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Terms of Use

Participants in the casaGURU Community and users of the casaGURU.com website must follow our Terms of Use policy.

(last updated May 16, 2009)

Legal Agreement

If you do not agree with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, do not complete the registration or professional subscription process.

This Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement"), including the Legal Notices and the Privacy Policy, contains the entire terms and conditions that apply to your use of casaGURU's website, and/or co-branded websites eRenovate Inc (“Publisher”) may operate or host from its servers (collectively referred to herein as "Site").

This Agreement may be modified from time to time. This Agreement supersedes any prior agreements. The current version applies to your use of the Services and the Site both now and in the past.

Registration

We require a registration process so that you may create a unique User Account ("Login" or "Login Account") and password, so that we may personalize and localize your use of this service. Your User Account will be used to identify you on casaGURU. You may log in to casaGURU, use the Services or modify your information, only through your User Account and password. You may not have more than one User Account, and only one e-mail address for your use of that User Account. By registering, you certify that the e-mail address you provide in the registration is accurate and belongs to you; otherwise, we have the option of suspending your account with casaGURU.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for any and all activities that occur under your User Account and password. You agree to notify casaGURU immediately at Member Services of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security you learn about.

To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, casaGURU will keep your e-mail address and other information strictly confidential. You should refrain from using identifiers in choosing your User Account and in your postings that would compromise your privacy, such as your e-mail address, URLs, full name, street address, telephone or fax numbers, place of employment, etc.

User Registration and Information

We want to make sure that you have correctly completed the information in the User Registration process on the Site ("User Information"). In the event that any of your User Information changes in the future, please be sure to promptly update your User Information on the Site. Remember, it is your responsibility to keep current all of your User Information on the Site.

You will have the opportunity to create a User Account and Password during the User registration process. You are solely responsible in all respects for: (a) all use of the Site made using your User Account and Password, and (b) maintaining the confidentiality of your User Account and Password. Only one individual may access the Site at the same time using the same User Account and Password. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your e-mail address, User Account or Password or any other breach of security regarding the Site of which you are aware. casaGURU may refuse to grant you a User Account or Password that impersonates someone else, is protected by trademark or other proprietary right law, is vulgar or otherwise offensive, or for any other reason.

Privacy

You are providing your electronic mail ("e-mail") address for the purposes of registering to access this service. Correctly entering your e-mail address is important so that you are able to participate in the business lead distribution process (e.g. you will receive e-mail notifications when a matching project is posted by a homeowner and when a homeowner replies to your project bid.) Occasionally, you will receive newsletters, updates, information and notices, etc. with information that we deem to be of interest to the members of casaGURU. If you do not want to receive newsletters and updates, you may opt out of those services when you register, or, after receiving the newsletters and updates, you may unsubscribe.

For more information regarding casaGURU's protection of your information, please consult casaGURU's Privacy Policy.

Guidelines for Use

casaGURU Services and Site are only available for use by individuals who are age 18 or over. The Services and Site may not be used by scripts, machines or automated services without express written consent of the site ownership.

casaGURU Services and Site may be used only for lawful purposes. You must comply with all applicable local, provincial, state, national, and international laws, regulations or conventions, including without limitation those related to data privacy, international communications, and exportation of technical or personal data. You may not use the casaGURU Services or Site for any criminal or illegal activities or any activities that might be legally actionable.

casaGURU reserves the right to determine what constitutes Internet abuse and objectionable conduct. If casaGURU believes, in its sole discretion, that a violation of these Guidelines has occurred, it may take responsive action. Such action may include, but not be limited to, permanent removal of illegal or inappropriate information or content, or suspension or termination of your membership and access to casaGURU Service.

