HomeRoots Contractor Agreement

Version: 2026-06-16.v3 · Effective date: June 16, 2026

1. Independent contractor relationship

Each contractor using HomeRoots ("Contractor", "you") is an independent business and acts solely on its own behalf. Nothing in this Agreement creates an employment, partnership, joint-venture, agency, or franchise relationship between you and HomeRoots LLC ("HomeRoots", "we", "us"), a Washington limited liability company.

HomeRoots does not direct or control your work, schedule, methods, or pricing; does not provide tools, vehicles, materials, training, insurance, or workers' compensation coverage; does not guarantee lead volume, conversion rate, revenue, or geographic coverage; and does not withhold income or employment taxes on your behalf. You are responsible for your own tax filings and any 1099 or state-equivalent forms.

You are free to accept or decline any lead surfaced through HomeRoots, to work outside the HomeRoots platform, and to terminate your account at any time per Section 11.

2. Licensing, insurance, credentials, and legal compliance

You represent and warrant that, for the duration of your use of HomeRoots, you hold all licenses required by the jurisdiction(s) in which you operate to perform the services you offer through the platform; you carry the insurance coverage required by those jurisdictions, including where applicable general liability and workers' compensation; you are not subject to any restraining order, license suspension, or active disciplinary action that materially impairs your ability to perform contracted services; and you will promptly notify HomeRoots at `support@gethomeroots.com` if any license, insurance coverage, or legal-compliance status materially changes.

Contractor credentials are optional profile materials. You may upload professional-license details, insurance documents, and certification documents, but credentials are not required to receive leads, quote, request site visits, book work, or receive payments through the Service.

HomeRoots may manually check professional-license details against public licensing records. When a professional license is marked "License verified," the scoped statement is: "HomeRoots checked this professional license against public records on [date]. This does not verify insurance, work quality, or project outcome." That mark applies only to the specific professional license shown and only as of the date displayed.

Insurance and certification documents are upload-only at launch. HomeRoots does not review them for accuracy, coverage, status, exclusions, limits, authenticity, or continued validity. HomeRoots displays the following notices with those uploaded documents:

You are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable laws, including state contractor-licensing regulations; lien laws; consumer-protection laws; building codes and permitting requirements; sales-tax collection and remittance where applicable; OSHA and equivalent state safety regulations; and federal and state anti-discrimination laws as applied to homeowner-facing service.

3. Lead access, data use, and confidentiality

When a homeowner posts a service request and you receive a lead offer, HomeRoots grants you a limited, revocable license to access the homeowner's service-request information for the purpose of evaluating, quoting, and if engaged performing the work. Lead data may include the project description and photos; the homeowner's first name and last initial and an approximate location; and item, space, or document details from the homeowner's home record where the homeowner has chosen to share them. What a homeowner shares is a point-in-time snapshot scoped to that project.

The homeowner's full street address is not revealed until one of the following occurs: (a) a job is booked on the request, (b) the homeowner approves a site visit on the request, or (c) the homeowner directly hires you, in which case the full street address is revealed at the point the homeowner confirms the direct hire. A normal matched or open-market lead does not reveal the homeowner's full street address, even if you have worked with that home before. You agree not to attempt to bypass the address-reveal model. These reveal events are defined by HomeRoots' product behavior and may be updated over time.

You may use lead data only to evaluate, quote, and if engaged perform the work for the specific homeowner; to communicate with the homeowner within HomeRoots; and to maintain your own business records per applicable retention requirements. You may not use lead data to solicit the homeowner for unrelated services or products; to sell, share, or transfer lead data to third parties not engaged in the specific job; to build marketing lists, advertising audiences, or any aggregated data product; or to compete with HomeRoots by replicating its lead-marketplace function from data sourced through the platform. You will keep lead data confidential during and after your use of HomeRoots, except as required by law or by your good-faith dispute or warranty resolution.

4. Job conduct and communications

You agree to provide accurate, complete, and good-faith quotes that reflect the work you intend to perform; communicate with homeowners professionally and on a reasonable response cadence; honor accepted appointments and scheduled site visits, or proactively reschedule with at least 24 hours' notice when feasible; deliver services in compliance with applicable law, building and safety codes, and standard industry workmanship; and respond to homeowner questions, change requests, and post-completion warranty claims in good faith. Use HomeRoots' in-platform messaging as the primary channel for project-related communication. Off-platform communication is permitted once a job is booked, but in-platform messaging remains the source of truth for dispute resolution.

You acknowledge that messages you send through HomeRoots may be automatically screened and flagged for review, including for off-platform-payment or circumvention language, and that flagged messages may be reviewed by HomeRoots staff. See the Privacy Policy for details on how message data is processed.

