Terms of Service

Last updated: October 16, 2026 (version 2026-10-16.4)

These terms are an agreement between you and Scott Ellis, doing business as OnTheBlock ("OnTheBlock", "we", "us"), which operates the OnTheBlock mobile app, web app at app.ontheblockapp.com, and website at ontheblockapp.com (together, "the app"). If you use the app for a homeowners association, condo association or similar community ("HOA"), as its president or a board member, these terms also bind that HOA.

Please read section 6 (neighborhood alerts), section 12 (limits of liability) and section 14 (disputes and arbitration) carefully. They limit our responsibility and how disputes are resolved.

The short version (the full terms below are what count):

• You must be 18+ and live in, own or manage a home in the HOA you join. Residents join free; each HOA pays a membership.
• OnTheBlock is not an emergency service. Alerts come from your HOA, aren't monitored, and can be late or not arrive. Call 911 first.
• Your HOA's board decides who joins, what's posted, dues, and maintenance and architectural decisions. We provide the tool, not those decisions.
• Memberships renew automatically until canceled, with no refunds for partial periods. Dues go straight to the HOA.
• Disputes go to individual arbitration, not class actions, unless you opt out within 30 days.

#1. What the app is

The app gives each HOA a private space for its residents. Depending on what the HOA turns on, it includes:

• announcements and events from the board, with photos, which the board may also email to residents, plus board emails to all residents;
• a neighborhood group chat and direct messages, with photos;
• neighborhood alerts sent or approved by the board, delivered as push notifications and, for people who choose, by email;
• a neighbor directory where residents may choose to share their phone, email or address;
• profile pictures, a pet directory and gate access requests;
• maintenance requests and architectural (home change) requests;
• an HOA calendar, documents, meetings and minutes;
• online payment of HOA dues to the HOA.

Residents join free. Each HOA pays for a membership (section 8).

#2. Agreeing to these terms

• Before you can use the app, you tick three separate boxes, when you create an account and again whenever these terms change: one agreeing to these terms (and confirming you're 18 or older), one agreeing to our Privacy Policy, and one confirming you understand how neighborhood alerts work (section 6). We record which version you agreed to and when.
• Each time a board member sends an alert, or approves a resident's request for one, they confirm they're sending it for the HOA and are responsible for it. If an HOA lets residents send alerts directly, a resident who sends one confirms they're responsible for it. We record these confirmations with the alert.
• Whoever creates an HOA, and anyone who later becomes its president, also accepts the HOA Board Agreement (section 4) on the HOA's behalf by ticking a separate box. We record that too.
• When we make a meaningful change, the app asks you to agree to the new version before you can keep using it (section 16).
• If you don't agree, don't use the app.

#3. Your account

• You must be at least 18 years old and a resident, owner, tenant or authorized representative (such as a property manager) of a property in the HOA you join.
• Give accurate information, including your real name and street address. Your HOA's board uses it to confirm you live there.
• Keep your password private. You're responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us right away at support@ontheblockapp.com if you think someone else has used it.
• One person per account. Don't share accounts or create accounts for other people without their permission.
• You can delete your account at any time in Account → Delete my account.

#4. HOAs and the HOA Board Agreement

Anyone can create an HOA in the app and becomes its president. The president sets up board positions and decides what each can do. One account can create up to 3 HOAs.

By creating an HOA, or by becoming its president, you confirm you're authorized to act for the HOA, and you agree on behalf of the HOA and its board that:

