THE HOSTING HELPER
112 – 970 Burrard Street, Office# 1517, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2R4, Canada • thehostinghelper.com
TERMS OF SERVICE
Vacation Rental Marketing Services for Individual Homeowners
These Terms of Service (these “Terms”) govern the provision of vacation rental management and related services by The Hosting Helper (“we,” “us,” or “our”) to the individual homeowner subscribing to The Hosting Helper’s services (“Client,” “you,” or “your”). By checking the box confirming agreement to these Terms at checkout, subscribing to The Hosting Helper’s services, or otherwise engaging The Hosting Helper’s services, Client agrees to be bound by these Terms as of the date of that checkout (the “Effective Date”).
1. Services Provided
The Hosting Helper agrees to provide the following services with respect to Client’s property (the “Services”), as further described in any order form, proposal, or onboarding document referencing these Terms:
1.1 Revenue Management and Pricing Optimization
Implementing and adjusting dynamic pricing strategies to maximize revenue and occupancy; conducting market analysis to track trends and competitor activity; and making real-time pricing adjustments based on demand, seasonality, and other relevant factors.
1.2 Listing Management
Assisting with account setup, payment methods, and platform policies; creating and optimizing listings on Airbnb and other online travel agencies (“OTAs”) with descriptions, photos, and keywords; managing listings across multiple platforms; conducting periodic compliance audits; providing monthly performance reports; and, where included in Client’s service tier, building and managing a direct booking website.
1.3 Guest Management
Managing reservations from inquiry through check-out, including guest screening, communication, and support; collecting and responding to guest feedback and reviews; managing OTA communications; providing crisis support for guest emergencies; maintaining local-area guides; and, where applicable, configuring smart-home technology to support the guest experience and property security.
1.4 Maintenance, Cleaning, and Vendor Coordination
Sourcing, vetting, and maintaining relationships with maintenance, repair, and cleaning vendors for the property is Client’s responsibility, not The Hosting Helper’s. During non-business hours, if a guest emergency arises, The Hosting Helper will contact Client’s own designated vendors to request urgent attention; outside of such emergencies, addressing non-urgent maintenance issues is Client’s responsibility. The Hosting Helper provides Client with access to a cleaning-scheduling tool that Client uses to schedule its own cleaners; The Hosting Helper does not manually schedule cleaning on Client’s behalf. The Hosting Helper does assist with ordering and arranging delivery of property supplies.
1.5 Guest Payments and Damage Claims
The Hosting Helper assists Client in collecting payments from guests and in charging guests for property damage, in each case through the payment and damage-claim tools made available by the applicable OTA or payment platform. The Hosting Helper does not guarantee that any guest payment or damage-claim charge will be successfully collected, and is not liable for a guest’s failure or refusal to pay, a declined or disputed charge, a chargeback, or any shortfall between the amount claimed and the amount actually recovered. The Hosting Helper is not liable for any damage to the property or its contents caused by a guest; responsibility for pursuing recovery from the guest, an OTA’s host guarantee program, or Client’s own insurance rests with Client.
The Hosting Helper does not itself perform cleaning, maintenance, or repair work, and does not source or hire vendors on Client’s behalf. See Section 7 (Vendors and Third-Party Providers).
2. Client Eligibility and Responsibilities
By accepting these Terms, Client represents and warrants that:
- Client is the legal owner of the property, or holds documented authority from the owner to engage The Hosting Helper’s services and to list and rent the property;
- Client has obtained, and will maintain throughout the term, any short-term rental license, permit, business registration, zoning approval, strata/HOA approval, and tax registration required by the applicable municipal, provincial/state, or national authority for the property to be legally rented;
- The property is safe, habitable, and compliant with applicable building, fire, and safety codes, and Client will promptly remedy any condition that is not;
- Client will maintain property and liability insurance appropriate to short-term rental use and will provide proof of coverage on reasonable request;
- Client is responsible for collecting, remitting, and reporting any applicable occupancy, tourism, sales, or similar taxes unless The Hosting Helper’s services for Client’s tier expressly include tax remittance; and
- All information Client provides to The Hosting Helper (ownership, payment, permit, and contact information) is accurate and will be kept up to date.
The Hosting Helper may suspend or decline to list a property that Client cannot demonstrate is legally eligible to be rented, without liability to Client for lost bookings or revenue.
3. Fees and Payment
Client agrees to pay The Hosting Helper a management fee of $250 USD per property per month for each live property The Hosting Helper manages, unless a different fee is set out in a signed order form or proposal referencing these Terms. The first payment will be charged 5 days after Client accepts these Terms, and each subsequent payment will be charged monthly thereafter on that same recurring date for as long as these Terms remain in effect. Fees will be prorated for any partial month in which Services begin or end.
Any increase to Client’s fee will not exceed 3.5% in any twelve-month period measured from the initial rate in effect for that property, and The Hosting Helper will provide Client at least 30 days’ written notice before any increase takes effect.
Late payments may accrue interest at the lesser of 1.5% per month or the maximum rate permitted by law, and The Hosting Helper may suspend Services for accounts more than 15 days past due.
Adding or Removing Properties. Client may add additional properties to these Terms, and the corresponding per-property fee under this Section 3 will apply to each additional property, once The Hosting Helper confirms the addition in writing (including by email). A property will not be considered added, and no fee for it will be charged, until that written confirmation is given. Client may remove a property from these Terms by giving The Hosting Helper at least 30 days’ written notice; the per-property fee for that property will continue to apply until the removal takes effect. Removing a property does not terminate these Terms as to Client’s remaining properties.