You agree not to request payment outside the HomeRoots payment flow when the homeowner has chosen HomeRoots Pay for the relevant payment; pressure homeowners into cancellation, off-platform contracting, or any payment method that bypasses the agreed flow; submit fraudulent quotes, misrepresent the scope of services, or use bait-and-switch pricing; use HomeRoots messaging to solicit recipients for unrelated business purposes; or discriminate against homeowners on the basis of any protected class under federal or state law. Off-platform payment circumvention is a basis for immediate suspension.

5. Payments - direct-charge architecture

HomeRoots routes all homeowner-to-contractor payments via Stripe Connect direct-charge on your connected Stripe account.

5.1 Merchant of record

For every charge initiated by a homeowner on a HomeRoots-Pay-enabled quote, you are the merchant of record. Your business name, as registered with Stripe Connect during onboarding, appears on the Stripe Checkout page, on the homeowner's payment-card statement, and on the Stripe receipt. The payment is created on your connected Stripe account, and the funds settle into your connected-account balance. HomeRoots is not the merchant of record and does not hold homeowner funds in trust or escrow. HomeRoots receives no part of the homeowner's payment.

5.2 HomeRoots fees

HomeRoots charges you separately for platform services. These charges are billed to your platform-side Stripe customer record linked to your HomeRoots account, not your connected account, and are separate from the homeowner-side charges; they do not deduct from the homeowner-paid amount.

5.3 Tax

Each party is responsible for its own tax obligations. You are responsible for determining, collecting, and remitting any sales or use tax on the services you provide where required by state or local law. HomeRoots does not currently calculate, collect, or remit sales tax on your behalf. HomeRoots is responsible for tax on its own platform fees where those fees are themselves taxable. HomeRoots may, at its option and with notice, integrate automated tax computation on homeowner-side charges in the future; if it does, you will be notified and given an opportunity to update your tax configuration.

5.4 Refunds

If you and the homeowner agree to refund a deposit or other homeowner payment, the refund is issued against the original charge on your connected account, and Stripe reverses the charge to the homeowner's payment method. Direct-charge refunds are subject to any reserve and to your available balance; if your balance is insufficient, Stripe may delay the refund until your balance is sufficient. HomeRoots will not front the refund out of its own balance, but may assist by surfacing the refund flow in your contractor dashboard or via admin operations. The HomeRoots booking fee is governed separately by the grace-window rule in Section 5.2.

5.5 Payouts and reserves

Payouts from your connected Stripe account follow Stripe's payout-schedule mechanics. To maintain a sufficient balance to cover potential chargebacks and refunds, HomeRoots may configure a delayed or rolling payout schedule and/or a reserve on your connected account, and may adjust it based on your dispute or chargeback history, issuer-side risk signals, or operational policy changes. Stripe is the entity that holds funds during any rolling window and that transfers payouts to your bank account on schedule. HomeRoots will give you notice before tightening reserve or payout terms. You may request a different schedule via `support@gethomeroots.com`; HomeRoots may decline if the change materially increases platform risk.

6. Chargebacks and dispute responsibility

When a homeowner initiates a chargeback on a HomeRoots-Pay payment, the dispute is filed against the charge on your connected Stripe account. The disputed amount plus any Stripe dispute fee is debited from your connected-account balance pending resolution. If the dispute is lost, the debit is permanent; if it is won, the debited amount is returned to your balance. You are financially responsible for chargebacks against your connected account.

HomeRoots' role is limited to surfacing the dispute to you, providing access to the in-platform messaging, appointment, and quote-acceptance records associated with the disputed charge, and, at its option, assisting you with assembling and submitting dispute evidence to Stripe.

If a homeowner seeks a service-quality refund outside the Stripe dispute process, the parties to that refund are you and the homeowner. HomeRoots will not unilaterally issue a refund out of its own balance for service-quality reasons, but may, at its discretion, facilitate a refund flow on your connected account if you and the homeowner agree.

7. Reserve and negative balance

If HomeRoots configures a reserve on your connected account, that reserve is a portion of your balance held back from payouts by Stripe to provide a cushion for potential chargebacks and refunds. The reserve is computed and held by Stripe; HomeRoots does not hold your funds.

