The rules for using NextOwner, in plain language: what we do, what we ask of buyers and sellers, and what we do not do.
Draft for review by counsel before launch
These terms are an agreement between you and [legal name of the NextOwner company, and its registered address] (“NextOwner”, “we”). They apply whenever you use NextOwner, whether you are browsing, buying or selling. By creating an account you agree to them.
We have tried to write them so they can be read in one sitting. Where a rule here is also enforced by the product, we say so, so you know what to expect.
NextOwner is a marketplace and document-checking service. We are not a broker, lender, escrow agent, law firm or accounting firm. We do not negotiate deals or hold funds.
Before a listing goes live, software reads the seller’s documents and compares them with what the seller entered, and a NextOwner verification analyst reviews the result and decides. A person makes every approval decision.
Each verified listing has a numbered report that records what was checked, against which documents, and when. Every published figure is labelled with its evidence tier: Document checked, or Seller stated. A verification stands for 180 days unless it is replaced or withdrawn sooner.
This report records what NextOwner checked, against which documents, on the date shown. It is not an audit, an appraisal or a guarantee. Do your own due diligence with your own advisers before you buy.
We may withdraw a report, pause a listing or ask for new documents if we learn that something has changed or that a document was not genuine.
An offer here is a non-binding letter of intent. Nothing is final until both sides sign a purchase agreement with their own attorneys.
Offers, counter-offers and replies are made inside the conversation between the buyer and the seller, so both sides can see every version. The side that receives an offer can accept, decline or counter it, and the side that made it can withdraw it. An offer that is not answered by its date expires.
Messages stay on NextOwner. To protect both sides, the product enforces these rules on every message:
You must not:
Anyone can report a message or a person. Our staff review every report and may remove messages, close conversations, and suspend or ban accounts.
[Payment method, billing dates, taxes and refunds, including for a listing that is not approved]
Our fees are shown in your account and on the pricing page. We never ask for payment by email, text or chat.
You keep ownership of what you put on NextOwner. You allow us to store it, to read and check it with software and with our staff, and to show it to the people these terms and your choices allow, in order to run NextOwner.
How we handle personal information, who can see each kind of document, and how long we keep it are set out in the privacy policy.
You can delete your account at any time once you have no live listings and no open offers. Your name and email are removed and every session ends. Some records stay because other people rely on them: signed NDAs, messages the other side received, offers, verification records and our log of staff actions.
We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms. Where we can, we will tell you why.
A report describes what was checked on the date shown. It is not a promise about the business, and nothing on NextOwner is a promise about how a business will perform after it is sold.
[Limitation of liability, indemnities, disclaimers, governing law and dispute resolution, to be drafted by counsel]
If we change these terms, we will tell you before the change takes effect, by email and in the product. This version is dated [version date].
Questions about these terms: [contact address for legal notices]