The Hosting Helper will never pay any amount on Client’s behalf, including vendor invoices, supply costs, taxes, permit fees, guest refunds, or utility bills. Client is solely responsible for making all such payments directly.
4. Term and Termination
These Terms take effect on the Effective Date and continue on a month-to-month basis until terminated. Either party may terminate for convenience with 30 days’ written notice to the other party.
Either party may terminate immediately on written notice if the other party materially breaches these Terms and fails to cure the breach within 15 days of receiving notice of it, or if the property becomes legally ineligible for short-term rental.
On termination, The Hosting Helper will transfer administrative access to Client’s listings and accounts within a reasonable time, and each party will settle any fees or reimbursements owed through the effective date of termination.
5. Confidentiality
Each party agrees to keep confidential any proprietary or sensitive information disclosed by the other party in the course of these Terms, including business strategies, financial data, guest and customer information, and trade secrets (“Confidential Information”), and not to disclose it to third parties without the disclosing party’s prior written consent, except as required by law or court order. Each party will use reasonable precautions to protect the other’s Confidential Information, at least as protective as those it uses for its own confidential information. This obligation survives termination of these Terms for 2 years.
6. Guest Data and Privacy
In the course of providing Services, The Hosting Helper will collect and process personal information belonging to Client’s guests (such as names, contact details, and payment information) on Client’s behalf. The Hosting Helper will:
- handle such personal information in accordance with applicable privacy law, including Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable to a given guest or property, other privacy laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws;
- use guest personal information only as reasonably necessary to provide the Services;
- maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect guest personal information against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure; and
- notify Client without undue delay if The Hosting Helper becomes aware of a breach involving guest personal information.
Client is responsible for ensuring its own collection and use of guest information, and any smart-home or security technology installed at the property, complies with applicable law, including any required guest notice of recording or monitoring devices.
7. Vendors and Third-Party Providers
Maintenance, repair, and cleaning vendors used at the property are sourced, hired, and managed directly by Client, not The Hosting Helper. The Hosting Helper does not select, supervise, or pay these vendors, and is not liable for their acts, omissions, availability, or the quality of their work. The Hosting Helper’s role is limited to contacting Client’s own designated vendors during non-business hours in the event of a guest emergency, as described in Section 1.4; The Hosting Helper does not guarantee a vendor’s response time or performance. Any supply or delivery service The Hosting Helper arranges under Section 1.4 is provided using reasonable care, but suppliers are independent third parties and not The Hosting Helper’s employees or agents.
8. No Guarantee of Results
Client acknowledges that the vacation rental market is inherently variable. The Hosting Helper will use reasonable efforts and industry-standard practices to optimize revenue and occupancy, but does not guarantee any specific booking volume, revenue, or occupancy rate. Market conditions, seasonality, regulatory changes, and other factors outside The Hosting Helper’s control may affect performance.
9. Limitation of Liability and Indemnification
Neither party will be liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from these Terms or the Services, including lost profits or lost bookings, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Except for a party’s indemnification obligations below, breach of Section 5 (Confidentiality) or Section 6 (Guest Data and Privacy), or damages arising from a party’s gross negligence or willful misconduct, each party’s total liability to the other arising out of these Terms will not exceed the total fees paid or payable by Client to The Hosting Helper in the 3 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
Client agrees to indemnify and hold The Hosting Helper harmless from third-party claims arising from Client’s breach of Section 2 (Client Eligibility and Responsibilities), the property’s condition, or Client’s failure to hold required permits or insurance. The Hosting Helper agrees to indemnify and hold Client harmless from third-party claims arising from The Hosting Helper’s gross negligence or willful misconduct in performing the Services.
10. Force Majeure
Neither party is liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, pandemic, government regulation, natural disaster, or labor disputes.
11. Non-Solicitation
During the term of these Terms and for 1 year following termination, neither party will solicit or hire the other party’s employees or contractors, or solicit the other party’s clients or customers for services competitive with those covered by these Terms, in each case without the other party’s prior written consent.
12. Intellectual Property
Photographs, descriptions, and other listing content that The Hosting Helper creates for Client’s property may be used by The Hosting Helper for Client’s listings during the term of these Terms and, after termination, in The Hosting Helper’s own portfolio and marketing materials, provided The Hosting Helper does not use Client’s name, address, or other identifying information without consent. Client retains ownership of its property, brand, and any content it separately owns or provides to The Hosting Helper.
13. Dispute Resolution
If a dispute arises out of or relating to these Terms, the parties will first attempt in good faith to negotiate a resolution. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days, either party may refer it to binding arbitration administered by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution in accordance with its International Arbitration Rules, seated in Vancouver, British Columbia.
14. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where a mandatory local consumer-protection law applicable to Client’s jurisdiction provides otherwise.
15. General Provisions
Amendments. The Hosting Helper may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in its services, legal requirements, or business practices. The Hosting Helper will provide Client at least 30 days’ notice of any material change, and Client’s continued use of the Services after that notice period constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. Client may terminate under Section 4 if it does not agree to a material change.
Assignment. Neither party may assign these Terms without the other’s prior written consent, except that The Hosting Helper may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all of its assets.
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable.
Waiver. No failure or delay by either party in exercising any right under these Terms operates as a waiver of that right.
Notices. Notices under these Terms must be in writing and delivered by email (with confirmation of receipt) or courier to the addresses on file.
Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with any order form or proposal referencing them, constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding the Services and supersede all prior agreements or understandings on that subject.
Acceptance
Client agrees to be bound by these Terms of Service by checking the box confirming agreement to these Terms when subscribing to The Hosting Helper’s services through The Hosting Helper’s checkout process, and by continuing to use or pay for the Services thereafter. No separate signature is required.