If your connected account goes negative-balance, Stripe will attempt to recover the deficit from future incoming funds on your account, and your payouts may be paused during recovery. If the deficit is not recoverable from your account balance within a reasonable period, HomeRoots may be held residually responsible under Stripe's Connect Services Agreement; in that scenario HomeRoots reserves the right to pause your account access and lead-offer eligibility, pursue the deficit from you under Section 8, and coordinate with Stripe on collection. You agree to maintain a sufficient connected-account balance to cover anticipated dispute exposure, and you agree that HomeRoots is not a guarantor of your connected-account solvency.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HomeRoots, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any third-party claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses including reasonable attorneys' fees arising out of or related to: (1) any negative-balance, chargeback shortfall, dispute deficit, refund shortfall, or Stripe-issued claw-back on your connected account that HomeRoots is required to cover under Stripe's Connect Services Agreement; (2) personal injury, property damage, warranty claims, workmanship disputes, or any other claim arising out of the services you provide to homeowners, whether or not paid through HomeRoots Pay; (3) any breach of your representations and warranties in Section 2; (4) any failure to collect, report, or remit applicable taxes related to your services; (5) any claim by a homeowner arising out of your unauthorized use, disclosure, or retention of lead data in breach of Section 3; and (6) any claim arising out of your conduct toward a HomeRoots homeowner outside the platform.

HomeRoots will notify you promptly upon receiving notice of any indemnified claim and will reasonably cooperate in your defense at your expense. This indemnification survives termination of this Agreement.

9. Limitation of liability

Except for your obligations under Section 8 and Section 3, and except for liability that cannot be limited by law:

The platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. HomeRoots makes no warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or that the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free.

10. Data use, privacy, and AI

HomeRoots collects, stores, and processes data about your business in connection with the platform per our Privacy Policy at `pro.gethomeroots.com/privacy`. By using the platform, you consent to that processing. Data we process includes the account information you provide; connected-account information you provide via Stripe Connect onboarding, processed primarily by Stripe; lead-engagement metadata; your messaging history with homeowners; your quote and job conduct; and any credential documents or metadata you choose to upload.

HomeRoots uses Anthropic's Claude API for assistive homeowner-facing features such as classifying service requests, suggesting service categories, and suggesting item details from homeowner label photos. HomeRoots does not send contractor credential documents to Anthropic. AI assists only; it never determines whether you can use the platform. See the HomeRoots AI Use Disclosure for details.

You retain ownership of your business data. You grant HomeRoots a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to process your data solely to operate, secure, improve, and analyze the platform.

11. Suspension and termination

You may terminate this Agreement at any time by closing your account via the contractor dashboard (`pro.gethomeroots.com/settings`) or by emailing `support@gethomeroots.com` requesting account closure. Termination becomes effective when HomeRoots processes the request, typically within 5 business days. Open jobs in progress at the time of termination remain subject to this Agreement until completed or resolved. Stripe Connect account closure follows Stripe's own process.

HomeRoots may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without prior notice, for reasons including material breach of this Agreement; fraud, payment circumvention, or off-platform payment requests in violation of Section 4; material misrepresentation about your licensing, insurance, certification, identity, or legal-compliance status; three or more substantiated homeowner complaints within any rolling 90-day window; a chargeback rate exceeding 1.0% of charges in any rolling 90-day window; an unresolved negative balance under Section 7 lasting more than 30 days; use of HomeRoots messaging to solicit, harass, or harm homeowners or other contractors; discrimination on a protected-class basis; or conduct that materially harms HomeRoots' reputation or operations. HomeRoots will, where reasonable, provide notice and an opportunity to cure before termination for breach, and may immediately suspend without notice in cases of suspected fraud, ongoing safety risk, or significant financial exposure.

On termination, your access to the lead marketplace ends; your obligations under Sections 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 13 survive; HomeRoots may continue to display historical lead and job records to your homeowners as needed to support open warranty and dispute resolution; and your right to receive payouts on your connected Stripe account is subject to Stripe's terms.

12. Agreement updates and re-acceptance

HomeRoots may publish updated versions of this Agreement from time to time. When a new version is published, it becomes the active version, and you will be asked to accept it before continued marketplace use. Material changes will be flagged and, where practicable, communicated by email in advance. If you do not accept an updated version, HomeRoots may limit your marketplace access until you accept. To resume full access, accept the new version, or follow Section 11 to close your account.

13. Governing law and dispute resolution

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. If you have a dispute with HomeRoots, please contact us first at `support@gethomeroots.com` so we can try to resolve it informally. If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and HomeRoots agree that the dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of Washington, and each party consents to the personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

14. Notices and communication

HomeRoots will send notices to you at the email address associated with your contractor account. You will send notices to HomeRoots at `support@gethomeroots.com`; a mailing address for formal legal notice is available on request. Notice via email is effective when sent.

15. General provisions

This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and AI Use Disclosure, each as posted on HomeRoots and as updated from time to time, is the entire agreement between you and HomeRoots regarding the platform. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in force. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later. You may not assign this Agreement without HomeRoots' prior written consent; HomeRoots may assign without notice in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all of its assets. This Agreement does not create rights for any third party. Neither party is liable for delays or failures due to events outside its reasonable control.