk.

8.2 Affiliate links. Some product links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not change the price you pay. A product suggestion is not an endorsement, safety certification, or guarantee that the product fits or is compatible with your equipment. Confirm model numbers, sizes, and specifications yourself. Amazon and other sellers, not Hearthling, are responsible for products, orders, shipping, returns, and product warranties.

9. Hearthling Plus (paid features)

9.1 What it is. Hearthling Plus is an optional auto-renewing subscription sold in the iPhone app. It unlocks features such as a higher daily limit for Ask your hearthling. Prices and what is included are shown before you purchase.

9.2 Purchases through the App Store. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase, and Apple processes your payment. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription any time in the iPhone Settings app under your name and Subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription. Prices may vary by region.

9.3 Refunds. Refund requests for App Store purchases must go to Apple. Except where required by law, we do not provide refunds or credits for partial periods.

9.4 Price changes. We may change prices for future periods. We will give notice as required by law and by Apple, and you can cancel before the change takes effect.

10. Your data and documents

10.1 Stored on your device. Unless we tell you otherwise in the app, your home profile, task history, appliance records, and uploaded documents are stored locally on your device, not on our servers. Clearing your app data, uninstalling the app, changing devices, operating system updates, or storage limits set by your device can permanently delete this information. We cannot recover data stored only on your device.

10.2 Back up what matters. Keep your own copies of important documents, such as warranties, receipts, and manuals, and use any backup or export feature the app offers. The Service is not a substitute for secure storage of originals.

10.3 Future cloud features. If we later offer cloud storage or syncing, additional terms and our Privacy Policy will describe how that data is stored, and we will ask for your consent where required.

11. Your content

You keep ownership of the information, photos, and documents you add to the Service ("Your Content"). You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, process, transmit, and display Your Content only as needed to operate and improve the Service for you, to comply with law, and to enforce these Terms. You confirm you have the right to add Your Content and that it does not violate anyone else's rights. We do not sell Your Content.

12. Acceptable use

You agree not to: (a) use the Service for any unlawful purpose; (b) copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service; (c) reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code, except where the law expressly permits it; (d) interfere with, overload, or attempt unauthorized access to the Service, our servers, or our API endpoints; (e) use bots, scrapers, or automated tools to access the Service or Ask your hearthling; (f) upload malware or harmful code; (g) use the Service to harass, impersonate, or harm anyone; or (h) use the Service to build a competing product.

13. Our intellectual property; feedback

The Service, including its software, design, task library, text, graphics, the hearthling character, and the Hearthling name and logo, is owned by us or our licensors and protected by law. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for your personal use under these Terms. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without obligation or payment to you.

14. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ACCURACY. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; THAT REMINDERS OR WEATHER ALERTS WILL BE DELIVERED; THAT DATA WILL NOT BE LOST; OR THAT ANY CONTENT, AI RESPONSE, ESTIMATE, OR PRODUCT SUGGESTION IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, SAFE, OR SUITABLE FOR YOUR HOME. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

15. Limitation of liability

15.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, OR FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO: (A) YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (B) ANY TASK YOU PERFORM OR DO NOT PERFORM; (C) ANY CONTENT, AI RESPONSE, ESTIMATE, REMINDER, WEATHER ALERT, MISSED REMINDER OR ALERT, OR PRODUCT SUGGESTION; (D) ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, PRODUCT, SELLER, OR CONTRACTOR; OR (E) LOSS OF DATA STORED ON YOUR DEVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF WE WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

15.2 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50).

15.3 These limits are an essential part of the bargain between you and us and apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. They do not limit liability that cannot be limited under applicable law, such as liability for our fraud or, where the law does not permit limitation, gross negligence or willful misconduct.

16. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] and its members, managers, employees, and contractors from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Service; (b) any work you perform or have performed on any property; (c) Your Content; or (d) your violation of these Terms or of any law or third-party right.

17. Dispute resolution; arbitration; class-action waiver

17.1 Talk to us first. Before filing any claim, you agree to email [CONTACT EMAIL] with a description of the dispute and the relief you want. We will try to resolve it informally within 60 days.

17.2 Binding individual arbitration. If we cannot resolve it informally, you and Hearthling agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court. The arbitration may be conducted by video, phone, or written submissions, or in person in [COUNTY] County, Indiana, or the county where you live. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this Section 17.

17.3 Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property.

17.4 Class-action waiver. YOU AND HEARTHLING AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU AND HEARTHLING WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

17.5 Opt-out. You may opt out of this Section 17 by emailing [CONTACT EMAIL] within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, with your name and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect the rest of these Terms.

17.6 Severability. If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable for any claim, that claim must proceed in court under Section 18, not in arbitration.

18. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. For any claim not subject to arbitration, you and we consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in [COUNTY] County, Indiana.

19. Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time by deleting the app and its data. We may suspend or end your access at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms or if we discontinue the Service. Sections 5, 6.2, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 13 through 22 survive termination.

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We will change the effective date above and, for material changes, ask you to accept the updated Terms in the app or notify you by another reasonable method before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after changes take effect means you accept them. If you do not agree, stop using the Service.

21. App stores

If you downloaded the Service from the Apple App Store, the Apple App Store Addendum below also applies. You must comply with any third-party terms that apply to your use, such as your wireless carrier agreement.

22. Miscellaneous

These Terms and our Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, sale, or transfer of the Service. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. You agree that electronic acceptance and notices satisfy any requirement that they be in writing.

23. Contact

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME]
[MAILING ADDRESS]
Email: [CONTACT EMAIL]
Phone: [PHONE]

Apple App Store Addendum

If you obtained the Hearthling app from the Apple App Store, the following also applies. If anything here conflicts with the rest of the Terms, this addendum controls for your use of the iOS app.

  1. Acknowledgement. These Terms are between you and [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] only, not with Apple Inc. ("Apple"). [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], not Apple, is solely responsible for the app and its content. These Terms do not provide usage rules that conflict with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
  2. Scope of license. Your license is a non-transferable license to use the app on Apple-branded products that you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, except that the app may be accessed by other accounts associated with the purchaser via Family Sharing or volume purchasing.
  3. Maintenance and support. [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] is solely responsible for any maintenance and support of the app, as described in these Terms or required by law. Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for the app.
  4. Warranty. [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] is solely responsible for any product warranties, express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any, for the app. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses from a failure to conform to a warranty are [COMPANY LEGAL NAME]'s sole responsibility.
  5. Product claims. [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the app or your possession or use of it, including (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the app fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims under consumer protection, privacy, or similar laws. These Terms do not limit [COMPANY LEGAL NAME]'s liability to you beyond what applicable law permits.
  6. Intellectual property. If a third party claims that the app or your possession and use of it infringes that party's intellectual property rights, [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], not Apple, is solely responsible for investigating, defending, settling, and discharging that claim.
  7. Legal compliance. You represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist supporting" country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  8. Developer name and address. Questions, complaints, or claims about the app should be directed to: [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS], [PHONE], [CONTACT EMAIL].
  9. Third-party terms. You must comply with applicable third-party terms when using the app, for example your wireless data service agreement.
  10. Third-party beneficiary. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms. Once you accept these Terms, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary.