United States Terms Schedule
Effective .
This schedule applies to every user in the United States. It is part of the HammerConnect Terms of Service and is referred to in the other documents as the US Schedule. It contains an arbitration agreement and class action waiver (section US-6).
US-1. Application
US-1.1 This Schedule applies to you if you live in the United States or use the Platform for a job site in the United States. It adds to and, where they conflict, controls over the Master Platform Terms and role terms. A state addendum controls over this Schedule.
US-2. Consent to electronic records and signatures (ESIGN)
US-2.1 What you agree to. You agree that we may provide, and that you may sign, all agreements, notices, disclosures, receipts, tax forms (where permitted) and other records relating to the Platform electronically ("Records"), and that your electronic acceptance (tapping a button or ticking a box) is your signature. This consent matters for documents the law requires us to give you in writing; for other documents your tap or tick is still your signature.
US-2.2 Scope. This consent covers all Records for your Account, for as long as you have an Account, and for Records we must give you after it closes.
US-2.3 How we deliver. In the app, on hammerconnect.com, or by email to the address on your Account.
US-2.4 Hardware and software. You need a device with a current version of iOS, Android, or a modern web browser; an internet connection; an email address if you want emailed copies; and the ability to view PDF files. To confirm you can open the documents we will send, we ask you to open a sample PDF and enter the code shown in it before you consent. If these requirements change in a way that could stop you from accessing Records, we will tell you and you may withdraw consent without charge.
US-2.5 Paper copies. You may ask for a paper copy of any Record by emailing hello@hammerconnect.com within 1 year of the Record. We will send it free of charge.
US-2.6 Withdrawing consent. You may withdraw consent by emailing hello@hammerconnect.com. Because the Platform works only electronically, withdrawing means closing your Account. Withdrawal does not affect Records already given.
US-2.7 Keeping your contact current. Update your email and phone in Settings.
US-2.8 Demonstrated ability. By opening the sample document in US-2.4 and then tapping "Agree", you confirm that you can open and read the Records in the forms we will use.
US-2.9 Tax forms. Consent to receive Forms 1099 electronically is collected separately, by Stripe or in the app, as the IRS requires.
US-2.10 Language of Records. Records are provided in your Preferred Language where an approved translation exists (Master Platform Terms, section M-10.7, M-20). This electronic-records consent is shown in your Preferred Language (English or Spanish at launch) before you accept.
US-3. Telephone and text messages (TCPA)
US-3.1 Texts are sent only under the SMS Terms and only to numbers whose user opted in. Sign-in codes are sent only when the user presses the button to ask for one. A person a Referrer referred to us is texted only after they tap Yes on the link page (SMS Terms, section SMS-5). (Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227; FCC rules 47 C.F.R. 64.1200.)
US-3.2 We do not use prerecorded or artificial-voice calls. We do not make telemarketing calls or send marketing texts at launch. AI-generated voices are treated as artificial voices (FCC Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17, Feb. 2024); we do not use them on calls at launch. The Company uses AI tools at launch to help write and translate messages; a message written by software, including AI, is still an automated text, is sent under the Company's name and follows the same consent rules (SMS Terms, section SMS-2.14). An AI voice call would need prior express consent (written, for marketing) and separate written consent under our rules.
US-3.3 You may stop texts in any reasonable way, in English or Spanish. Reply STOP or PARAR, change Settings, or tell us in your own words. We honor requests at once and in any case within the time the FCC allows (not more than 10 business days).
US-3.4 No one may give consent for another person. A Referrer's sharing of a link is not consent by the person receiving it; the person's own tap on Yes is.
US-3.5 Relay and recording. Texts and calls between a Customer and a Contractor go through HammerConnect relay numbers, and nobody is given another user's direct phone number or email address. HammerConnect does not record relayed calls (Florida Addendum, section FL-6).
