Family terms

Who these terms are between

You and Roost Holdings Inc. Nobody else. The care arrangement you make with a caregiver is a separate document, signed by the two of you in the app, and Roost does not sign it.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: these terms bind the person using the account and Roost, and nothing in them changes the care arrangement.

What Roost does, and what it does not do

Roost introduces. That is the whole of it, and the rest follows from it:

• Roost does not employ caregivers and is not their employer.
• Roost does not set a caregiver's rate. The caregiver sets it.
• Roost does not direct a caregiver's work, decide who works when, or send anyone to your home. You and the caregiver agree that between you.
• Roost provides no care, and is not a party to the care arrangement.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: Roost introduces and is not a party to the care arrangement.

Choosing a caregiver and agreeing the work

You see the caregivers who are available near the address you gave, you choose who to talk to, and you agree the days, the hours and the rate with them directly. A caregiver may say no to a booking, and saying no costs them nothing with Roost. If nobody near you is free, Roost will tell you that rather than arrange something else.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the family chooses the caregiver, agrees the terms of the work with them, and Roost neither chooses nor promises anyone.

Companionship only

What is booked through Roost is companionship: company, conversation, a walk, a meal prepared together, a lift to an appointment, an eye on the day. It is not hands-on personal care, not help with bathing, toileting or transferring, not medication given or prompted, and not anything a nurse or a therapist does. If what is needed is on that second list, Roost is the wrong place to book it, and the app stops the booking rather than letting it through.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: exactly which tasks are outside the service, and that a caregiver may decline anything they consider outside it.

What you pay

You pay the caregiver's own hourly rate, for the hours the two of you confirm. Roost charges a platform fee on top of the caregiver's rate, and the figure is on the screen before you book. Both figures are fixed for a booking from the moment the caregiver accepts it, so a later change reprices nothing you already agreed. Card processing comes out of Roost's fee and is never added to the caregiver's rate.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the fee is charged to the family in addition to the caregiver's rate, when it is charged, and what happens to a payment that is disputed.

You are likely the household employer

This is a summary of a general rule, not advice about your situation. Where a family engages a caregiver directly, the IRS generally treats that caregiver as the family's household employee rather than as an independent contractor. The obligations that come with that, withholding and payroll taxes among them, sit with the family. They do not sit with Roost, because Roost is not the caregiver's employer and is not a party to the arrangement.

Whether the rule applies to you, and what it requires of you, depends on facts Roost does not have. Ask a tax professional.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the household-employer position, marked as a general summary and not as advice, in counsel's words.

Tax

Roost gives no tax advice and withholds nothing from what you pay. Roost does not file anything on your behalf and does not issue you a tax form for care you arranged. The payment processor issues its own forms where the law requires them, to the person it paid.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: Roost gives no tax advice, withholds nothing, and the family is responsible for its own filings.

Changing or cancelling a visit

The cancellation terms that apply to a booking are shown to you before you book and are recorded with the booking, so both sides are looking at the same words afterwards. Every cancellation is recorded for both parties.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the notice period, what is charged on a late cancellation and a no-show, and who carries a payment dispute.

Background checks, and what they do not tell you

Roost runs a criminal background check on a caregiver before they can be listed, through a consumer reporting agency, with the caregiver's written permission and the notices the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires. Roost never stores the report itself, only its result and a link to it at the provider.

A check looks backwards at records that exist. It is not a prediction, not a personal recommendation, and not a promise about how any visit will go. Meet a caregiver before you book, and use your own judgement about who comes into your home.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: what Roost checks, what it does not check, and that Roost makes no representation about a caregiver beyond the result of the check it ran.

What people write, and how to report it

What you write about yourself and the person you care for stays yours, and you give Roost permission to show it to the caregivers you are matched with and to keep it for as long as the record needs to exist. Do not write anything about a caregiver that you would not say to them.

If a profile, a photo or a message is wrong, offensive or not the person's to post, report it from the profile or the conversation it is on. A person at Roost reads every report. A profile can be taken down and an account paused while a report is looked at. If you cannot reach the report button, write to support@roost.us with a link to what you are reporting.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the licence a person gives Roost over what they post, how a takedown request is made and answered, and what happens when someone says a photo is theirs.

Your account

You are responsible for what is done with your account and for keeping your password to yourself. Roost can pause an account while a safety report is looked at, and can close one that is used to abuse someone. Do not use the platform to arrange work off it in order to avoid the fee, to harvest contact details, or to collect anyone's information for a purpose they did not agree to.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: when an account may be suspended or closed, what notice is given, and what happens to bookings that are already agreed.

Liability

Roost introduces people. It does not supervise a caregiver's work and is not responsible for it.

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: the limits of Roost's liability, what insurance exists and what it covers, and what the law does not allow to be limited.

Governing law

Draft. Counsel's text replaces this section. It has to say, plainly: which state's law governs, and where a dispute is heard.

Changes to these terms

When these terms change, the version at the top changes with them, and you are asked to agree to the new version in the app before the change applies to you. An acceptance records the version you were shown, so what you agreed to always has one answer.

How to reach us

Questions about these terms, and requests to take something down, go to support@roost.us. Other ways to reach us are on the contact page. The terms for the site and the app itself are on the terms page, and the caregiver's side of the platform is at caregiver terms.