Terms of Service

These Terms govern use of Howards Limited's website, platform, and AI-powered real estate video services.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and Howards Limited ("Howards", "we", "us", or "our"). By accessing or using our website, platform, or services, you agree to these Terms.

1. Who we are

Howards Limited operates from Christchurch, New Zealand. Our contact email is contact@howards.ai.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information. It forms part of these Terms where relevant.

2. Eligibility and use of the service

You may use our services if you are legally able to enter into a binding agreement and, if acting for a company, agency, or other organisation, you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

Our services are primarily intended for real estate agents, homeowners, vendors, photographers, and related property marketing users.

3. Services

Howards provides AI-assisted and technology-enabled property marketing services, including the creation, editing, rendering, hosting, and delivery of real estate videos and related media outputs.

We may change, improve, suspend, or discontinue parts of the service from time to time.

Any stated turnaround times are estimates unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing.

4. Accounts

You may need to create an account to use some services. You must provide accurate information and keep your account details up to date.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for activity that occurs under your account, except to the extent caused by our own fault.

You must notify us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without authorisation.

5. Orders and project submissions

When you submit a listing, upload media, or request a video, you are asking us to produce output based on the information and content you provide.

You are responsible for checking that all supplied listing details, branding, photos, headshots, and other materials are accurate, complete, and appropriate for use.

We may refuse, pause, or cancel a project where content is unlawful, infringing, misleading, unsafe, technically unsuitable, or inconsistent with these Terms.

6. Your content and permissions

You retain ownership of the photos, logos, headshots, listing data, and other content you upload, except where someone else owns that content.

You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, copy, process, edit, adapt, transmit, and use your uploaded content as reasonably necessary to provide, maintain, improve, and support the services you request.

By uploading content, you confirm that:
• you own it or have all necessary rights, licences, and permissions to provide it to us;
• its use by us under these Terms will not infringe another person's privacy, intellectual property, confidentiality, or other rights;
• you have any necessary consents from identifiable people appearing in the content where required; and
• any listing claims or representations supplied by you are lawful, accurate, and not misleading.

Because property media can sometimes contain personal information incidentally, you should avoid uploading sensitive or unnecessary personal information.

7. AI processing and third-party providers

Our services rely on third-party providers, which may include Google, Stripe, Seedance, Higgsfield, analytics providers, hosting tools, and email service providers.

Your content and project data may be processed by these providers in order to deliver the service.

Some third-party AI or technology providers may use submitted data or content to improve, develop, or train their systems, subject to their own terms and privacy practices.

We store data on our own server in New Zealand, but some third-party processing may occur outside New Zealand.

8. Output ownership and licence

As between you and us, Howards owns the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the videos and output files we create, except to the extent those rights cannot legally be owned by us or are embedded in your pre-existing content.

Subject to your payment of all applicable fees and your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, display, and communicate the delivered output for your own lawful business, listing, and promotional purposes.

This licence does not permit you to resell the output as a standalone production service, claim authorship of our underlying service or systems, or use the output in a way that is unlawful, defamatory, misleading, or infringing.

If you want exclusive ownership, source files, white-labelling rights beyond normal promotional use, or a broader commercial licence, that must be separately agreed in writing.

9. Hosting and retention

Completed videos may be hosted or made available through our site for approximately one month after creation or delivery, unless we state otherwise.

We may remove hosted files after that period without further notice.

We may keep account information, billing records, backups, and project records for longer where reasonably needed for legal, operational, security, dispute-resolution, or backup purposes.

10. Fees and payment

Fees are as quoted on our website, platform, proposal, order page, or other written communication, unless we agree a different price in writing.

Payments are processed through Stripe or another payment provider we choose.

You authorise us and our payment providers to charge all applicable fees, taxes, and charges in connection with your order.

Unless stated otherwise, fees are non-refundable once work has commenced or output has been delivered, except where required by law.

If payment is overdue, we may suspend services, withhold delivery, revoke access to hosted files, or charge reasonable recovery costs and default interest where permitted by law.

11. Revisions and approvals

Any included revisions, editing rounds, or change requests are limited to what is specified in the relevant package, quote, or order.

Changes that materially alter the brief, require substantial rework, or arise from incorrect information provided by you may incur additional fees.

You are responsible for reviewing deliverables promptly and notifying us of any requested revisions within any timeframe we specify.

12. Acceptable use

You must not use our services to create, upload, or distribute content that is unlawful, deceptive, defamatory, discriminatory, hateful, harassing, infringing, or otherwise objectionable.

You must not use our services in a way that breaches advertising rules, listing regulations, intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or platform rules applying to you.

You must not interfere with the operation or security of our website or platform, attempt unauthorised access, reverse engineer restricted systems except where non-excludable law permits, or use automated means to scrape or overload the service without our permission.

13. Marketing permissions

We may use testimonials, examples of customer work, case studies, or completed videos only where you have given permission.

You may withdraw future marketing permission by contacting us, but that will not affect uses already made before the request is actioned.

14. Service quality and no guarantee of commercial results

We will use reasonable care and skill in supplying the services, but AI-assisted outputs can vary and may contain errors, inconsistencies, or unexpected results.

You are responsible for reviewing all deliverables before publication or use, including checking branding, factual details, legal compliance, and listing accuracy.

We do not guarantee any particular marketing result, lead volume, engagement level, sale outcome, or platform performance.

15. Consumer law and business customers

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any rights or remedies you have under New Zealand consumer law that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

If you are acquiring our services in trade or for business purposes, then, to the maximum extent permitted by law, both parties agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply, and that sections 9, 12A, and 13 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 are contracted out of where it is fair and reasonable to do so.

If you are a consumer, the previous paragraph does not limit your non-excludable rights.

16. Warranties disclaimer

Except as expressly stated in these Terms or required by law, the services are provided on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all implied warranties, conditions, guarantees, and representations not expressly set out in these Terms.

17. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, consequential, incidental, special, exemplary, or loss-of-profit damages, or for any loss of revenue, goodwill, data, business opportunity, or anticipated savings.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the services or these Terms is limited to the greater of:
• the total amount you paid us for the specific services giving rise to the claim in the 12 months before the event giving rise to liability; or
• NZD 500.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including for fraud or for consumer guarantees that cannot be excluded.

18. Indemnity

You indemnify us against losses, claims, costs, and liabilities arising from your breach of these Terms, your uploaded content, your misuse of the services, or your infringement of another person's rights, except to the extent caused by our own breach or fault.

19. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the services if you breach these Terms, fail to pay amounts due, create legal or security risk, or use the services in a way that may harm us or others.

You may stop using the services at any time.

Termination does not affect accrued rights, payment obligations, intellectual property provisions, liability limits, or any clause intended to survive termination.

20. Privacy

Our collection and handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

Where you provide personal information to us about other people, you confirm you are authorised to do so and have given any notices or obtained any consents required by law.

21. Changes to the service or these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise notified to you, unless the law requires more.

We may also change, replace, or remove features of the service at any time.

22. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand.

The courts of New Zealand have non-exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the services.

Before starting formal proceedings, both parties will try in good faith to resolve the dispute by discussion.

23. General

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect.

Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of that right.

You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent. We may assign our rights and obligations in connection with a restructure, sale, or transfer of the business.

These Terms, together with any applicable order, quote, package description, and Privacy Policy, form the entire agreement between you and us in relation to the services, except for any separate written agreement signed by both parties.

24. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to contact@howards.ai.