Using a User Account or posting, transmitting or linking to any text or images that are sexually explicit, pornographic, violent, racially or ethnically objectionable or grossly offensive to the online community.
Posting, transmitting or linking to defamatory and libelous statements or other statements that would violate any third party's privacy or publicity rights.
Posting, transmitting or linking to profane language, descriptions of situations or scenarios considered, in the opinion of casaGURU, inappropriate for the casaGURU membership.
Impersonating any person or using a name that you are not authorized to use could lead to a suspension.
Planning illegal activities, such as creating computer viruses, building a bomb or counterfeiting money or pirating software, Serial Numbers of products for which you do not have a registered license.
Advertising, promoting in any way or offering to sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose outside of the permitted methods of casaGURU.
Soliciting individuals for employment other than in designated areas (for example, within a discussion thread).
Soliciting individuals to join other services comparable to or competitive with casaGURU.
Posting links in open questions or in personal profiles that lead to a competitor's site.
Promoting any products or services that are unlawful at the location at which the content is posted or received.
Posting any content that infringes any third party's intellectual property rights or violates any confidentiality agreements or contracts of employment.
Posting, transmitting or linking to statements that are intentionally false or misleading.
Introducing viruses, worms, harmful codes or Trojan horses.
Spamming, flaming or other similar activities, such as arguments between any one in a question.
Misusing the casaGURU rating and recommendation systems.
Violating the guidelines of the casaGURU Code of Conduct and for professional honesty or other unethical behaviour, it is allowable to help a homeowner make better decisions, but not by discrediting any other professional or organization either on or outside of casaGURU.
Violations of system and network security are strictly prohibited. You may not misuse system resources including but not limited to employing posts or programs which consume excessive CPU time or storage space, permitting use of mail services, mail forwarding capabilities, POP accounts or auto-responders other than for your own account. If you notice a problem with other members not following these Guidelines, please notify us by contacting Member Services.

Use of Discussion Area

casaGURU makes no representations or warranties with respect to any forums, blogs, private messages, emails, or other electronic discussion mediums made available on or via this Site (collectively, "Discuss Area") or with respect to any messages, information, or materials contained in the Discuss Area. You acknowledge and agree that your use of, or reliance upon, any such messages, information, or materials is at your sole risk and expense.

casaGURU does not, and cannot, review all of the information and materials provided in the Discuss Area and has no responsibility or liability for any such information or materials or their use. If casaGURU becomes aware of any information or materials that it determines violate the terms of this Agreement or the Discuss Area policies promulgated by casaGURU from time to time or that casaGURU otherwise deems inappropriate in its sole discretion, casaGURU reserves the right to delete, move, or edit any such information or materials.

To the extent that you use the Discuss Area, you covenant that you will: (i) comply with the Discuss Area policies promulgated by casaGURU; (ii) be solely responsible for your use of the Discuss Area and any messages, information, and materials provided by you or through another user making use of your password; (iii) not advertise or offer to sell goods or services of any kind on any Discuss Area; and (iv) not upload, post, publish, or transmit any messages, information, or materials that (a) restrict or inhibit any other user from accessing, using or enjoying the Site, (b) are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libellous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, offensive, pornographic, profane, sexually explicit, or indecent, (c) constitute or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable law, (d) violate or infringe the rights of casaGURU or any third party (including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, and rights of privacy and publicity), (e) constitute or contain false or misleading indications of origin or statements of fact, (f) contain software or any other commercial materials or information, or (g) contain any viruses or other harmful component.

By uploading, posting, publishing, or transmitting any messages, information, or materials in connection with the Discuss Area or any other part of casaGURU, you hereby grant to casaGURU and its affiliates a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable, nonexclusive license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, modify, display, publicly perform, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the foregoing in any form, media, software, or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future.

casaGURU Property Rights

The layout, design, concept and organization of the casaGURU Site and Services are subject to Publisher’s patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights. All rights are reserved.

You acknowledge and agree that Publisher owns all right, title and interest in (i) the Services; (ii) the Site; (iii) the technology available on the Services or the Site; and (iv) all copyrights, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights therein. Any use of the casaGURU Services, Site, technology, and/or the copyrights, patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights, other than as described in this Agreement, is not licensed and is strictly prohibited.

You agree that you will obtain the express written permission from Publisher before you copy, upload, transmit, reproduce, distribute or in any way exploit any casaGURU Services, technology and/or the copyrights, patents, trademarks or the other intellectual property rights, obtained through the casaGURU Site. In addition, you agree not to copy the layout, design, concept and organization of the Site or Services during the Agreement and for a period of ten years after termination. This Agreement does not constitute a license to use Publisher’s trade names, service marks or any other trade insignia. Any use of Publisher’s trade names, services marks or any other trade insignia shall be subject to Publisher’s prior written consent.

Operation of Site

Technical, maintenance and other issues may make casaGURU unavailable from time to time. casaGURU makes no commitment, warranty or guarantee that the Site will operate in a timely, uninterrupted or error-free manner, or that the Site will meet User's purposes. casaGURU may also in its discretion modify the features, availability, operation and/or look and feel of the Site from time to time without notice to our users.

Disclaimers

Everything on casaGURU's Site and everything sold via the Site, including all services, information, materials, forums, tools and Content is offered by casaGURU and its third-party licensors and content providers on an "as-is," "as-available" basis, without representation or warranty of any kind, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, non-infringement and fitness for a particular purpose. Without limiting the prior statement, casaGURU cannot vouch for the quality, accuracy, completeness, or currentness of any Content or information sold or provided through the Site.

