Terms of Use

1. Introduction

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of SafeRent — a trust and operations platform for residential renting in Nigeria — including our websites, apps, and related services.

SafeRent is operated by Pair Collar (“we”, “us”, “our”).

By creating an account, joining our waitlist, or using SafeRent, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, Refund & Payments Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy. If you do not agree, do not use SafeRent.

2. SafeRent’s role

SafeRent helps tenants, landlords, and agents manage identity verification, listings, inspections, applications, digital leases, tenancies, repairs, payments, and payouts.

SafeRent is not:

• A bank or a court
• The owner or manager of listed properties
• An employer of landlords or agents (unless separately contracted)
• A guarantor of habitability, title, or that parties will perform their obligations
• A party to the lease between landlord and tenant

You remain responsible for complying with applicable Nigerian tenancy and housing law. Our support team may help with certain disputes defined in these policies (for example, inspection-fee or caution disputes). That help is limited and is not a full adjudication of every tenancy conflict.

3. Accounts, roles, and identity

Roles

• Tenant — browse homes, request inspections, apply, pay rent, sign or decline leases, request move-out, raise repairs, and manage wallet refunds
• Landlord — list properties (after identity verification), work with agents, review applications, sign leases, manage renewals, move-out, and caution, handle repairs, and withdraw earnings
• Agent — join building teams, complete paid inspections, earn fees, and receive ratings

One account may hold more than one role (tenant, landlord, and/or agent). Identity verification completed for your account applies across those roles.

Registration and security

• You may register with email and password (with email verification) or a supported social login (for example Google or Apple).
• Two-factor authentication may be available and is strongly recommended.
• You must keep your login details secure and provide accurate identity information.
• You are responsible for activity under your account.

Identity verification (KYC)

Identity verification in Nigeria is carried out through our verification partner (currently Dojah). Verification is required before certain actions — for example, landlords listing a property, or tenants applying or booking inspections where verification is required. By completing verification you consent to processing by our identity partners as described in the Privacy Policy.

One government identity per person. The same NIN, BVN, or equivalent verified identity cannot be used to verify a second SafeRent account. We check new verification against approved accounts and against records retained from closed or suspended accounts for fraud prevention. Conflicting attempts may be rejected. Our support team may review cases; we will not disclose another customer’s account details. See the Privacy Policy for how identity records are retained after account closure.

4. Listings and discovery

• Landlords may create buildings and apartments. Published listings can be browsed without an account.
• Applying, booking inspections, and similar actions require a registered account, and often completed identity verification.
• Landlords are responsible for accurate descriptions, photos, pricing, availability, and legal authority to let the property.
• Amounts collected on an application are rent, optional caution, and optional agent fee.
• Your name and profile photo may be shown to people you deal with on SafeRent (for example during applications, inspections, or leases). Tenant profile photos are not displayed on public listing browse.
• SafeRent does not guarantee property condition, title, or that a listing is free of third-party claims.

Listing photos and videos

When you upload photos or videos for a listing (including building or apartment media shown on SafeRent), we may automatically apply a SafeRent logo watermark to that media. Watermarked versions may be stored and displayed wherever the listing appears on SafeRent.

By uploading listing media, you authorise us to add that watermark. You must not remove, crop out, cover, or otherwise defeat the watermark on media used on or taken from SafeRent. You remain responsible for having the rights to the original media you upload.

5. Agents and paid inspections

• Landlords may invite agents; agents may apply to join a building’s agent team.
• Tenants may pay an inspection fee, propose preferred times, and select an available agent.
• After the visit, the tenant confirms completion (for example with a completion code). If confirmation is not completed, funds may be released after a waiting period unless the tenant opens a dispute. Our support team may refund the tenant or release the fee to the agent based on the evidence and these policies.
• Tenants may rate agents. Ratings alone do not determine whether an agent is paid.
• Agents must follow applicable law (including LASRERA registration where required) and our Acceptable Use Policy.

When inspection fees can be refunded is explained in the Refund & Payments Policy.

6. Applications, first payment, escrow, and lease signing

A typical process:

1. The tenant applies with preferred tenancy length and move-in timing.
2. The landlord approves, and a payment window opens (usually about 48 hours) for first rent, plus caution and agent fee where applicable.
3. The tenant pays. Funds are held in escrow and a digital lease is created for both parties to review.
4. The landlord signs first, then the tenant signs. The tenancy starts, the unit is marked rented, and first rent / agent fee become available to the payees according to these policies.
5. Caution stays held after signing and is settled only under the move-out and caution rules.