1. Residents. The board decides who may join and is responsible for checking that they live in the HOA. We don't verify residency or identity.
2. What the board sends and decides. The board is responsible for the alerts, announcements, events, calendar entries, documents, meeting details and messages it posts or approves; for its answers and decisions on maintenance and architectural requests; for choosing which board positions can do what; and for moderating its community (reviewing reports, removing messages and residents).
3. Neighborhood alerts. The HOA's board, not us, decides whether and when alerts are sent and what they say. The president may let residents send alerts without board approval; if so, each resident who sends one is responsible for it, and the board remains responsible for that choice. Alerts are only for real, urgent situations. They supplement, and never replace, 911 and official government alerts. Sending false or misleading alerts is prohibited.
4. Architectural and maintenance decisions. Approvals, denials and conditions given in the app are the HOA's decisions under its own governing documents. The app records them but doesn't review them, give legal or building advice, or replace permits or anything else the law requires.
5. Dues. If the HOA collects dues in the app, it sets the amounts and due dates, follows the law and its governing documents for fees, late charges and collections, and handles residents' questions, refunds and disputes (section 9).
6. Membership. The HOA is responsible for keeping its membership paid. When it ends, every feature stops for the HOA, including neighborhood alerts (section 8.7).
7. Insurance. The HOA keeps its own insurance (for example general liability and directors & officers coverage) for its activities, including its use of the app and what its board sends and decides.
8. Board changes. The board keeps its positions and permissions up to date after elections, transfers the presidency in the app, and makes sure someone with billing access can renew the membership.
9. Laws and HOA rules. The board uses the app in line with applicable law (including privacy, fair housing and anti-discrimination laws) and the HOA's own governing documents, and keeps any records the law requires the HOA to keep outside the app.
10. Indemnification. The HOA is responsible for the claims described in section 13.

#5. Your content and how you use the app

5.1 Your content

• "Content" means anything you post or upload: messages, photos, announcements, requests, comments, documents, profile pictures, pet entries and directory details.
• You own your content. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, copy, resize, display and deliver it to the people it's meant for, only to run, secure and improve the app. This license ends when your content is deleted, except for copies kept in backups for a short time, copies other people already received, and records we must keep by law.
• You confirm you have the right to post your content, including photos of other people or their property.
• You're responsible for what you share. If you choose to list your phone, email or address in the neighbor directory, everyone in your HOA can see it until you turn it off.

5.2 Who sees what

• Group chat, announcements, events, calendar, documents and the pet directory (once approved) are visible to everyone in your HOA.
• Maintenance requests are for shared or common areas and are visible to everyone in your HOA, along with their updates.
• Architectural requests are visible only to you and board members who handle requests. Decisions on them are a permanent record and can't be deleted.
• Direct messages are visible to the people in the conversation. Each person chooses who can message them: anyone in their HOA, or only through message requests they accept. HOA board members can always message residents. You can mute chats and block people.
• Gate access requests are visible to you and the board members who manage the gate.
• The neighborhood group chat can't be deleted or hidden, so everyone always has it.

5.3 Rules for everyone

Don't use the app to:

• post anything illegal, threatening, harassing, hateful, discriminatory, sexually explicit or violent;
• share someone else's private information, or photos of people who haven't agreed, without a good reason;
• deceive people, impersonate anyone, or send false alerts;
• spam, advertise unrelated businesses, or collect neighbors' information for marketing;
• upload viruses, try to get into accounts or data you aren't allowed to see, overload the app, or copy it with bots or scrapers;
• break any law or anyone else's rights, including copyrights and trademarks.

Anyone can report a message. The HOA's board reviews reports and may remove content or residents. We may also remove content or accounts that break these terms, but we don't monitor content and have no duty to.

5.4 Specific features

• Pet directory: add only your own pets. The board approves entries before neighbors see them, and may remove them.
• Gate access: the app passes requests between residents and the HOA's gate managers; it doesn't operate or secure any gate. Gate codes are created and managed by the HOA in its own gate system. Keep codes private, share them only with the guests or workers they're for, and follow the HOA's rules. The HOA decides whether to approve requests and may revoke codes.
• Maintenance requests: for problems in shared areas. For anything dangerous (gas leaks, fallen power lines, fire, flooding), call 911 or the utility first. The HOA decides what to fix and when; we don't schedule or perform any work.
• Architectural requests: submitting one in the app doesn't mean it's approved. Don't start a project until the board approves it in line with your HOA's rules.
• Calendar, documents and meetings: posted by the HOA's board, which is responsible for them. They're provided for convenience; the HOA's official records and notices are whatever its governing documents and the law say they are.

5.5 Feedback

If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them freely without paying you or owing you anything.

