Terms of Service

Please read these Terms of Service carefully before using Hamia. By registering an account or using any part of the platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User", "you") and Hamia ("we", "us", "our") governing your access to and use of the Hamia platform, including the website at hamia.co.ke, the property discovery portal, the property management dashboard, and all associated features and services (collectively, the "Platform").

By creating an account, you also agree to our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

2. Definitions

• "Platform": The Hamia website, APIs, mobile-optimised interfaces, and all services accessible at hamia.co.ke.
• "Property Owner": A registered user who owns one or more properties listed on or managed through the Platform.
• "Agent": A registered user who manages properties on behalf of Property Owners under a management agreement.
• "Caretaker": A registered user assigned by a Property Owner or Agent to carry out day-to-day tasks (collecting payments, updating unit status) for specific units.
• "Tenant": A registered user who occupies a unit managed through the Platform.
• "Listing": A publicly visible advertisement for a vacant unit on the Hamia public property portal.
• "Tenancy": An active rental relationship between a Tenant and an Owner/Agent, managed through the Platform.
• "Content": Any text, images, documents, data, or other material uploaded, submitted, or posted to the Platform by a User.
• "KES": Kenyan Shilling, the sole currency used on the Platform.

3. Eligibility

To use the Platform, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Be a natural person or a legally registered business entity in Kenya.
• Have the legal capacity to enter into binding contracts under Kenyan law.
• Not be barred from using the Platform under any applicable law.

By using the Platform, you represent and warrant that you meet all of the above requirements.

4. Account Registration & Security

You must register an account to access most Platform features. When registering, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete, and current information including your full legal name, email address, and Kenyan phone number.
• Keep your account credentials (password) confidential and not share them with any other person.
• Notify us immediately at support@hamia.co.ke if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.
• Take responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account.

You may register using an email address and password, or via Google Sign-In (OAuth). Each person or business entity may maintain only one active account per role type.

We reserve the right to refuse registration or terminate accounts that provide false information or violate these Terms.

5. Platform Services

Hamia operates two distinct but connected products:

5.1 Public Property Portal (Free)

A free, public-facing property discovery portal where verified property listings are searchable by any visitor without an account. Features include map-based search, filters by location, property type, price, and bedrooms, and direct contact with listing agents or owners. Hamia does not charge tenants or visitors to browse, search, or contact property owners via the portal.

5.2 Property Management Dashboard (Subscription)

A comprehensive management tool for Owners, Agents, and Caretakers, providing:

• Property and unit management
• Tenant onboarding and digital lease signing
• Invoice generation, payment recording, and receipt management
• Expense tracking, remittances, budgets, and financial reports
• Rental income tax (MRI) computation
• Property listing creation and management (linked to the public portal)
• M-Pesa reconciliation (optional paid add-on)
• SMS notifications (optional paid add-on)

5.3 Tenant Portal (Free)

A free personal dashboard for Tenants to view their tenancy details, invoices, payment history, rental analytics, lease documents, and privacy settings.

6. Account & Listing Verification

6.1 Account verification

Owners and Agents must submit identity verification documents before gaining full access to the Platform. Required documents include a National ID or passport and a KRA PIN certificate. Agents managing properties on behalf of others must also provide a management agreement or authorisation letter. Caretakers undergo a lighter verification process, vouched for by the inviting Owner or Agent.

During verification (status: "pending"), Owners and Agents may configure their properties and units but cannot publish listings or invite tenants. Verification decisions are made within 48 hours under normal circumstances.

6.2 Listing verification

Every property listing is reviewed by a Hamia Verification Officer before publication. Our officers check that photos are genuine and not stolen from other listings, that property details match the photos, that the location pin is accurate, and that the description is not misleading. Approved listings may be re-reviewed if edited materially or if a listing is reported by users.

6.3 Verification obligations

You agree that all documents and information submitted for verification are genuine, belong to you, and are submitted with your authority. Submitting fraudulent, altered, or misrepresentative documents is a material breach of these Terms and may result in immediate account termination and referral to law enforcement.

7. Property Listings

When creating a listing, you agree that:

• All information (including description, price, photos, location, and features) is accurate and not misleading.
• All photos are your own or you have explicit rights to use them. Uploading photos stolen from other listings or the internet is strictly prohibited. We use perceptual hashing to detect duplicate or stolen images.
• The listed property or unit is genuinely available for rent at the time of publication.
• You will remove or update the listing promptly when a unit is no longer available. The Platform automatically unpublishes a listing when a tenancy is activated for that unit.
• Contact details provided on listings are accurate and belong to you or your business.
• Listing prices are in Kenya Shillings (KES). No foreign currency pricing is permitted.

Hamia reserves the right to reject, remove, or flag any listing that violates these standards or applicable law, including the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act, the Rent Restriction Act, or Consumer Protection laws.

8. Tenancy Management

8.1 Tenant onboarding

When you onboard a tenant through the Platform, you confirm that you have a genuine rental arrangement with that tenant and that you have their consent to capture and process their personal information on the Platform.

