Terms of service

These terms are an agreement between you and Nyumba (“Nyumba”, “we”). They cover the landlord portal, the tenant app and Nyumba Homes. By creating an account, or by sending an enquiry on Nyumba Homes, you accept them.

Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal data and forms part of these terms.

• You must be 18 or older and give accurate details.
• Keep your password and sign-in codes to yourself. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
• Landlords may invite staff such as caretakers and agents. A landlord is responsible for what their staff do in their account and for removing staff who should no longer have access.
• Tell us straight away at support@nyumbapms.co.ke if you think someone else has used your account.

• New landlord accounts start with a free trial. When it ends, your plan fee is charged to the card you saved, and again each billing period.
• Plan fees, included text messages and the charge for extra messages are as shown on our pricing at the time you are charged. We give at least 30 days' notice before raising the fee for your plan.
• If a charge fails, we may limit your account to payments, settings and data access until it is paid.
• You can change plan or stop your subscription at any time. It ends at the close of the period you have paid for. Fees already paid are not refunded unless the law requires it.

Nyumba never holds your rent. When a tenant pays through Nyumba, the payment is processed by Paystack, a licensed payment provider, and settled to the landlord's own account. Paystack's terms also apply to those payments.

• A transaction fee applies to payments made through Nyumba. It is shown on our pricing and taken before the payment settles.
• A payment counts as received once the payment provider confirms it. We record confirmed payments against the tenant's invoices.
• Rent paid outside Nyumba, such as cash or a direct bank transfer, is recorded by the landlord. We do not verify it.
• Disputes about rent, deposits, charges or refunds are between landlord and tenant. We will share the payment records we hold to help settle them.

Nyumba works out monthly rental income tax figures from the payments recorded in your account. They are a tool to help you file. They are not tax advice. You remain responsible for checking them, filing your returns with KRA and paying on time.

When a landlord adds tenants, the landlord is the data controller for their details and we process them on the landlord's behalf. Landlords must have a lawful reason to add each tenant, keep the details accurate and use Nyumba's messages only for the tenancy. Every message we send for you, such as reminders and receipts, must be lawful and must not be marketing that the tenant has not agreed to.

The tenant app shows what your landlord has recorded: your lease, invoices, payments and notices. Your lease is with your landlord, not with Nyumba. If something looks wrong, contact your landlord first. If you can't resolve a payment problem with them, email support@nyumbapms.co.ke.

For landlords who list homes:

• You must have the right to let the home, and the price, details and availability must be accurate.
• Photos must be of the home you list and yours to use.
• Respond to enquiries honestly and never ask for money before the home has been viewed.
• We may edit how a listing is shown, or take it down, if it breaks these terms or we receive complaints about it.

For house hunters: listings come from landlords. We don't inspect every home. Always view a home and confirm who owns it before you pay anything. We are not a party to any agreement you make with a landlord.

You must not:

• use Nyumba for fraud, or to list homes you can't let;
• add people's details without a lawful reason, or send them messages they haven't agreed to;
• try to reach data or accounts that aren't yours, or test, overload or break our systems;
• copy listings or data from Nyumba in bulk, or resell the service.

You can close your account at any time, subject to the records we must keep by law. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, puts other people at risk or is linked to fraud. Where we can, we tell you why first and give you a chance to fix it.

We work to keep Nyumba running and your data safe, but the service relies on providers such as M-Pesa, Paystack, banks and SMS networks, and it may sometimes be unavailable. We provide it as it is.

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect losses, such as lost profit, or for losses caused by those providers or by information you or your landlord entered. Our total liability to a landlord is limited to the fees they paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under Kenyan consumer law.

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya. If we have a disagreement, we will first try to settle it by talking. If that fails, the courts of Kenya will decide it.

When we change these terms we update the date at the top. We tell account holders about important changes by email or in the app at least 14 days before they apply. If you keep using Nyumba after that, the new terms apply.

Email support@nyumbapms.co.ke, or write to Nyumba, Nairobi, Kenya.