5.6 Copyright complaints

If you believe content in the app infringes your copyright, email support@ontheblockapp.com with: your contact details; a description of the work; where the content is in the app; a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and you're the owner or authorized to act for the owner; and your physical or electronic signature. We may remove the content and, for repeat infringers, close the account.

#6. Neighborhood alerts: important limits

• OnTheBlock is a communication tool, not an emergency service. It is not a 911 service, a public safety answering point, an alarm-monitoring service, or a substitute for official emergency alerts. In an emergency, call 911 first.
• Alerts come from your HOA's board or residents, not from us. We don't write, review, verify, approve or monitor alerts, and we have no duty to. Nobody at OnTheBlock watches alerts or responds to them.
• They are private neighborhood alerts, not government alerts.
• Delivery is not guaranteed. Push alerts depend on phone settings (notifications, silent mode, Focus or Do Not Disturb), battery, internet and cellular service, and the services of Apple, Google, Expo and others. Email alerts depend on email providers and spam filters. Alerts can be late, go to the wrong place, or not arrive. The urgent alert sound may not play on every device and doesn't play in the web app.
• Alerts stop working when an HOA's membership ends (section 8.7).
• Assumption of risk. You understand these limits and agree that you use alerts at your own risk, and that you won't rely on the app to learn about, report or respond to any emergency.

#7. Support access by OnTheBlock

To answer support requests, fix problems, keep the app secure and enforce these terms, the OnTheBlock owner can open a read-only support view of an HOA, protected by a separate owner password. Support views never show private direct messages between residents, and are recorded in that HOA's audit log, which the president can see.

• Changes only with the president's permission. Support can't post, change or delete anything unless the HOA's president allows it in the app. Each permission lasts up to 2 hours, the president can end it at any time, and it's recorded in the audit log. While it lasts, support can change the HOA's posts, settings, documents and requests, but can't read private messages, change residents or board seats, change billing or dues, transfer the presidency or delete the HOA. By allowing it, the president authorizes those changes on the HOA's behalf.
• The owner may also extend an HOA's free trial or suspend an HOA that breaks these terms.

#8. HOA membership and billing

8.1 Free trial

A new HOA gets a 30-day free trial. No payment details are needed to start it. We may extend a trial at our choice.

8.2 Plans by HOA size

The membership price depends on the HOA's size and whether it pays monthly or yearly:

Size is measured in homes: the number of different street addresses among the HOA's approved residents (each unit in a condo or apartment building counts as a home). There's no limit on how many residents live in a home. A new subscription starts on the plan that fits the HOA's size. Current prices are always shown in the app before you pay. Prices are in US dollars and don't include taxes, which are added where required.

8.3 Two ways to pay

• HOA billing. The HOA pays with its own card or bank account through our payment processor, Stripe. The subscription belongs to the HOA. Board members with the "Manage HOA membership" permission can change the plan (size, or monthly and yearly), update the payment method, see invoices or cancel, on Stripe's billing page (Change plan and Manage HOA billing in the app). Moving to a bigger plan or to yearly takes effect right away, and Stripe charges the difference for the rest of the current period. Moving to a smaller plan or to monthly takes effect at the next renewal. Available on every plan.
• Apple ID or Google account. Where offered, a board member subscribes in the app, and Apple or Google bills that person's own account. These purchases are also governed by Apple's or Google's terms, and Apple or Google handles refunds for them.

An HOA uses one method at a time. When an HOA switches from an Apple or Google subscription to HOA billing, the first HOA billing charge waits until the period already paid (or the free trial) ends. The person whose Apple ID or Google account pays must cancel that subscription themselves; we can't cancel it for them.

8.4 Automatic renewal and cancellation

Memberships renew automatically at the end of each monthly or yearly period, and the payment method on file is charged the then-current price for the HOA's plan, until canceled. You can cancel any time: HOA billing in HOA membership → Manage HOA billing; Apple or Google subscriptions in that account's subscription settings (at least 24 hours before the period ends). Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid. We don't give refunds or credits for partial periods, unused time or unused features, except where the law requires it. If you believe you were charged in error, email support@ontheblockapp.com within 60 days of the charge.

