Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of Koti (“we,” “us,” or “our”), the marketplace that connects Miami-area homeowners with local home-service professionals. Koti works two ways: you can browse professionals’ public profiles and choose who to contact, or describe your project and let Koti match you. By using Koti, you agree to these Terms.

1. What Koti is — and isn’t

Koti is a matching service, not a contractor, broker of construction services, or directory of professionals. When we match you with a professional, any work performed is solely between you and that professional, who acts as an independent contractor — not as our employee or agent. We do not perform home services ourselves and we do not supervise, direct, or control how a professional performs their work.

Public profiles on Koti are written and maintained by the professionals themselves. A listing is not an endorsement, and Koti does not review every profile before it appears.

Koti does not guarantee that any professional is licensed, insured, or background-checked. Some profiles display verification labels. A label means only that the specific item named on the label was checked, in the way the label describes — nothing more. Our verification checks do not include criminal background checks, and no label is a guarantee of a professional’s work, pricing, availability, or conduct. You are responsible for confirming that a professional is right for your project.

Koti currently supports roofing, plumbing, HVAC, pool, handyman, drywall & painting, windows & doors, security & smart home, and furniture assembly services in the Miami area. We may add or remove service categories over time.

2. For homeowners

• Submitting a project request is free.
• You agree to provide accurate information about your project and your contact details.
• By verifying your phone number, you consent to be contacted by Koti and by the matched professional about your request, including by call or text.
• We aim to match every request, but we do not promise that a professional will be available for every project, timeline, or location.
• Browsing professionals and their public profiles is free and does not require an account. To message a professional or send a request, you need an account and a verified phone number.
• When you message a professional or send them a direct request, they can see your first name, your project description and photos, and your general area (ZIP code). Your phone number and exact address stay private until the professional unlocks your request.

3. Choosing a professional — direct requests

You can send a request to one specific professional from their public profile. A direct request goes only to the professional you choose — it is not sold or shared with other professionals as a lead. If that professional declines or does not respond within 72 hours, you can choose another professional or let Koti match you instead. You may have only 1 pending direct request per project at a time.

Whether a request reaches a professional through Koti matching or by your direct choice, contact details are exchanged only through an unlock, as described in Section 7.

An unlock establishes a connection: it exchanges the parties’ contact details and opens full communication in the same conversation. An unlock is not a booking. Koti does not guarantee that a homeowner will hire the professional, that the professional will accept or perform any work, or that any work will be started or completed.

4. Profiles, portfolios, and other content

Professionals create and control their public profiles, including business descriptions, service areas, and portfolio photos of their work. By posting content on Koti, you represent that it is accurate; that it is yours or you have permission to use it — including the homeowner’s permission for photos of a home you worked on; and that it does not infringe anyone’s rights.

You keep ownership of your content. You grant Koti a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, distribute, and promote your content in connection with the service — for example, showing your portfolio on your profile and in search results.

We may remove content that violates these Terms or the law, or that is inaccurate or misleading. Do not post false credentials, photos of work that is not yours presented as your own, or testimonials that are not from real customers.

Content you upload — prohibited content and moderation.

You are responsible for the images and other content you upload or share on Koti, including profile and portfolio photos, project photos, and photos in messages and claims.

You may not upload or share content that:

• is sexually explicit;
• depicts graphic violence or gore, or animal cruelty;
• involves illegal drugs, including their sale, promotion, or manufacture;
• displays hate symbols or promotes extremist violence;
• is illegal, or promotes or facilitates illegal activity;
• violates another person's rights, including their privacy or intellectual property. (Copyright reports are governed by the Copyright & DMCA Policy.)

Koti uses automated tools and human review to moderate uploaded content. Koti may hold content from public display while it is under review, and may remove any content that violates this section or these terms, with or without prior notice.

Consequences. If you upload prohibited content, Koti may remove the content and record a strike on your account. Repeat violations may lead to suspension of your ability to post content, suspension of your account, or account closure, depending on the severity and frequency of the violations. If you believe content was removed or a strike was recorded in error, you may appeal by contacting Koti Support within 14 days of the action; Koti will review the appeal, and its decision is final under these terms.

Child safety. Content that depicts or appears to depict the sexual abuse or exploitation of a minor is removed immediately, is never restored on appeal, and results in account closure. Koti preserves such material as required by law and reports it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and cooperates with law enforcement. The same immediate-removal treatment applies to content that credibly threatens imminent violence.

5. Messaging on Koti

Before an unlock, homeowners and professionals communicate through Koti’s messaging, and contact details stay masked. Messages are for discussing the project.

Introductory messaging before an unlock is limited to 3 messages per person, per professional, per project, and to 3 open introductory conversations per project. After an unlock, messaging in the same conversation is unlimited.

To keep contact details protected until an unlock and to prevent fraud and abuse, messages are processed automatically and may be filtered or blocked if they appear to contain phone numbers, email addresses, external links, social-media handles, or other ways of moving the conversation off Koti before an unlock — whether typed, written out, or shown in an image. Blocked messages are not stored; we keep only a record that a block occurred. If a conversation is reported or flagged for safety or abuse, our team may review the messages in it. The same rules apply to profile descriptions and portfolio content.