US-4. Email (CAN-SPAM)
US-4.1 Commercial emails will identify HammerConnect, include our physical postal address (9401 Collins Ave, Unit 205, Surfside, FL 33154), include a working unsubscribe link, and honor unsubscribes within 10 business days. Transactional emails (receipts, Job updates, legal notices) do not need an unsubscribe link but will not contain marketing content beyond incidental mention. Messages that mix a transaction with a promotion are treated as commercial unless the transaction is the primary purpose (16 C.F.R. 316.3). Recruitment, referral invitations that we send, and platform-promoting review requests are commercial email. (15 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.; 16 C.F.R. Part 316.)
US-4.2 Contractor recruitment by email follows the same rules. Transactional and marketing email are sent from separate streams, and a suppression list is checked on every marketing send.
US-4.3 Referrer emails. Because a Referral Share is consideration, a Referrer who emails a link may make HammerConnect an "initiator" of that email under CAN-SPAM (15 U.S.C. 7702(9), (12)). The app therefore does not offer email in the share sheet.
US-5. Referral and endorsement disclosure (FTC)
US-5.1 Referrers who may receive a Referral Share have a material connection with HammerConnect. When they recommend a Contractor or share a request link, they must clearly disclose that they may receive a share (Referral Program Terms, section R-7). The disclosure also appears on a page the Company controls, at the Quote and on the receipt, not only in the Referrer's own message. (FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 C.F.R. Part 255 (s. 255.5); FDUTPA s. 501.204.)
US-5.2 HammerConnect discloses to Customers that a Referrer may be paid (Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-7; Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-9.1) and to Contractors that a Referral Share is funded from the marketplace service fee (Contractor Terms, section P-6).
US-5.3 Reviews. We do not buy, sell, or suppress reviews and do not allow incentives for reviews conditioned on sentiment. Insiders (owners, employees, relatives) of a Contractor may not review it, and an insider review of a nominated Contractor must disclose the relationship. Payments to Referrers never depend on a particular rating or review. (FTC Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 C.F.R. Part 465, ss. 465.4, 465.5, 465.7.)
US-5.4 Claims. Badges and statements about Contractors mean only what Master Platform Terms, section M-6.4 says. (FTC Act s. 5, 15 U.S.C. 45.)
US-6. Dispute resolution with HammerConnect: arbitration and class waiver
US-6.1 Informal resolution first. Before starting arbitration or a court case, you and we will try to resolve the dispute informally for 60 days after one side sends a written notice describing the claim and the relief sought, to the legal-notices address in Legal notices or the other side's address on file. During that time, we will each make a good-faith effort, including a phone or video call if asked.
US-6.2 Binding arbitration. This section does not apply to Commercial Customers; their disputes with the Company are decided under Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-14. If not resolved, any dispute between you and Terragroupe, LLC arising from or relating to the Platform or these Terms will be resolved by binding individual arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules and, for large numbers of similar claims, its Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, as in effect when the demand is filed. The same rules apply to a Contractor who is an individual. The arbitrator decides all issues except those reserved to a court in US-6.6.
US-6.2A How you agree. You agree to this section by tapping the button next to the words "By tapping Agree and continue, you agree to the Terms, including the arbitration agreement and class action waiver", shown in your Preferred Language with the links underlined (Master Platform Terms, section M-4.1, M-4.5). If you accepted in Spanish, the Spanish version is the one you agreed to (Master Platform Terms, section M-20.2).
US-6.3 Exceptions. Either side may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies; (b) seek an injunction in court for misuse of intellectual property or data; (c) for Contractors, the Company may bring a court action to collect amounts owed under the Contractor Terms; (d) either side may bring an individual claim in small-claims court in the county where you live. Nothing stops you from reporting to a government agency.
US-6.4 Class action waiver. You and we may bring claims only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective or representative action. The arbitrator may not combine claims of different people. If this class waiver is found unenforceable for a claim, that claim must proceed in court, not arbitration.
US-6.5 Mass filings. If 25 or more similar demands are filed by or with the help of the same counsel or organization, the AAA's Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules apply. Time limits for claims not yet filed are paused while earlier batches are decided. No result in one batch decides another person's claim without that person's agreement.
US-6.6 Court decides. A court, not the arbitrator, decides disputes about the class waiver, the mass-filing clause, and whether this arbitration section was validly formed.