8.5 When an HOA's size changes

• Nothing changes until an HOA has been above (or below) its plan's size for 30 days in a row, so small ups and downs don't count.
• Residents can always keep joining. We never block new residents because of plan size.
• HOA billing: the plan moves up or down to match the HOA's size at the next renewal. We tell the president and billing board members in the app at least 14 days before that renewal, with the new price. Nothing is charged early and there's no proration: the new price starts with the renewal. You can cancel before the renewal if you don't want to continue.
• Apple or Google billing: only the subscriber can change an Apple or Google plan, so we notify the board and ask the HOA to switch to HOA billing on the right plan. If the HOA hasn't switched within 60 days of that notice, we may ask it to switch before its next renewal.
• HOAs with more than 500 homes pay the Community price until we agree on Large pricing with them.

8.6 Price changes

We may change prices. We'll tell billing board members at least 30 days before a new price applies, and it takes effect at the next renewal after that. Apple and Google may also require your approval for a price change.

8.7 Failed payments and when a membership ends

If a payment fails, the HOA has a short grace period to fix it, and we'll tell billing board members. If the free trial or a paid membership ends without being renewed (or a failed payment isn't fixed before the paid period runs out), every feature stops for that HOA: announcements, messages, requests, calendar, dues and neighborhood alerts, including reading past content. Residents see a notice in the app. Everything comes back as soon as the membership is renewed. We send reminders to the president and billing board members 14, 7 and 1 days before a membership runs out, but reminders aren't guaranteed and the HOA is responsible for renewing.

We keep a lapsed HOA's content for at least 12 months so it can come back. After that, we may delete it after emailing the president at least 30 days before. The president can ask us to delete it sooner.

8.8 Board changes

With HOA billing, billing stays with the HOA when the board changes; the new board just manages it. With Apple or Google billing, the subscription stays with the person who subscribed, even after they leave the board, until they cancel it.

#9. Paying HOA dues in the app

• An HOA can let residents pay its dues in the app. Payments are processed by Stripe and go directly to the HOA's own Stripe account and bank. We are not the HOA's agent, payment processor or money transmitter; we never hold, receive or control dues money; and we charge no fee on dues.
• Dues are an obligation between you and your HOA. The amount, due dates, late fees, waivers, refunds, disputes, chargebacks and collections are set and handled by the HOA under its governing documents and the law, not by us. The app only shows what the HOA's board has set. Questions about what you owe go to your HOA.
• The HOA chooses whether card and bank processing fees are paid by the HOA or added at checkout. Any added fee is shown before you pay.
• Bank (ACH) payments take several business days to complete and can fail; a failed payment means the dues are still owed.
• The board may record payments made outside the app (checks, cash) and may waive dues, including for board members if the HOA allows it. Records in the app are a convenience; the HOA's own books are its official records.
• To collect dues, the HOA agrees to Stripe's terms (including the Stripe Connected Account Agreement), gives Stripe the information it requires, and is responsible for its Stripe account, including refunds, disputes and taxes.

#10. Suspension and ending

• We may suspend or close an HOA or account, or remove content, if it breaks these terms, misuses alerts, puts others at risk, or if the law requires it. Where it's reasonable, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to fix it.
• You may stop using the app and delete your account at any time. An HOA's president may delete the HOA.
• We may change, add or remove features, or stop offering the app. If we stop offering the app, we'll give HOAs at least 30 days' notice and refund any prepaid HOA billing for time after it stops.
• Sections 5.1 (licenses for content already shared), 6, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 17 continue after these terms end.

#11. Other services

The app relies on Google Firebase, Expo, Stripe, Resend, RevenueCat, Apple and Google. Their own terms apply to your use of their services, and we aren't responsible for them. Links to other websites are for convenience; we don't control them.

