Effective and last updated October 2, 2026

Terms of Service

These terms are the agreement between you and Housemate. We've written them to be read, not skimmed past.

The short version

  • Housemate acts for you, with limits you control.

    We contact vendors, book appointments and run errands on your behalf. Anything that costs money waits for your explicit yes.

  • Vendors do the work, and they're independent.

    Housemate arranges it; the plumber, the electrician or the dry cleaner is responsible for their own work.

  • It's an early release.

    Housemate is invite-only and still being built. Things will change, and some things won’t work perfectly.

  • Texting is the main way it works.

    Reply STOP at any time to stop texts. Section 5 has the full texting terms.

Housemate is operated by John Healy, a sole proprietor based in Georgia. “Housemate,” “we,” “us” and “our” mean John Healy, operating the Housemate service, the website at myhousemate.co and the Housemate text-messaging number. “You” means the person using Housemate.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information and is part of these terms. By using Housemate, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use Housemate.

Section 1

Who can use Housemate

To use Housemate, you must:

  • be at least 18 years old;
  • have joined our waitlist and been offered a place (Housemate is invite-only while in alpha);
  • live in the United States, and use Housemate for a home in the United States; and
  • own the home, or otherwise have the authority to arrange repairs, services and visits there.

You agree that the information you give us about yourself and your home is accurate, and that you’ll keep it up to date.

Section 2

What Housemate does

Housemate is a home-management service. You tell it what your home needs, by text or in the web app, and it works to get it done: setting reminders, researching and booking service providers, following up, keeping records of your home, and arranging errands that our local team handles in person.

It’s an alpha. Housemate is an early, invite-only release for a small number of homes. Features may be added, changed or removed, and the service may sometimes be unavailable or make mistakes. We’ll tell you about changes that matter to you.

The web app is your record. Everything Housemate does for you is shown in the web app, where you can review it and correct it. Corrections are kept as history.

Section 3

Acting on your behalf

3.1 What you authorize

By asking Housemate to handle something, you authorize us to act on your behalf to do it. That includes:

  • contacting vendors and service providers by phone, text, email or their websites;
  • sharing the information about you and your home that a vendor needs, such as your name, phone number, address and a description of the problem;
  • booking, rescheduling and cancelling appointments; and
  • filling in forms and accepting a vendor’s standard booking terms where a booking requires it.

You can limit or withdraw this authority at any time, for a single task or in general, by telling us.

3.2 Money waits for your yes

Housemate acts on its own, except for anything that involves, or could involve, a payment or fee. That includes deposits, service charges, cancellation or no-show fees, and accepting a quote. Before any of these, we tell you what it will cost and wait for your clear, explicit confirmation. This rule is enforced by our software, not only by the assistant’s instructions.

If a vendor’s terms include a fee that could apply later, such as a cancellation fee, we’ll tell you before we accept them.

3.3 Your responsibilities

  • Check what matters. Review bookings and records in the web app, and tell us if something is wrong.
  • Be reachable. Some steps, such as a CAPTCHA, a login or a vendor’s question, may need you.
  • Be there, or arrange access. You’re responsible for giving vendors and our team safe access to your home when a visit is booked.
  • Don’t send access codes or passwords by text. See Section 7.

Section 4

Vendors and service providers

Vendors are independent. The businesses Housemate books for you are independent third parties. They are not our employees, agents or subcontractors, and Housemate does not perform, supervise or guarantee their work. Your agreement for the work is between you and the vendor, and the vendor is responsible for its quality, safety, licensing, insurance, pricing and warranties.

We choose for you, not for them. We never accept referral fees, commissions or other payment from vendors to steer your choices.

Disputes with a vendor. If something goes wrong with a vendor’s work, we’ll help you follow up, gather the records and contact the vendor. But the vendor, not Housemate, is responsible for resolving it.

Vendor websites and terms. When we book on a vendor’s website, that site’s own terms and privacy policy apply to your booking.

Section 5

Text messaging terms

Texting is Housemate’s primary channel. These terms apply to every text we send and receive, over SMS, MMS or RCS.

The Housemate messaging program

Program
Housemate, operated by John Healy (sole proprietor).
What we send
Replies to your requests, reminders you ask for, appointment reminders, and follow-ups on bookings and payments. We don’t send marketing texts.
Who receives them
Only members who have agreed to receive texts from Housemate, which we ask once, with an optional box when they join and add a mobile number. Agreeing is optional, and isn’t a condition of using Housemate or of buying anything.
One-time codes
Sent to confirm your number when you set up your account, and when you sign in. Without a number, codes come by email. A code doesn’t sign you up for other texts.
How often
Message frequency varies with how you use Housemate. We don’t send unprompted texts between 9:00 PM and 7:30 AM in your home’s time zone.
Cost
Message and data rates may apply.
To stop
Reply STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE or OPTOUT) at any time. You’ll receive one confirmation and no further texts. You can also tell us in your own words or email us. To start again, reply START.
For help
Reply HELP, or email john@myhousemate.co.
Carriers
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
Privacy
We do not share, sell, or provide your mobile phone number or messaging consent data to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. See Section 2 of our Privacy Policy.

Stopping texts means Housemate can no longer act on requests by text. You can still sign in to the web app with a one-time code.