US-6.7 Costs. For consumer claims, we pay filing, administration and arbitrator fees above the amount you would pay to file in court, unless the arbitrator finds the claim frivolous.
US-6.8 Place and form. Hearings are by video or in the county where you live, unless both agree otherwise. Claims under $10,000 may be decided on documents.
US-6.9 Opt out. You may opt out of this arbitration section within 30 days after first accepting these Terms by emailing the legal-notices address (hello@hammerconnect.com; see Legal notices) with your name, phone number and a clear statement that you opt out. We show this opt-out in your Preferred Language.
US-6.10 Claims between users. This section governs disputes with HammerConnect only. It does not require a Customer and a Contractor to arbitrate between themselves, unless they agree to it in their own contract.
US-6.11 Changes. If we change this section, the change does not apply to a dispute already noticed, and you may reject a material change by emailing the legal-notices address (hello@hammerconnect.com) within 30 days.
US-6.12 Time limit. We do not shorten any time limit that the law gives you to bring a claim.
US-6.13 Sexual assault and harassment claims. This arbitration section and class waiver do not apply to a case about sexual assault or sexual harassment if you choose to bring it in court. A court decides whether this rule applies (9 U.S.C. 402).
US-6.14 If part of this section fails. If a court finds the class waiver unenforceable for a claim, that claim goes to court (US-6.4). If any other part of this section fails, the rest still applies.
US-7. Governing law and venue
US-7.1 The Federal Arbitration Act governs US-6. Otherwise, the law of the State of Florida governs, except that the consumer protection law of your state of residence applies to the extent it cannot be waived.
US-7.2 Any court case allowed under US-6 will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and you consent to their jurisdiction, except where your state's law gives you the right to sue where you live.
US-8. Dispute Window for Jobs
US-8.1 In the United States, the Dispute Window is 7 days for every Customer, consumer or commercial after the Contractor marks the Job complete, unless a state addendum sets a longer period. A Customer may confirm completion earlier; the Company may then release the Contractor's payout before day 7 at its discretion, but early confirmation does not waive any legal right or card-dispute right (Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-8.2; Contractor Terms, section P-7.1(c)). For a Job paid in milestones the window runs per milestone. Once a dispute is filed, only the disputed amount stays held. An Operator decides within 5 business days after the Contractor's response window. The Dispute Window is a rule for when the Company releases the Contractor's payout. It does not decide your legal rights and does not limit your right to dispute a payment with your card issuer or bank, or any right you have under law.
US-9. Home solicitation cancellation (federal Cooling-Off Rule)
US-9.1 If a Contractor makes a contract with a consumer Customer for $25 or more after personally meeting the Customer at their home or another place that is not the Contractor's place of business, including a visit the Customer asked for, the Contractor must give the Customer the Notice of Cancellation required by the FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 429), in the same language as the sales discussion, and honor a cancellation made before midnight of the third business day. The threshold is $130 at a place other than the Customer's home. State law may give longer periods (see state addendum). The Rule does not apply to a sale made and completed entirely by mail, telephone or, as the Federal Trade Commission reads the Rule, entirely over the Internet, if there is no in-person contact between the Customer and the Contractor or its representative before the work is delivered; any in-person visit before the Customer accepts brings the sale within the Rule (80 FR 1329, 2015).
US-9.2 The Platform shows the cancellation notice the Contractor provides in the Quote's required-notices block as a copy. The Contractor still gives the Customer the completed two-copy notice when the Customer signs, on paper at the visit, unless the Customer has consented to electronic records as federal and Florida law require (15 U.S.C. 7001(c); s. 668.50) and can keep a copy.
US-9.3 US-9.1 is written for consumer Customers. Whether it applies to a Commercial Customer: see US-14.2.
US-9.4 The only emergency exception in the federal rule requires the Customer to start the contact, to have a real and immediate personal emergency, and to give the Contractor a separate dated and signed statement written in the Customer's own handwriting that waives the right to cancel. The Platform does not collect this statement.