REGARDING DOWNLOADS, CASAGURU DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT DOWNLOADING CONTENT OR USE OF THE SITE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL, AND DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT ANY SUCH DOWNLOADING OR USE WILL NOT CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER, DATA, SOFTWARE, FILES OR PERIPHERALS. CASAGURU WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER, DATA, SOFTWARE, FILES OR PERIPHERALS THAT MAY BE CAUSED BY YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND DOWNLOADING CONTENT.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall Publisher or any of its officers, employees, directors, affiliates, agents or third-party licensors and content providers be liable to you or anyone else for any special, consequential, indirect, cover, punitive, incidental or similar damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, lost sales, or lost business) directly or indirectly related to or arising out of the Site, Content on the Site, or any transaction entered hereunder, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, even if Publisher or one of its officers, employees, affiliates or agents has been advised of the possibility of such damages. You agree that the liability of Publisher, its officers, employees, affiliates, and agents, if any, arising out of any kind of legal claim (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) in any way connected with any transaction entered hereunder or the Site shall not exceed the amount you paid to casaGURU in connection with the transaction giving rise to such claim. Any action under this Agreement must be commenced within one (1) year after such cause of action occurs.

THE FOREGOING LIMITATION APPLIES TO THE ACTS, OMISSIONS, NEGLIGENCE AND GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF THE PUBLISHER, ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES AND AGENTS WHICH, BUT FOR THIS PROVISION, WOULD GIVE RISE TO THE CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST casaGURU IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL DOCTRINE. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT ARE AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT IN THIS AGREEMENT. ANY WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS, WHICH VARY FROM PROVINCE TO PROVINCE, STATE TO STATE OR COUNTRY TO COUNTRY.

Indemnification

If someone takes casaGURU or its Publisher to court as the result of something you did in violation of this Terms of Use Agreement, you will pay for any damages or costs assessed against or incurred by Publisher. In other words, you shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against all third party claims, demands, suits, actions, judgments, losses, costs, damages (direct, indirect and consequential), attorney's fees and expenses that Publisher may sustain or incur by reason of any breach or alleged breach of any representation, warranty, term or condition of this Agreement, and for any act or omission by you which is in any way related thereto.

No Assignment

Your rights and obligations under this Agreement shall not be transferred or assigned directly or indirectly without the prior written consent of casaGURU.

Severability

If any provision of this Agreement or portion thereof is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Applicable Law

This Web site is controlled, operated and administered by its Publisher from within the Province of Ontario, Canada. This Web site can be accessed from all provinces and territories of Canada, as well as from other countries around the world. As each of these jurisdictions has laws that may differ from those of the Province of Ontario, by accessing this Web site, you acknowledge and agree that all matters relating to access to, or use of this Web site shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein (without reference to conflicts of laws principles).

You also agree that any claims or disputes whatsoever arising hereunder shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the Province of Ontario and acknowledge that you do so voluntarily.

General

casaGURU’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

If any provision or part thereof of these Terms of Use is wholly or partially unenforceable the parties or, in the event the parties are unable to agree, a court of competent jurisdiction, shall put in place thereof an enforceable provision or provisions, or part thereof, that as nearly as possible reflects the terms of the unenforceable provision or part thereof.

The parties have requested that these Terms of Use and all documents relating thereto be drawn up in English.

Term

This Agreement is effective until terminated. casaGURU may terminate or suspend this Agreement immediately for any reason and without prior notice to you. You may terminate your Membership by contacting Member Services staff by email with a specific request to do so. Your request to terminate will become effective within 30 days after receipt of your specific request has been acknowledged by casaGURU. If you choose to terminate your Membership, the terms of this Agreement regarding any Content you have uploaded remain applicable. All provisions of this Agreement relating to payment, commissions, service fees, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, confidentiality, and proprietary rights shall survive termination.

Agreement and Amendments

By completing the registration process or using the Site, you are confirming that you have the full power and authority to enter into and perform in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. You also agree that this Agreement is a legal, valid and binding obligation, and that its terms and conditions can be enforced. We encourage you to print and keep a copy for reference.

casaGURU may change the terms in this Agreement from time to time. When the terms are changed, casaGURU will make a posting on the Site regarding the change. You agree to review the terms of this Agreement from time to time. If you do not agree to be bound by any future changes, you should promptly notify casaGURU and discontinue your use of the Site. If you use the Site after casaGURU has posted a change to these terms on the Site, you are agreeing to be bound by all of the changes.