Terms of use for home seekers

Translation. In case of any discrepancy, the French version prevails. This translation will be reviewed by a native English speaker before publication.

These terms apply to anyone who uses NIVOZA to search for, compare or ask about a home ("you"). They apply as soon as you use the website or the app, and you accept them expressly when you create an account. Agencies and owners who publish listings have their own terms.

In brief

• NIVOZA is free for you. We never ask you for a means of payment.
• We publish listings from agencies and owners after a person has checked them. We do not rent out or sell anything ourselves.
• Your request goes to the agency or owner of the listing, and to no one else. We ask for no application documents.
• The Radar and the True Budget help you choose; they are not promises.
• You can report a listing and challenge one of our decisions. We always reply with a reason.
• You can delete your account at any time, free of charge.

Who operates NIVOZA

Contact: contact@nivoza.ch, +41 21 217 17 77.

What NIVOZA does

• NIVOZA publishes listings of homes to rent or buy in Switzerland, after a check by a person (see the moderation rules).
• NIVOZA passes your viewing requests, messages and applications on to the agency or owner of the listing.
• NIVOZA gives you tools to help you choose: the Radar, the True Budget and the Comparator.
• NIVOZA is not a landlord, a seller or a broker. We are not a party to the lease or sale you may conclude with an agency or owner, and we receive no commission on that contract.

Free of charge

Using NIVOZA is free of charge for home seekers: search, favourites, Radar, Radar alerts, True Budget, Comparator, requests and applications. We never ask you for a means of payment. We show you no advertising and we do not sell your data.

Your account

1. You can search, compare, request a viewing and write a message without an account. You need an account to send an application, keep your favourites on several devices, follow your requests and create a Radar alert.
2. You must be 18 or have the consent of your legal representative. An account is personal: one person, one e-mail address.
3. Your e-mail address must be confirmed before the account can be used. Your information must be accurate and up to date.
4. You keep your password to yourself. We offer two-factor authentication (authenticator app or passkey); we recommend it.
5. From your space you can at any time see your sign-ins, end your sessions on all devices, download your data and delete your account.

Viewing requests, messages and applications

1. When you send a request, we pass it on to the agency or owner of the listing with the information you entered: name, e-mail, phone if you give it, message, proposed viewing times and, for an application, household size, an income bracket (never an exact amount) and the desired move-in date.
2. For an application, the agency also sees the listing's Radar score calculated with the criteria you gave. This score helps the agency sort; it decides nothing. The decision always lies with the agency or owner.
3. NIVOZA neither asks for nor keeps any documents: no payslip, no debt-collection register extract, no ID. If an agency asks you for them, you give them to it directly, outside NIVOZA.
4. Exchanges go through NIVOZA: your e-mail address is not shown to the agency before it replies; its replies reach you by e-mail and in your space.
5. As soon as it receives your request, the agency or owner processes your data under its own responsibility. We guarantee neither a reply, nor a viewing, nor that you will get the home.
6. To prevent abuse, the number of requests is limited (currently 5 per hour per e-mail address).

The Radar, the True Budget and the Comparator

• The Radar gives a score out of 100 that measures how well a listing matches the criteria you choose (budget, location, rooms, features, lifestyle), with weights explained on the Radar page. It helps you choose; it is not a prediction or an opinion on the quality of the home.
• Radar alerts tell you, in "My alerts" and by e-mail, when a real listing that has just been published reaches the threshold you chose. We do not guarantee that an alert will arrive on time or at all, or that the home is still available. You can pause or delete each alert in your space, and every e-mail contains a link to stop it in one click. Your data: see the privacy policy.
• The True Budget estimates the monthly cost of a home, item by item, from the listing and average values. These are estimates; they do not replace an offer from a bank or insurer, or financial or tax advice.
• The Comparator shows up to three homes side by side. Your selection stays in your browser.
• A "Featured" listing is paid for by the advertiser to appear higher up. It always carries this label, and featuring never changes its Radar score.

Your safety: avoiding scams

Fake listings exist on every portal. A few simple rules protect you:

• never pay rent, a deposit or "reservation fees" before you have viewed the home and signed the lease;
• do not send a copy of your ID or any documents before an agency or owner has confirmed your application;
• be wary of a very low rent, of an owner "abroad" who cannot arrange a viewing, or of a request to move to another website or use a money transfer service;
• NIVOZA never asks for your password, by e-mail or by phone.

If in doubt, report the listing. If you have already paid, also contact the police.

What you agree to do

You use NIVOZA honestly and lawfully. In particular, you must not:

• pretend to be someone else, or send a request with no real intention;
• send advertising, bulk messages or insulting, threatening or discriminatory messages;
• copy the listings or data of the website by automated means (robots, scraping) or reuse them elsewhere, except through the means we provide;
• bypass or test the security of the website, or disrupt its operation;
• publish or send unlawful content or content that infringes the rights of others;
• report a listing or a person without reason, to harm them.

Listings and third-party content

Each listing is published under the responsibility of the agency or owner who submitted it. We check listings before publication, but we cannot guarantee that they are accurate, complete or still available. Fictional examples are always marked "Fictional example". A photo changed beyond simple optimisation carries a label, for example "Virtual staging", and you can see the original.

Reporting content and challenging a decision

1. You can report a listing, a message or an account with the "Report" button or at contact@nivoza.ch, saying what the problem is and why.
2. We examine every report, as a rule within 2 working days, and tell you the outcome if you left an e-mail address. We do not give your name to the advertiser unless the law requires us to.
3. If we take a measure that concerns you (message blocked, account suspended), we give you the reason and the rule applied.
4. You can challenge a decision within 30 days. Another person reviews the case where possible. The details are in our moderation rules.

Availability of the service

We do our best to keep NIVOZA working well and without interruption, but we cannot guarantee it. We may change, suspend or stop a feature, in particular for maintenance or security.

Liability

1. We are liable for damage we cause intentionally or through gross negligence. To the extent permitted by law, our liability for slight negligence is excluded (art. 100 CO).
2. This limit does not apply to injury to life, body or health, nor to liability that the law does not allow to be excluded, such as product liability.
3. We are not liable for the content of listings, the decisions of agencies and owners, or the contracts you conclude with them.
4. You are liable for your use of NIVOZA and for the content you send.

Data protection

We process your data in accordance with our privacy policy, which forms part of these terms. Our data is hosted in Switzerland.

End of use

1. You can delete your account at any time from your space, free of charge and without giving a reason.
2. We may block or close an account that breaches these terms or the law, as a rule after a warning, immediately in case of a serious breach. We tell you the reason, and you can challenge the decision.
3. An account that has been inactive for 24 months is closed and its data deleted. We warn you by e-mail 60 days before; signing in is enough to keep it.

Changes to the terms

We may change these terms. If you have an account, we inform you by e-mail at least 30 days before a significant change takes effect, with a summary of what changes; if you do not agree, you can delete your account. A change that imposes a significant new obligation on you requires your new acceptance: your silence does not count as agreement. The version in force and its date are always shown on this page.

Transfer of the contract

We may transfer this contract, with the necessary data, to Summit & Co. Sàrl once it is entered in the commercial register, or later to a company it controls that takes over the operation of NIVOZA. You consent to this now. We inform you by e-mail or on this page at least 30 days before; your rights stay the same and you can delete your account before that date.

Applicable law, jurisdiction and language

These terms are governed by Swiss law. The place of jurisdiction is the operator's registered office, subject to the mandatory places of jurisdiction provided by law, in particular the consumer's place of residence (art. 32 CPC). These terms exist in French, German, Italian and English; in case of any discrepancy, the French version prevails.