#12. Disclaimers and limits of liability

• The app is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and that the app or any alert, message or payment will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free.
• We aren't responsible for what HOAs, board members, residents or anyone else post, send, decide or do, in or outside the app, including dues, gate access, maintenance and architectural decisions, and disputes between neighbors or with an HOA.
• To the fullest extent the law allows, we aren't liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, lost profits, lost data, property damage or personal injury, or for any loss or harm caused by alerts or messages that are late, missing, wrong or sent by an HOA's board or residents, even if we were told such damages were possible.
• Our total liability for all claims relating to the app is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you (or, for an HOA, the HOA) paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose, or (b) $100.
• Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law, such as for gross negligence or willful misconduct.

#13. Indemnification

To the fullest extent the law allows, you will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Scott Ellis, doing business as OnTheBlock, and any employees and contractors, from claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: your content; your use or misuse of the app; your breach of these terms or the law; and, for an HOA, the actions of its board and residents in the app, including the alerts, announcements and messages they send, its decisions about residents, dues, maintenance and architectural requests, and its moderation. An HOA's obligations under this section are accepted by its president under the HOA Board Agreement (section 4).

#14. Disputes and arbitration

• Talk to us first. Before filing any claim, you agree to email support@ontheblockapp.com with a description of the problem and what you want, and to try to resolve it informally for at least 60 days. We'll do the same before bringing a claim against you.
• Binding individual arbitration. Any dispute relating to these terms or the app that isn't resolved informally will be decided by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (or, for a dispute with an HOA, its Commercial Arbitration Rules), not in court. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. The arbitration may be held by video or phone, or in Thurston County, Washington, or the county where you live. Fees are paid as the AAA rules provide.
• Exceptions. Either side may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either side may go to court to stop infringement of its intellectual property or misuse of the app.
• No class actions. You and we may bring claims only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated or representative action, and the arbitrator may not combine claims of more than one person. If this paragraph is found unenforceable for a claim, that claim goes to court (not arbitration) under section 17.
• Opting out. You can opt out of arbitration by emailing support@ontheblockapp.com within 30 days of first agreeing to these terms, with your name, the email on your account and a statement that you opt out. Opting out doesn't affect the rest of these terms.
• Time limit. Any claim must be brought within one year after it arises, where the law allows.

#15. Apple App Store

If you got the app from Apple's App Store:

• These terms are between you and us, not Apple, and we, not Apple, are responsible for the app.
• Your license to use the app is limited to Apple devices you own or control, as Apple's Usage Rules allow.
• Apple has no obligation to provide support or maintenance. If the app doesn't meet a warranty that applies, you may tell Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any); Apple has no other warranty obligation.
• Apple isn't responsible for claims about the app, including product liability claims, claims that it doesn't meet a legal requirement, consumer protection or privacy claims, or claims that it infringes someone's intellectual property.
• You confirm you aren't in a country under a US government embargo or on a US government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

The same applies, as far as Google's terms require, if you got the app from Google Play.

#16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change is meaningful, the app asks you (and each HOA's president, for the HOA Board Agreement) to agree to the new version before continuing. We'll show the new "Last updated" date here. Changes don't apply to disputes that started before them.

#17. General

• Governing law and courts. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any claim that isn't arbitrated under section 14 will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Thurston County, Washington, and you and we agree to their jurisdiction.
• Our app. We (and our licensors) own the app, its design, code, name and logo. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app under these terms. Don't copy, change, resell or reverse-engineer it, or use our name or logo without permission.
• Notices. We may send notices to the email on your account or in the app. You can reach us at support@ontheblockapp.com.
• Events outside our control. We aren't responsible for delays or failures caused by things we can't reasonably control, such as outages of internet, cellular, cloud or app-store services, power failures, natural disasters or government action.
• Assignment. You can't transfer these terms without our permission. We may transfer them if the app is sold or moves to a company we own or control.
• Whole agreement. These terms, the Privacy Policy and the HOA Board Agreement (section 4) are the whole agreement between you and us about the app. If any part is unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a part isn't a waiver of it.
• No third-party beneficiaries, except as stated in section 15.

#18. Contact

Scott Ellis, doing business as OnTheBlock
Olympia, Washington, USA
support@ontheblockapp.com

See also our Privacy Policy. Questions? Email support@ontheblockapp.com.