Section 6

Payments

Payments you approve. When you confirm a payment, Housemate places a hold on the card you saved with our payment provider, Stripe, and pays the vendor with a single-use card number created for exactly that amount. Your own card number stays with Stripe and is never given to the vendor or to Housemate.

Amounts. The amount you confirm is the amount we pay. If a vendor’s final price differs from what you approved, we’ll ask you again before paying the difference.

Refunds. Refunds for a vendor’s goods or services come from the vendor, under its policies. If a vendor refunds a payment we made for you, we’ll pass the refund back to you.

Fees for Housemate itself. If we introduce a fee for using Housemate, we’ll tell you in advance, and it won’t apply unless you agree to it.

Availability. During the alpha, paying through Housemate may not be available. When it isn’t, we’ll give you what you need to pay the vendor directly.

Section 7

Your home's security

Please don’t send us access codes, alarm codes, lockbox codes or passwords by text or in chat. Text messages are not a secure way to share them. We don’t save them to your home’s records, and if you send one by mistake, tell us and we’ll delete it.

We plan to offer a secure vault for vendor logins and access details, which Housemate’s assistant can use without seeing. It isn’t available yet. When it is, these terms and our Privacy Policy will explain how it works before you can use it.

Team visits. When our team visits your home for an errand, you agree to tell us about anything that affects their safety, such as pets or hazards. Our team may decline an errand that is unsafe or unlawful, or that involves hazardous materials, weapons, cash, or controlled substances.

Section 8

The AI assistant

Housemate’s assistant is powered by artificial intelligence. It can misunderstand a request or get a detail wrong, so every record shows where it came from and can be corrected.

  • Not professional advice. Troubleshooting suggestions are general guidance, not the advice of a licensed electrician, plumber, contractor, lawyer or other professional. Use your judgment, and don’t attempt anything you’re not comfortable with.
  • Not an emergency service. If you smell gas, see an electrical hazard, have flooding or a break-in, or face any other emergency, call 911 or your utility right away. Housemate will tell you the same thing.

Section 9

Acceptable use

You agree not to use Housemate to:

  • do anything unlawful, or arrange anything unlawful at a home;
  • act for a home you don’t have authority over;
  • harass, mislead or abuse vendors, our team, or anyone else;
  • send content you don’t have the right to share, such as photos of people who haven’t agreed to it;
  • interfere with or try to get around Housemate’s security, including trying to manipulate the assistant into ignoring its limits; or
  • resell Housemate, or use it to build a competing service.

Section 10

Your account

You sign in to the web app with a one-time code, texted to your mobile number or emailed to you. Keep your phone and your email account secure: anyone with access to them may be able to sign in as you. Tell us right away at john@myhousemate.co if you think someone else has used your account.

Section 11

Your content

You own your content. Your messages, photos, home records and other content remain yours. You give us permission to store, process and use your content only to run Housemate for you, as described in our Privacy Policy. This permission ends when your content is deleted, except for copies we must keep by law.

Feedback. If you give us ideas or feedback, we may use them to improve Housemate without owing you anything. We won’t identify you publicly without your permission.

Section 12

Ending your use of Housemate

You can stop at any time. Tell us you want to close your account, and we’ll delete your information as our Privacy Policy describes.

We can end or pause your access if you break these terms, if it’s needed to protect you, our team, vendors or Housemate, or if we end the alpha. Unless there’s an urgent reason not to, we’ll give you notice and a chance to get a copy of your records first.

Section 13

Disclaimers

Housemate is an early release, provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We don’t promise that Housemate will be uninterrupted or error-free, that any vendor will be available, or that any vendor’s work will meet your expectations.

Section 14

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows:

  • Housemate is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill.
  • Housemate is not liable for the acts, omissions, work or products of vendors or other third parties.
  • Housemate’s total liability for any claim relating to these terms or the service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid Housemate itself (not vendors) in the 12 months before the claim, or $100.

These limits don’t apply to liability that can’t be limited by law, such as liability for our gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence. Some states don’t allow certain limits, so some of these may not apply to you.

Section 15

Disputes

Talk to us first. Most problems can be solved directly. Email john@myhousemate.co and we’ll try to resolve it within 30 days.

Governing law and courts. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that we can’t resolve informally will be decided in the state or federal courts located in Georgia, and both of us agree to those courts’ jurisdiction. Either of us may instead bring a qualifying claim in small-claims (magistrate) court, including in the county where you live.

Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under consumer-protection laws that can’t be waived.

Section 16

Changes to these terms

We’ll update these terms as Housemate grows. We’ll post the new version here and change the “Last updated” date. If a change is material, we’ll tell you by text or email at least 14 days before it takes effect, unless it’s required sooner by law. If you keep using Housemate after a change takes effect, you accept it. If you don’t, you can close your account.

Section 17

General

  • Entire agreement. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and Housemate about the service.
  • Severability. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies.
  • No waiver. If we don’t enforce a term right away, we can still enforce it later.
  • Assignment. You may not transfer these terms. We may transfer them in connection with a change in how Housemate is organized, such as forming a company to operate it, and we’ll tell you if we do.
  • Notices. We’ll send notices by text or to the email you gave us. You can reach us at john@myhousemate.co.

Section 18

Contact us