US-10. Privacy (federal and state)
US-10.1 The Privacy Policy applies. The Company offers access, correction and deletion to all users, including Contractors and Referrers, and does not, as of the Effective Date, sell personal data or use it for targeted advertising. The Company may create, use and license De-identified Information and aggregated business data as the Privacy Policy describes (PP-6A). It will not apply a materially different use or sharing of personal information to data it has already collected without first giving clear notice and obtaining the person's agreement.
US-10.2 Children: the Platform is for adults 18 and older and is not directed to children. COPPA (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.; 16 C.F.R. Part 312, as amended 2025) is addressed by the 18+ confirmation and the delete-on-notice rule in Privacy Policy, section PP-11.
US-10.3 Financial privacy laws: the Company does not make loans, hold deposits or give financial advice. Payments are processed by Stripe. The Company keeps a written information security program as if the FTC Safeguards Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 314) applied.
US-10.4 Identity verification. Stripe checks Contractor and Referrer identity, which may involve a government ID and a face scan, under Stripe's own terms. The Company receives the result of the check and does not keep ID images or face templates. The onboarding screen tells the person that Stripe may scan a face and ID.
US-10.5 Data security and breach notice. The Company keeps written security and incident-response procedures and follows Florida's data breach law (s. 501.171), including notice to affected individuals within 30 days.
US-10.6 AI tools. The Company uses AI tools to help operate the Platform: sorting and summarizing Requests, writing and translating messages, support replies, and fraud and quality checks. The AI service providers we use may process your information only to provide the service to us and may not use it to train models for others; our contracts with them also limit how long they keep it. The Company may use De-identified Information, or content with names, phone numbers, email addresses and exact addresses removed, to build, test and tune its own software and models. It does not use messages or photos that still identify a person for that purpose unless the person turns on a Settings option, which is off by default. The Company does not use AI as the only basis for a final decision on a dispute, payout, ban or account eligibility, and you can reach a person at the Company through the support channel. Where a state law requires a disclosure that a user is dealing with an AI tool (for example California Business and Professions Code s. 17941; Utah, on request), the Company gives it, in English and Spanish. See Master Platform Terms, section M-6.8 and Privacy Policy, section PP-9A.
US-11. Tax information reporting
US-11.0 Form W-9 from every payee. Every Contractor and every Referrer gives a completed Form W-9 (or Stripe's equivalent taxpayer-information step) at onboarding, whatever the expected amount. No payout or Referral Share (including a Held Share) is released until it is complete.
US-11.1 Contractors. Payments for Jobs that Stripe settles to you are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity, which is Stripe for the pilot structure, as required by law (26 U.S.C. 6050W).
US-11.2 Referrers. Referral Shares are reported by the Company on Form 1099-NEC as required by law.
US-11.3 Backup withholding. If you do not give a valid taxpayer ID, or the IRS tells us the ID is wrong, the law may require us (or Stripe) to withhold 24% of certain payments and send it to the IRS.
US-11.4 State filing. Some states require their own copy of these forms or have lower reporting thresholds. Florida has no personal income tax, but it does require the payment settlement entity (Stripe, in the pilot structure) to send the State a copy of Form 1099-K for Florida payees (s. 212.134, Fla. Stat.). Florida does not require a state copy of Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC.
US-11.5 Foreign payees. If you are not a US person, you give Form W-8BEN (or W-8BEN-E) instead of Form W-9. We may withhold tax from payments sourced in the United States. Cash Referral Shares to a person outside the United States need Company approval.