8.2 Digital lease signing

The Platform provides a digital lease signing tool. By affixing your digital signature to a lease document on the Platform, you agree that such signature has the same legal force and effect as a handwritten signature under the Kenya Information and Communications Act and the Law of Contract Act (Cap 23). Both parties should retain copies of signed leases.

8.3 Tenant reviews

At checkout, Owners and Agents may submit a star-rating review of the departing Tenant across five categories. Reviews are based on stars only (no free text) and are immutable once submitted. Reviews must reflect genuine experience and must not be submitted in bad faith or for fraudulent purposes. Tenants can see all reviews received on their dashboard immediately.

8.4 Multiple active tenancies

A Tenant may hold multiple active tenancies simultaneously. When onboarding a Tenant who has active tenancies elsewhere, you will be notified of this fact. Existing landlords receive a courtesy notification that the tenant has been registered at another property, but the new property's details are not disclosed to them.

9. M-Pesa Integration

The M-Pesa reconciliation feature is an optional paid add-on that allows Owners and Agents to connect their own Safaricom Daraja API credentials to automatically match incoming M-Pesa payments to tenant invoices.

By enabling the M-Pesa integration, you:

• Confirm that you are the authorised holder of the Daraja credentials you provide.
• Accept responsibility for ensuring your Paybill/Till account and Daraja credentials comply with Safaricom's terms and conditions.
• Acknowledge that Hamia will register a callback URL with Safaricom's Daraja API to receive C2B payment notifications for your Paybill.
• Understand that auto-reconciliation depends on tenants using the correct payment reference, and that Hamia is not liable for failed or mismatched reconciliations.

10. SMS Integration

The SMS notification feature is an optional paid add-on. Owners and Agents may configure their own SMS provider credentials (Africa's Talking, Twilio, Infobip, or custom providers) to send rent reminders, payment confirmations, and notices to tenants through their own Sender ID.

By enabling the SMS integration, you:

• Confirm you are authorised to use the credentials and Sender ID you provide.
• Accept responsibility for compliance with the Kenya Communications (Consumer Protection) Regulations, anti-spam laws, and your SMS provider's terms.
• Acknowledge that Hamia routes messages through your provider and is not responsible for delivery failures or provider outages.
• Agree not to use the SMS feature for unsolicited commercial messages, harassment, or any communication prohibited by law.

11. Subscriptions & Payments

Access to the Property Management Dashboard requires an active subscription. Subscriptions are billed as described on the Platform's pricing page at the time of purchase.

• Payment method: Subscription payments are processed via M-Pesa (STK Push to your registered phone number). You must have sufficient M-Pesa balance when payment is initiated.
• Recurring billing: Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless cancelled before the renewal date.
• Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period. No refunds are issued for partial periods unless required by law.
• Downgrade: If your subscription lapses or is cancelled, your account moves to a read-only state: you can view and export historical data but cannot add new properties, create invoices, or publish listings.
• Price changes: We will give at least 30 days' notice of any subscription price changes before they affect existing subscribers.
• Listing fees: Certain listing features (e.g., featured listings) may attract separate one-time fees, payable via M-Pesa STK Push.

12. Owner & Agent Obligations

As an Owner or Agent using the Platform, you agree to:

• Comply with all applicable Kenyan laws governing landlord-tenant relationships, including the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act, the Distress for Rent Act, and the Rent Restriction Act where applicable.
• Obtain and hold all required licences and permits for your rental properties.
• Declare rental income to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as required, including through the Monthly Rental Income (MRI) scheme. Hamia's tax dashboard is a tool to assist with computation and is not tax advice.
• Ensure that lease agreements created through the Platform are fair, legal, and compliant with Kenyan law.
• Obtain proper informed consent from tenants before capturing their personal data on the Platform.
• Ensure that Caretakers you assign to the Platform use their access only for legitimate property management purposes.
• Not use the Platform to facilitate unlawful evictions, unlawful rent increases, discriminatory practices, or harassment of tenants.
• Keep your M-Pesa and SMS credentials secure and immediately revoke access from the Platform if credentials are compromised.

13. Tenant Obligations

As a Tenant using the Platform, you agree to:

• Provide accurate personal information to your landlord during onboarding.
• Review and sign lease agreements on the Platform only when you genuinely agree to the terms.
• Use the tenant portal for your own tenancies only, not for any commercial or data-harvesting purpose.
• Control your profile sharing consent settings according to your genuine preferences. Enabling profile sharing constitutes consent to sharing the described data with prospective landlords.
• Not misrepresent your rental history or payment record.

14. Prohibited Uses

You must not use the Platform to:

• Post false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive content, including fabricated listings, fake properties, or stolen photographs.
• Impersonate another person, business, or entity.
• Scrape, harvest, or systematically extract data from the Platform by automated means without our written consent.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to access the source code or underlying infrastructure of the Platform.
• Introduce malware, viruses, or any code designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorised access to the Platform.
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with security features, access controls, or any feature that restricts or limits use.
• Use the Platform for any purpose that violates Kenyan law, including the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, or the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
• Facilitate money laundering, tax evasion, or any other financial crime through the Platform.
• Harass, threaten, or abuse other users.
• Create multiple accounts to circumvent verification requirements or account restrictions.
• Use contact information obtained through listings or the platform to send unsolicited communications (spam).