If payment is not completed in time, the application may expire and the unit may reopen. If the tenant declines before both parties have signed, the refund rules in the Refund & Payments Policy apply.

No automatic refund after both signatures

Once both parties have signed, rent and other amounts paid for this tenancy are not eligible for automatic refund through SafeRent. Caution, if any, is held and settled only under move-out and caution rules. Before both signatures, the tenant may decline subject to the pre-signature refund rules then in effect.

This rule is also shown in the lease you review before signing. See the Refund & Payments Policy for how refunds are paid (wallet credit or original payment method).

7. During the tenancy

• A tenancy is active after both landlord and tenant have signed.
• Renewals: landlords may propose the same terms or a rent change. Large increases may affect the landlord’s trust score. Tenants accept or decline within the stated response window.
• Next rent: tenants pay upcoming rent through SafeRent when due; paid rent credits the landlord’s wallet when released.
• Move-out: the tenant requests move-out, the landlord confirms, the tenancy ends, and the apartment may become available again.
• Caution settlement happens only after move-out is confirmed and the tenancy end date has passed. The landlord may release caution to the tenant’s wallet or claim part or all of it. Claims include a tenant dispute window; unresolved disputes may be reviewed by our support team. Amounts returned to the tenant are usually credited to the tenant’s wallet and may not be an immediate card refund.

8. Repair requests

• During an active tenancy, tenants may open repair requests for landlord-responsible issues as listed in SafeRent (for example major structural or plumbing problems). The repair tool is not for every cost dispute between landlord and tenant.
• Photos or videos are required, and tenants confirm the request falls within landlord responsibility.
• Landlords acknowledge, progress, resolve, or reject requests with a reason and evidence where needed. Tenants may accept or contest the outcome. Requests may close or reopen if response deadlines pass.
• SafeRent provides the process and record — we do not ourselves carry out physical repairs or guarantee a particular outcome.

9. Wallet and payouts

• You may have a SafeRent wallet with available and pending balances.
• Withdrawals go to bank accounts you save, through our payment partner (currently Paystack), with extra confirmation such as OTP or two-factor authentication.
• Available balance is credit on SafeRent until you successfully withdraw it. SafeRent is not a bank.

Details: Refund & Payments Policy.

10. Scores and trust signals

• Landlord and tenant scores and agent star ratings are trust signals based on activity on SafeRent — not credit scores and not guarantees about any person.
• Public listings may show limited landlord trust or repair-related information. Landlords reviewing applications may see signals about an applicant’s reliability on SafeRent.
• Raising a legitimate repair does not by itself reduce a tenant’s score. Missed response commitments and certain dispute outcomes may affect a landlord’s score.
• SafeRent is not liable for decisions you make based on scores or related indicators.

11. Prohibited conduct

You must follow our Acceptable Use Policy. Without limiting that policy, you must not:

• Provide false identity, listings, photos, or documents
• Commit fraud, payment abuse, or identity theft
• Harass other users or SafeRent staff
• Circumvent identity verification, fees, escrow, or other safeguards
• Misuse repair requests, ratings, or dispute flows in bad faith
• Use SafeRent for unlawful purposes under Nigerian law

12. Suspension and account deletion

• We may suspend or close accounts for breaches of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, fraud risk, legal requirements, or to protect customers.
• You may request account deletion from your account settings, subject to security checks.
• Deletion may be blocked while you still have wallet balances, open payouts, open tenancies, or unsigned leases.
• When an account is closed or suspended, personal data is removed from active use as described in the Privacy Policy. Closing an account does not erase limited identity records kept to stop the same government identity being used to verify another account.

13. Limitation of liability

SafeRent is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis to the fullest extent permitted by law.

• We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service.
• We are not responsible for disputes, losses, or damages arising between users — including property condition, rent, deposits, lease breaches, or agent conduct — except where we expressly take a defined role under these policies (for example, deciding a disputed inspection fee).
• Our total liability to you for any claim arising from these Terms or your use of SafeRent shall not exceed the fees you paid to SafeRent in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, or zero if no such fees were paid.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Lagos State, unless mandatory law requires otherwise.

Contact

Questions about these Terms: admin@saferent.africa.

Related: Privacy Policy · Refund & Payments · Acceptable Use