US-12. Money transmission
US-12.1 The Company does not offer stored-value accounts, wallets, escrow or cash-out of any balance. A Customer's payment is processed by Stripe and goes into the Contractor's own Stripe balance; the Company receives only its marketplace service fee (the "Platform Fee" in the contracts). A Customer pays at completion by default (an individual may be asked for one deposit, which is subject to Florida's deposit rules in Florida Addendum, section FL-4.4 and Contractor Terms, section P-5.5; large Jobs may use milestones; and a Commercial Customer may agree another schedule: Contractor Terms, section P-5.5). Until the Job (or milestone) is complete and the Dispute Window closes (7 days for Consumers and for Commercial Customers, US-8.1), the Contractor's payout is held in the Contractor's own Stripe balance, not in a Company account, and it is then released. No payout is held longer than 90 days after the Customer paid unless a dispute, a Stripe restriction or a documented fraud concern is open (Contractor Terms, section P-7.2(c)). The Referral Share is the Company's own payment obligation, paid out of its marketplace service fee after that window, and only if the Job is not refunded or charged back (Referral Program Terms, section R-9.1, R-9.3). During the pilot, no single payment may be more than $15,000, and the Platform handles at most $90,000 in payments a week across all Jobs (Contractor Terms, section P-7.6). The Company acts only as the Contractor's limited payment collection agent (Master Platform Terms, section M-12.3), and a Customer's payment that Stripe processes satisfies the Customer's obligation to pay the Contractor for that amount. All payments and payouts move only by card network or ACH through Stripe and its banks. The Company does not pay Contractors or Referrers in cash, by check or into a non-bank wallet. A Held Share owed to a Referrer (Referral Program Terms, section R-9.5) is an amount the Company owes from its own money, not Customer money, and is not a deposit, account or stored balance.
US-13. Accessibility
US-13.1 We aim to meet WCAG 2.2 AA (which includes the 2.1 AA criteria) on the website and app. Contact hello@hammerconnect.com for help.
US-13.2 Accessibility statement. We publish an Accessibility Statement that states this target, lists known limitations and explains how to report a problem. We run automated and manual accessibility checks before launch and each quarter.
US-14. Commercial Customers
US-14.1 Who. A "Commercial Customer" is defined in Master Platform Terms, section M-2 and Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-1.1. A Customer who is an individual, or who cannot be confirmed as an organization, is treated as a consumer under the Customer Terms for Homeowners. Provisions of this Schedule written for consumers (US-6.7 costs, US-6.9 opt-out, US-9 home solicitation, US-2.4 to US-2.8 consumer ESIGN steps) apply to a Commercial Customer only as US-14.2 to US-14.3 say.
US-14.2 Home solicitation and deposit rules. The Platform applies the consumer protections (Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-6.6, Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-9.3) whenever the Company cannot confirm that the Customer is an organization buying for business or common-area purposes. For a confirmed Commercial Customer, Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-8.4 applies; for Florida see Florida Addendum, section FL-14A.
US-14.3 Disputes with HammerConnect. Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-14 (courts) governs a Commercial Customer's disputes with the Company. US-6 does not apply to them.
US-14.4 Electronic records. Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-11.3 applies the ESIGN clause to Commercial Customers without the consumer-consent steps.
US-14.5 Insurance and additional insured (cross-reference). Every Contractor must provide a license, a certificate of insurance, general liability insurance with "Terragroupe, LLC d/b/a HammerConnect" shown as certificate holder (the Company is not named as an additional insured), and workers' compensation insurance or an exemption (Contractor Terms, section P-3.3). Contractors give notice of cancellation and the indemnity in the Contractor Terms. A Customer, such as an association, may require the Contractor to name the Customer, or its manager, as additional insured as a vendor requirement (Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-4.1); that is between the Customer, the Contractor and the insurer. The Company offers no guarantee, insurance or reserve fund to any Customer (Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-15; Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-16). State rules: Florida Addendum, section FL-14 and Florida Addendum, section FL-14A.2. Workers' compensation: a construction sole proprietor or partner is not exempt and must be covered; an exemption is accepted only for an eligible corporate officer (Ch. 440).
US-15. Copyright notices (DMCA)
US-15.1 If you believe content on the Platform (for example a review or a profile photo) infringes your copyright, send a notice to our copyright contact (Terragroupe, LLC, Attn: Copyright Notices, 9401 Collins Ave, Unit 205, Surfside, FL 33154, hello@hammerconnect.com), following the steps in Legal notices and copyright notices. We remove content as 17 U.S.C. 512 requires and may close the Account of a repeat infringer.