You can report or block any user from a conversation. File attachments are not available in messaging before an unlock; photos are shared through the project request itself. After an unlock, you may exchange contact details and communicate directly.

6. Reviews

Homeowners may review a professional only after a project arranged through Koti is completed. A review must reflect the reviewer’s real experience. We may remove reviews that violate these Terms, and professionals may respond to reviews of their business. We do not pay for reviews, and we do not remove a review because it is negative.

7. For professionals

• Professionals are responsible for keeping their business information accurate and for holding the licenses Florida law requires for the work they perform.
• Professionals pay a fee to unlock a homeowner’s contact details. The exact fee is shown before you accept — you are only charged when you choose to unlock a lead.
• Contact details obtained through Koti may be used only to discuss the matched project. Professionals may not resell, share, or misuse homeowner information.
• We may suspend or remove a professional for inaccurate information, misuse of homeowner data, or repeated unresolved complaints.
• Your public profile is your storefront; keep it accurate and current. Verification labels, where shown, describe only the specific item that was checked.
• A “lead unlock” is your paid acceptance of a request — whether it reached you through Koti matching or a homeowner chose you directly from your profile — that reveals the homeowner’s contact details. The same per-category fees, and the same First Lead Free terms below, apply to both kinds of unlock.
• An unlock buys the connection — the homeowner’s contact details and direct communication. It is not a guarantee that the homeowner will hire you, or that a project will be booked or completed.

First lead free. A business that has never completed a successful lead unlock on Koti — paid or free — receives its first successful marketplace lead unlock free: the unlock fee for that lead is $0. Any earlier successful unlock, paid or free, makes the business ineligible; failed or abandoned unlock attempts do not count, and neither do Repeat Customer (Hire Again) unlocks. The benefit applies only to services for which the business holds the license Florida law requires, or a verified lawful exemption. While that verification is pending, the benefit is reserved for the business — it is neither used up nor expired — but the reservation ends with the business’s first successful unlock, so unlocking a lead before verification completes uses up the first unlock; Koti shows a clear warning before a business confirms an unlock that would end its reservation. Limit one free lead per business, including linked accounts, regardless of the number of users or locations associated with that business. The free lead is non-transferable and has no cash value, and no insurance purchase is required to receive it. No retroactive refunds or courtesy grants apply to unlocks completed before this benefit’s activation. Koti may modify or end this offer at any time; changes apply prospectively and do not affect free leads already granted.

8. Payments and disputes

Professional fees are processed securely by our payment provider. If you believe a lead was invalid — for example, the contact details don’t work or the request was clearly outside the stated service — you can open a dispute through your dashboard and we will review it in good faith.

Accidental-damage assistance (KotiProtect)

Projects that are booked and paid through Koti — with a Koti invoice paid through Koti’s payment processing — may be eligible for KotiProtect, Koti’s discretionary assistance program for accidental property damage caused by the professional’s negligence during the work. Assistance is up to $1,000 per eligible project, is subject to the KotiProtect Terms (including the 30-day claim deadline, the exclusions, and Koti’s review), and is not guaranteed in any individual case. KotiProtect is not insurance. Payments made outside Koti do not qualify. The KotiProtect Terms govern the program; this section is a summary.

9. No guarantees

We work hard to make good matches, but Koti does not guarantee the quality, timing, pricing, or outcome of any professional’s work, nor that any particular request will receive a match. Estimates, availability, and pricing are set by the professional, not by Koti.

Professionals set their own prices and report their own availability. A price shown on a profile — a starting price, hourly rate, minimum, or diagnostic fee — is the professional’s own figure, shown for orientation only. It is not a quote, and Koti does not guarantee it. Your final price is agreed between you and the professional after they see your project, and any conditions the professional attaches to a fee (for example, whether a diagnostic fee counts toward the final price) are the professional’s own. Availability shown on a profile is likewise the professional’s own report, not a promise by Koti.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to misuse Koti: no submitting false requests, no attempting to bypass the matching process to harvest contact details, no attempting to bypass an unlock by exchanging contact details in messages, profiles, or photos; no creating fake profiles or reviews; no scraping profiles or harvesting user information; no posting content you do not have the right to use; no interfering with the service, and no violating any applicable law.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Koti is provided “as is.” We are not liable for any damages arising from your use of the service or from any agreement you enter into with a professional, including the quality or completion of their work. Our total liability for any claim related to Koti will not exceed the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the claim — or $100 if you paid nothing.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Koti and its owners, employees, and agents from claims arising out of your misuse of the service or your violation of these Terms.

13. Changes and termination

We may update these Terms from time to time; the updated version will be posted here with a revised “last updated” date. We may suspend or terminate access for violations of these Terms.

14. Text messaging

Koti sends text messages to (a) homeowners who verify their phone number or request updates about their project request, and (b) professionals who opt in to receive match alerts. By providing your mobile number and agreeing to receive them — during request intake or partner registration — you consent to receive these messages from Koti. Message frequency varies with your activity (for example, one verification code per request, and match alerts only when new matching leads arrive). Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help. Message and data rates may apply. We never sell, rent, or share your mobile number with third parties for their marketing purposes.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Write to us at support@koti.house.