Swap My Office Terms of Use

LAST UPDATED: December 1, 2014

these terms of use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and swap my office. please read these terms in their entirety before you continue to use this website. by using this website, you agree to be bound by these terms. if you do not agree, you must discontinue using the site.

When you register on this website, you agree to become a member ("Member") of the Swap My Office community ("Community") that gives you access to a published directory of Member-provided information, enabling you and other Members to contact one another to facilitate a home and/or office exchange. Membership also entitles you to additional benefits, such as access to business education articles and programs, members-only templates and checklists, members-only forum and monthly interviews and trainings conducted by phone or webcast, as specified by this Community.

By registering for the service, you become a member, you signify your acceptance of these terms and conditions of use, and you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement for as long as you continue to be a member.

You may only use this service if you are at least 18, are able to form legally binding contracts, have a membership in good standing, and have the right, authority and capacity to offer your listing for exchange and enter into this agreement.

The Community reserves the right to amend, alter or change the Terms of Use of this website, including the Privacy Policy, at its sole discretion at any time without notice. Additional benefits are also subject to change at any time without notice. Any such modifications to the Terms of Use or to additional benefits are effective immediately, so please check often for updates and review these Terms of Use whenever using this site.

Definitions

In this document, unless the context requires otherwise, "we, us, our" means the Community; "you, your, yourself" means the Member, that is, the person who registers on this website, and accepts the Terms of Use as stated here. "Agreement" means the agreement between you and us regarding these Terms and Conditions, as amended from time to time. "Service" means the published directory of Member-provided information. "Profile" means your personal information that is shared with the public, "Account" means your financial relationship with us and includes personal information NOT shared with the public. "Listing" means the description(s) of your property, including text and photographs. "Forum" means a chat area or message board where Members may post.

Member Code of Conduct

As a member of this Community using this website, you agree to:

• Describe your home and exchange opportunity accurately in your Listing and in all correspondence, including the type, number and size of rooms. Providing false or misleading descriptions or other information to the Community or its Members, may result in the removal of your Listing from the website.
• Post interior or exterior photos of only the property offered, unless specifically described and captioned otherwise. Maintain a separate Listing for each property, if you have more than one.
• NOT create Listings for properties that you do not own or live in.
• NOT use this Service, either in your Listing or in communications with other Members, to solicit from or advertise to Community Members to buy or sell products or services. This includes NOT posting web addresses, email addresses or phone numbers for the purpose of solicitation or advertising.
• NOT include web addresses or emails of any kind in your Listing. The only web addresses that you (Members) are allowed to post on the site are in response to Member requests on the Member Forum for recommendations on services or service providers. In such cases, those URLs may be posted only on the Member Forum. Members may not post email addresses on the Member Forum. Your own email address is only in your account profile and is not visible to the public.
• Treat other Members and their property with courtesy and respect at all times, and understand that, because this is not an ordinary tourist exchange, small obstacles may present themselves when dealing with personal, cultural and language differences.
• Leave your own house in a clean and sanitary condition for your exchange partner prior to their arrival at your home, and leave their home in as good or better condition than you found it. Notify your exchange partner of any damage that occurs during your stay, and offer to replace, repair or pay for it.
• Honor any commitments you make to your exchange partners, as failure to fulfill them can result in inconvenience and financial loss to your exchange partner. Should you cancel an exchange, with or without justification, exercise your best efforts to mitigate any loss caused by your cancellation. For example: help your exchange partner make substitute arrangements or find alternative accommodations. Compensate your partner for such accommodations and/or non-refundable travel expenses, if necessary. If requested by a Member, the Community may assist with such efforts. The Community has sole discretion to remove your Listing form the site and permanently cancel your Membership, without refund, should you fail to fulfill your obligations in a manner inconsistent with the intentions of this Community.
• Be responsible for investigating any and all claims made by prospective exchangers, property owners or agents.
• Understand that the Community in no way warrants the accuracy of, nor bears responsibility for, the information contained in any of the pages published here. You assume all liability for use of any information you find on the Community website or its affiliate websites.
• Adhere to all indications and prohibitions specified in the "Member Responsibilities" and "User Content Policy" sections below.

Member Responsibilities

To provide the published directory of Member-provided Listing information, the Community relies on the integrity and responsibility of Members. The Community does not in any way screen or inquire into the backgrounds of its Members, and it makes no representations or warranties as to the conduct of Members. You agree to take reasonable precautions in all interactions with other Members of the service.

The Community does not attempt to verify the information posted by its Members nor to verify the existence or content of any property, and it is not responsible for the accuracy, content or availability of information of the home Listings. The Community does not guarantee an exchange of any kind, and makes no guarantees, express or implied, regarding homes exchanged or rented through this website.

Members and users of all Community services take sole responsibility for relations and exchanges with other Members, and for any and all Agreements reached through use of this site. While the Community provides a Code of Conduct to which all Members are expected to abide, as detailed in the section titled "Member Code of Conduct," the Community claims no responsibility for the actions of Members of this service.

Members are also responsible for researching and adhering to all regulations including, but not limited to, permits, licenses, occupancy taxes, accessibility requirements, zoning, safety compliance and other rules and restrictions applicable to home and office structures, as well as to co-ops, condominiums and other common interest developments. The Community makes no representations or warranties as to the adequacy of homes, adherence to all applicable regulations or whether exchanges comply with local rules or laws.

Members are responsible for verifying their own insurance coverage and the coverage provided by their exchange partner, including auto, property and liability.

The Community shall not in any event be liable for any damages whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, general, special, compensatory, consequential, and/or incidental, that arise out of or relate to the conduct of Members or anyone else in connection with the use of the service. This includes, without limitation, bodily injury, emotional distress, and/or any other damages resulting from communications or meetings with other registered users of this service.

Swap My Office fully cooperates with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we reasonably believe to be unlawful.

User Content Policy

By posting information, photographs or content on this site, you acknowledge to us that you are the exclusive author of any information you post or upload, and the exclusive owner of any photographs you upload. You automatically grant to us (and warrant that you have the right to grant) a worldwide license (but not the obligation) to use, copy, display, publish, reproduce and distribute any and all copyright, in and to, each and every photograph and all information related to your listing, free of charge. This granted license is irrevocable, non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, and includes no commitment on our part to attribute authorship, ownership or other similar reference to you. You also grant us the license to prepare derivative works with the information, photographs or content, or to incorporate it into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sub-licenses of the foregoing.

Unless you have received express written permission from other Members, you agree not to upload, post or otherwise transmit any content or information protected by their own copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right, and you are responsible for determining whether content or information is protected in the manners described. You are solely liable for any damage resulting from infringement of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, rights of publicity or other proprietary rights or any other harm resulting from such a submission.

Your use of the site is subject to all applicable laws and regulations, and you are solely responsible for the substance of your communications through the site. By posting information in or otherwise using any communications service, chat room, message board, member forum or other interactive service of this Community that may be available to you on or through this site, you agree that you will not upload, share, post, or otherwise distribute or facilitate distribution of any content—including text, communications, software, images, sounds, data, or other information—that:

1. Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, tortious, contains explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of sexual acts (including but not limited to sexual language of a violent or threatening nature directed at another individual or group of individuals), or otherwise violates the Community's rules or policies
2. Victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability
3. Infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary right of any party
4. Constitutes unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk or bulk email (also known as “spamming”), chain letters, any other form of unauthorized solicitation, or any form of lottery or gambling
5. Contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs that are designed or intended to disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any data or other information of any third party
6. Impersonates any person or entity, including any of the Community's employees or representatives.

The Community and its agents reserve the right, but have no obligation, at their sole discretion to reject and remove any information, photos or other content that, in their judgment, does not comply with these Terms of Use and any other rules of user conduct for this website, or is otherwise harmful, objectionable or inaccurate. The Community is not responsible for any failure or delay in removing such content. You hereby consent to such removal and waive any claim against the Community arising out of such removal of content. See “Use of Your Materials” below for a description of the procedures to be followed in the event that any party believes that content posted on this site infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity or other proprietary right of any party.

In addition, you may not use your account to breach security of another account or attempt to gain unauthorized access to another network or server. Not all areas of the site may be available to you or other authorized users of the site. You shall not interfere with anyone else’s use and enjoyment of the site or other similar services. Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or civil liability.

You agree that the Community may at any time, and at its sole discretion, terminate your membership, account or other affiliation with this site without prior notice to you for violating any of the above provisions. In addition, you acknowledge that the Community will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in investigating suspected criminal violations.

Use of Your Materials

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe, in good faith, that any materials provided on the Service infringe upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 17 U.S.C § 512) (“DMCA”) by sending the following information in writing to our designated copyright agent at 708 Gravenstein Hwy North, #268, Sebastopol, California, USA 95472.

1. The date of your notification
2. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
3. A description of the material that is claimed to be infringing and exact location of the content you claim is infringing, in sufficient detail to enable us to locate and identify that content
4. Your name, address, telephone number and email address
5. A statement: (a) that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; (b) that all the information in the notification is accurate; and (c), under penalty of perjury, that you are either the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

If the Community takes action in response to an Infringement Notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by means of the most recent email address, if any, provided by such party to the Community. Your DMCA Take-Down Notice may be forwarded to the party that made the content available, or to third parties such as ChillingEffects.org.

If you believe that your User Content that has been removed from the Site is not infringing, or that you have the authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the content in your User Content, you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to the copyright agent using the contact information set forth above:

1. Your name, address, telephone number, email address, and physical or electronic signature;
2. A description of the content that has been removed and the location at which the content appeared before it was removed;
3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the content was removed as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the content; and
4. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the United States Federal District Court for the judicial district in which you are located (or, if you are outside the U.S., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California), and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

If the Community's copyright agent receives a counter-notice, a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party may be sent, informing such person that it may reinstate the removed content in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider, member or user, the removed content will be reinstated on the website in 10 to 14 business days after receipt of the counter-notice.

Emailing, Data Collection & Spamming Policy

This site is a private membership organization solely for use in arranging direct home exchanges between members, and as such, all content in the site is private and not in the public domain.

Members may not use any content from this site for solicitations or commercial use. Email correspondence is for the purposes of arranging an exchange between Members of the site. Any attempt to collect email addresses from Members or to email individual Members or groups of Members for any purpose other than arranging a personal home exchange violates these Terms of Use. The Community reserves the right to cancel (without refund) any Member that uses the Community to send any solicitations other than personal exchange requests or replies.

Data mining of information from this website, and collecting or storing personal information about Members, is prohibited. Violations may subject the offending Member to severe penalties, including a minimum of $500 per Member solicited, as well as account suspension or expulsion from the site.

The Community also reserves the right to suspend (without refund) the account of any Member that mentions the Community or any of its associated websites, URLs, or any associated Community email address in any SPAM e-mail message.

Members-only Public Forum

By utilizing our Members-only public forum, you agree to the following:

1. All authors are solely responsible for, and indemnify and hold harmless Swap My Office from the content of their messages or postings. If you post a message hereon, you grant the Community and other forum participants the nonexclusive, perpetual right and license to display, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, creative derivative works from, publish, distribute, transmit, print and use such information or other material without remuneration of any kind, or incorporate such materials into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed anywhere. In addition, you warrant that all so‐called moral rights in those materials have been waived.
2. The Community accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on its website or email lists or forums by any parties save the authorized postings of Swap My Office itself.
3. The forum lists information available to all current Members with no editorial review by the Community, which does not verify the accuracy of submitted messages nor does it endorse the opinions expressed by message authors.
4. In the event an inappropriate posting or person abusing the forum is brought to the Community's attention, it will take the action that it deems appropriate in its sole discretion. The Community reserves the right to terminate access at any time and/or to discontinue these services. If you do not agree to these guidelines, do not click through to utilize or post to its listings or forums.
5. You must not:
   • defame, abuse, harass or threaten others;
   • make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements;
   • advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;
   • post or distribute any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law;
   • post or distribute any vulgar, obscene, discourteous or indecent language or images;
   • advertise or sell to, or solicit others;
   • use the forum for commercial purposes of any kind;
   • post or distribute any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful component; or
   • post material or make statements that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any chat room or bulletin board.

The Community reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the materials posted in the public areas of the service and to remove any such material that, in our sole discretion, violates, or is alleged to violate, the law or this agreement. Notwithstanding this right, you remain solely responsible for the content of the materials you post in the public areas of the service and in your private email messages. Emails sent between you and other members that are not readily accessible to the general public may be reviewed by us for compliance with this agreement, but will be treated as private to the extent required by applicable law.

Links to Third-Party Sites

There are links in this site that will let you leave the SwapMyOffice.com website. When you click on any links that take you to third-party web sites, you will be subject to the third parties’ privacy policies and terms of use. We cannot take any responsibility for any such websites and are not endorsing these third parties. The links or references are for your convenience only, and inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by the Community of the site. In this respect, we are acting like a library, providing you with reference materials for you to investigate yourself. While we support the protection of privacy on the Internet, the Community cannot be responsible for the actions of third parties. We encourage you to read the posted privacy statements and terms of use when you visit any website.

We explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, content, or availability of information found on sites that link to or from this website. We cannot ensure that you will be satisfied with any products or services that you purchase from a third-party site that links to or from our site, or third party content. We have not taken any steps to confirm the accuracy or reliability of any of the information. We do not make any representations or warranties as to the security of any information (including, without limitation, credit card and other personal information) you might be requested to give any third party, and you hereby irrevocably waive any claim against us with respect to such sites and third-party content. We strongly encourage you to make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties. Under no circumstances is the Community responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any person's reliance on information or other content posted on the service or transmitted to members.

Intellectual Property

This Community website, all content contained therein, all individual elements making up the site, as well as the website as a collective work or compilation, are protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, international treaties and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the United States and other countries. You agree to abide by all applicable copyright and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in the site.

Copying any content from this site to any other site, or reselling, distributing, or publishing that content in any way is prohibited. Any violations of this paragraph subject the violator to severe penalties, including a minimum of $500 per Listing copied. You agree to hold the Community harmless from and against any and all costs and damages incurred by the Community as a result of such violation.

Privacy

We respect your privacy, and intend our site to be a safe place for everyone who visits and corresponds with us. The information you provide is required to fulfill your request for a product, service or additional information, and will be stored on computers and servers. You agree to read, review, comply with, uphold and maintain the terms and conditions of our Privacy Policy that describes what information we collect and how we use that information. Privacy Policy

Please keep in mind that whenever you give out personal information online—for example, via message boards or chat—that information can be collected and used by people you don’t know. While we strive to protect your personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online; you make such disclosures at your own risk.

Membership Account Ownership, Transfer & Termination

Your Community membership is for your personal use only. You may not authorize others to use your Membership, and you may not assign or otherwise transfer your Account to any other person or entity. However, if you sell your property or move, you can transfer your Community Listing to a new property owner for free, as long as they become Members in the Community.

The Community reserves the right to cancel your Membership for any reason, including any actions that we, in our sole discretion, believe compromise site security, adversely affect the Community and any of its Members or their property, or deem to be misuse of the site.

The Community may also terminate your Membership if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement or our posted Privacy Statement. We further reserve the right to terminate your Membership and remove your account if any information provided by you is found to be grossly misrepresented, or should your Listing(s) or actions violate any law or any provision of this Agreement, without refund.

We reserve the right to cancel your Membership or remove your Listing at any time for any other reason not specified above, or for no reason at all. Such termination, at the Community's sole discretion, entitles the Member to only a prorated refund of any Membership fee paid.

Members who wish to terminate their own Listing or account may do so by contacting Swap My Office support service. However, refunds will not be given when Members so terminate their Listings or accounts.

Refunds

Your membership comes with a full 30-day money-back guarantee. If, within the first 30 days, you wish to cancel your membership, you must request such termination in writing, after which time we’ll issue you a refund. Beyond the initial 30 days, members may end their membership in the Swap My Office community with a 30-day written notice. For members who pay monthly fees, automated payments will cease after that 30-day notification period has ended. For members who pay annually to avoid the next annual membership fee, we must receive written notice to cancel membership 30 days or more prior to the annual renewal date. No partial refunds will be given for annual memberships canceled during the year.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

This website and its content are provided "as is" and Swap My Office excludes to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law any warranty, express or implied, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of title, non-infringement, merchantability, satisfactory quality or fitness for a particular purpose.

The functions embodied on, or in the materials of, this website are not warranted to be uninterrupted or without error. You assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction due to your use of this website. Swap My Office makes no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any content, information, products, services or materials made available on or through this site.

You expressly agree that your use of this site is at your sole risk. Swap My Office neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice, statement, information or other content made available on or through this site, nor will it be liable under any circumstances for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any content, information, products, services or materials obtained on or through this site.

The Community also is not responsible or liable for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any messages or other content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that the Community's features, parameters or other services provided may change at any time.

Except as specifically stated in these Terms or elsewhere on this website, or as otherwise required by applicable law, neither Swap My Office nor its members, employees, licensors, content providers, affiliates, agents or other representatives will be liable for damages of any kind (including, without limitation, lost profits, direct, indirect, compensatory, consequential, exemplary, special, incidental or punitive damages) arising out of your use of, your inability to use, or the performance of this website whether or not we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Some U.S. states and foreign countries do not permit the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or liability for certain categories of damages. Therefore, some or all of the limitations above may not apply to you to the extent they are prohibited or superseded by state or national provisions.

Indemnification

You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your information and for all activities that occur under your account. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Community and our affiliates, officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, licensors and licensees (collectively, the Indemnified Parties) from and against any and all liabilities and costs incurred by the Indemnified Parties connected to any claim arising out of any breach by you of this Agreement or claims arising from your account directly or indirectly resulting from your use of the Service, including but not limited to:

1. claims for injury or damage to person or property arising from a property Listed on this website or from a property transaction to which you are a party
2. violating these Terms of Use (by you, by anyone using your computer or by anyone using your account)
3. claims that you or someone using your computer (or account, as applicable) infringed any property right of any third party misrepresentation by you, or
4. breach of any Agreement to be performed by you.

You agree to pay any and all costs, damages and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs awarded against or otherwise incurred by or in connection with or arising from any such claim, suit, action or proceeding attributable to any such claim. The Community cannot and will not act as a mediator or arbitrator in any dispute arising from the use of the Community website. You shall use your best efforts to cooperate with us in the defense of any claim. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you.

Disputes Among Members

The Community is not responsible for any events that occur as a result of any home exchange or rental that is or was Listed on the Community website. Any disputes arising from or related to the exchange of properties between Members of the Community must be settled between the parties who directly participated in the exchange, rental, hospitality, house-sitting or other use of the property in question. The Community may temporarily suspend or terminate Memberships of any Members involved in a dispute. In the event of such suspension or termination, no refunds will be provided.

If you have a dispute with one or more of our Members, you release us (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) from any claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such dispute.

Monitoring & Delivery of Inquiries

Community staff members may read, monitor and filter inquiries prior to delivery to Members. However, it is possible that some SPAM inquiries may be delivered to Member inboxes, or that some non-SPAM inquiries may not be delivered. The Community is not responsible for SPAM inquiries or for undelivered inquiries and any consequence of an undelivered inquiry.

International Use

Accessing this website from territories outside the United States where its contents are illegal is prohibited, and we make no representation that materials on this site are appropriate for use in all worldwide locations. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws. Any offer for any product, service, and/or information made in connection with this site is void where prohibited.

Right to Assign

Member consent is not required for the Community to assign its rights to this Agreement. However, if the Community assigns its rights, is sold to another entity or shares listings with another company pursuant to an agreement with that company, the Community or its successor will give notice to the Membership. Members may opt out of such arrangement by terminating their Membership.

Legal Action and Enforcement of this Agreement

Any legal action related to a dispute between any Member or user of the website and the Community will be brought exclusively in Sonoma County, California, United States of America, and the laws of California shall apply without regard to any other choice of law considerations. Any dispute between such parties arising out of, or related to, this Agreement shall be resolved by BINDING arbitration in Sonoma County, California, using the American Arbitration rules of Commercial Arbitration and conducted by a retired judge of the Superior Court or an impartial person chosen from a list supplied by the American Arbitration Association. The parties shall be bound by the results of binding arbitration. Costs of binding arbitration or Court action arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall initially be born by both parties, but the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover costs, expert witness fees, attorneys' fees and arbitrator’s fees. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, you agree that Swap My Office will have the right to commence and prosecute any legal or equitable action or proceeding before any non-U.S. court of competent jurisdiction to obtain injunctive or other relief in the event that, in the opinion of Swap My Office, such action is necessary or desirable.

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use constitute the entire Agreement between you and the Community, and supersede any and all prior Agreements, whether oral or written, except as expressly provided. No provision herein may be deemed waived, in whole or in part. This Agreement may only be modified, supplemented, or changed by the Community. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the other provisions shall remain in force.

By using or continuing to use the services of the Community, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.