15. Intellectual Property

15.1 Our intellectual property

The Hamia platform, brand, logo, software, design, code, and all content created by us are owned by Hamia and protected under Kenyan intellectual property law. You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from any part of the Platform without our prior written consent.

15.2 Your content

You retain ownership of all content you upload to the Platform (property photos, documents, descriptions). By uploading content, you grant Hamia a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, display, and use that content solely for the purpose of providing the Platform services, including displaying your listing to visitors on the public portal.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the rights to all content you upload, and that your content does not infringe any third party's intellectual property rights.

15.3 Feedback

If you submit ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the Platform, we may use them without restriction or compensation to you.

16. Privacy & Data

Your use of the Platform is subject to our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data in compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2019 (Kenya). By using the Platform, you agree to those practices.

Where you collect and process personal data of tenants or other persons through the Platform (e.g., entering a tenant's ID number), you are independently responsible for complying with your obligations as a data controller under the DPA 2019, including obtaining lawful consent and safeguarding that data.

17. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by Kenyan law, Hamia disclaims all warranties including:

• That the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free from viruses or harmful components.
• That any financial computations, tax calculations, or reports generated by the Platform constitute professional financial, legal, or tax advice. The tax dashboard and financial reports are tools to assist you; you remain responsible for your own tax filings and financial decisions.
• That any information about properties, users, or listings on the Platform is accurate or complete; we verify listings but do not guarantee the accuracy of information provided by users.
• That the M-Pesa reconciliation feature will match all payments correctly; auto-matching depends on tenants using correct payment references.

18. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Kenyan law, Hamia shall not be liable for:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Platform.
• Loss of revenue, profits, data, or goodwill, however caused.
• Any dispute between an Owner/Agent and a Tenant, including disputes over rent, deposits, evictions, property conditions, or lease terms. Hamia is a platform, not a party to any rental agreement.
• Losses arising from M-Pesa payment failures, Safaricom outages, or incorrect auto-reconciliation of payments.
• Losses arising from SMS delivery failures or provider outages.
• Any reliance on tax computations, financial reports, or other outputs from the Platform without independent professional advice.
• Unauthorised access to your account where you failed to maintain the security of your credentials.

Where liability cannot be excluded by law, Hamia's total liability to you for all claims arising from or relating to these Terms or the Platform shall not exceed the total subscription fees paid by you to Hamia in the three months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

19. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Hamia, its officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use of the Platform in violation of these Terms or applicable law.
• Your content infringing any third-party intellectual property rights.
• Any dispute between you and another user (tenant, landlord, agent) arising from a tenancy or property transaction.
• Your failure to comply with your obligations as a data controller under the DPA 2019.
• Your misuse of M-Pesa or SMS integration features.

20. Termination

20.1 By you

You may close your account at any time by contacting us at support@hamia.co.ke. Account closure initiates the data deletion process described in our Privacy Policy. Financial records required by law are retained in anonymised form.

20.2 By Hamia

We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if we determine in our reasonable judgement that you have:

• Violated these Terms or our policies.
• Submitted fraudulent verification documents or listings.
• Used the Platform to facilitate fraud, money laundering, or any unlawful activity.
• Posed a risk to the security or integrity of the Platform or other users.
• Failed to pay subscription fees for more than 14 days after the due date.

Upon termination:

• All active listings are immediately unpublished.
• Your account enters read-only mode: you can log in, view data, and download documents.
• Active tenancies are not affected; tenants retain access to their payment history.
• Financial data is retained for 7 years as required by law.

21. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Kenya, without regard to conflict of law principles. The Platform operates exclusively in Kenya and is subject to all applicable Kenyan statutes and regulations, including but not limited to:

• The Data Protection Act, 2019
• The Kenya Information and Communications Act (Cap 411A)
• The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018
• The Law of Contract Act (Cap 23)
• The Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act (Cap 301)
• The Income Tax Act (Cap 470)

22. Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute between you and Hamia arising from these Terms or the Platform, the parties agree to the following process:

1. Negotiation: The parties will first attempt to resolve the dispute informally by contacting us at support@hamia.co.ke. We will respond within 14 business days.
2. Mediation: If negotiation fails, the parties agree to submit the dispute to mediation under the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA) Mediation Rules before commencing litigation.
3. Litigation: If mediation does not resolve the dispute, the courts of Nairobi, Kenya shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or other equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

23. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email and by a prominent notice on the Platform at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The "Effective date" at the top of this page will reflect the most recent update.

If you continue using the Platform after the effective date, you are deemed to have accepted the updated Terms. If you do not accept the new Terms, you must stop using the Platform and close your account before the effective date.

24. Contact

For any questions about these Terms, to report a violation, or to contact us on any legal matter: