Terms and conditions

1. Introduction

PɛDan is an online platform, available as a website and an installable app, that connects people looking for a house to rent in Ghana with landlords whose identity and right to rent we have checked. Through PɛDan, tenants show interest in houses to see where they are, visit and chat with the landlord, reserve houses and pay rent, and landlords list houses and receive their rent.

PɛDan is a product of Solvix Technology Limited, a company in Ghana (“we”, “us”). When these terms say PɛDan, they mean Solvix Technology Limited.

1.1 Who these terms apply to

These terms apply to everyone who uses PɛDan: visitors, tenants, landlords, scouts and scout applicants. Some sections apply only to one group and say so. You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding agreement to create an account.

1.2 Other policies

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal data and forms part of these terms.

2. Definitions

3. User accounts

3.1 Registration

Give your real name exactly as it appears on your Ghana Card, and a working email address and phone number. Landlords and scouts must verify their Ghana Card before listing houses or bringing landlords. Tenants verify before reserving a house.

3.2 Account security

Keep your password private and do not share your account. You are responsible for everything done through your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used it.

3.3 Suspension

We may suspend or close an account as set out in section 19.

4. PɛDan’s role

4.1 We connect tenants and landlords

PɛDan is not the owner or landlord of any listed house and is not a party to the tenancy between a tenant and a landlord. The tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord only.

4.2 What our checks mean

We check landlords’ identity and documents showing their right to rent, and review each listing. These checks reduce risk but cannot remove it. We do not guarantee the condition of a house, the behaviour of any user, or that a document shown to us is genuine.

4.3 Listings

Landlords write their own listings and are responsible for them. We review listings before they go live and may edit, pause or remove any listing.

5. Showing interest in a house and visiting

5.1 “I’m interested”

Tapping “I’m interested” on a house costs GH₵ 50. You then see its exact location and the landlord’s name, and can chat with the landlord on PɛDan. The landlord’s phone number is shared once you reserve; until then, phone numbers in the chat are hidden. This fee does not count towards rent.

5.2 Visiting

You pick one of the landlord’s visiting times, or suggest another that the landlord accepts. PɛDan does not send anyone to the visit. Treat the house and the landlord with respect, and don’t go to the house outside an agreed time.

5.3 Reserving without visiting

You may reserve without visiting. If you do, you accept the risk of anything a visit would have shown you (size, condition, the area). PɛDan only refunds you if the house is seriously not as listed (see section 13.2).

6. Reserving a house and paying rent

6.1 Reservation

To reserve a house you have viewed, you pay a reservation deposit of 15% of the rent advance. It counts towards the rent. The house is held for you for 72 hours.

6.2 Paying the rest

Within 72 hours you pay the rest of the rent advance plus any security deposit. If you do not, the reservation lapses: PɛDan keeps 25% of the reservation deposit and refunds the rest.

6.3 Move-in date

When you pay the rest, you choose your move-in date: no later than 30 days after the day you pay, or after the date the house is available if that is later.

6.4 Long rent advances

Ghanaian law limits how much rent advance a landlord may ask for. Where a listing asks for more than 6 months, we show a warning, and the landlord confirms they understand it. A tenant who pays such an advance chooses to do so. Landlords are responsible for complying with the law on rent advances.

7. Tenancy agreement and stamp

Once the rent is paid, the tenant and landlord receive each other’s contact details. They sign the tenancy agreement on paper and upload it. PɛDan checks that it is complete and stamps it, and both can download the stamped copy. Anyone can check that a stamped copy is genuine using the code printed on it. The stamp confirms the agreement was made through PɛDan; it is not legal advice on the content of the agreement.

8. Payouts and moving in

8.1 Landlord payout

Once the agreement is stamped, PɛDan pays the landlord the rent advance and security deposit to the Mobile Money or bank account they gave us. PɛDan’s service fee is paid by the tenant on top of the rent; it is not taken from the landlord’s rent.

8.2 Move-in inspection

After moving in, the tenant has 72 hours to confirm the house is as described or report a problem. If the tenant says nothing in that time, move-in counts as confirmed.

8.3 Renewals

Up to 90 days before the rent runs out, the landlord may offer the tenant another period through PɛDan, with the rent and number of months. The tenant can accept and pay, or decline. A renewal must be made through PɛDan: the tenant pays before the current rent runs out, both sign a renewal agreement on paper and upload it, and PɛDan stamps it and pays the landlord. The tenant pays a renewal service fee on top of the rent (see section 9.3). If the offer has closed when the payment arrives, the tenant is refunded in full.

8.4 After the payout

Once the landlord has been paid, any later problem is between the tenant and the landlord under their tenancy agreement. PɛDan can help, but no longer holds the money.

9. Payments and fees

9.1 How payments work

Payments are made in Ghana cedis through our payment provider (currently Paystack), by Mobile Money or card. We do not store your card details.

9.2 Never pay outside PɛDan

Never pay a landlord, scout or anyone else in cash or by Mobile Money outside the platform for anything arranged through PɛDan. Payments made outside PɛDan are not protected, and arranging them breaks these terms.

9.3 Our fees

No fee is charged on the security deposit. If a reservation lapses or a rental is cancelled and refunded, the service fee is refunded with it. Fees may change as set out in section 20.

9.4 Failed or interrupted payments

A booking or reservation is only confirmed once the payment succeeds. If money leaves your account but the booking is not confirmed, contact us and we will confirm it or refund you.

9.5 Taxes

Landlords are responsible for any tax due on their rental income, and anyone paid a referral reward for any tax due on it.

9.6 Referral rewards

• Every account has a referral code. Someone who signs up with your code is linked to you; the code can’t be added or changed later.
• When that person’s first rental through PɛDan (as a tenant, or as the landlord of the house) has its agreement stamped and move-in confirmed, you get 15% of what PɛDan earns on that rental (its service fee and any commission), paid to your payout account. Renewals and later rentals don’t earn a reward.
• Referring yourself (for example through a second account), or arranging rentals only to earn rewards, isn’t allowed. PɛDan may cancel a reward that hasn’t been paid if it looks like this, and may suspend the accounts involved.
• We may change the reward or pause the programme at any time; rewards already earned will still be paid.

10. Landlord terms

10.1 Your obligations

• List only houses you own or have written authority to rent out.
• Use recent, real photos and an honest description, and keep the listing up to date.
• Reply to tenants interested in your house within 48 hours, and be at the house (or send someone) for every agreed visit.
• Hand over the house on the agreed move-in date in the condition described.

10.2 Strikes

Missing an agreed visit, misrepresenting a house, blocking a move-in or taking a tenant off the platform earns a strike. 3 strikes in 12 months suspends your account until we review it.

10.3 Featured placements and subscriptions

Featured placements put a house at the top of search for the months paid for, starting when we approve them. Without a subscription, a landlord can have 2 houses on the market at once. Where subscriptions are offered, they renew only when you pay again; paid placement and subscription fees are not refunded once they start.

10.4 No deals off the platform

Do not rent to a tenant you met through PɛDan, or renew their tenancy, outside the platform to avoid our fees. Doing so is a breach of these terms and may lead to your listings being removed.

11. Scout terms

• Scouts are independent and are not employees of PɛDan. A scout is paid a fixed reward (set by PɛDan) once a landlord who signed up with their code has verified their Ghana Card and has a house approved and live on PɛDan. Once per landlord.
• Check in at the house, be on time, and give an honest report with real photos.
• Never ask for or take money from tenants or landlords.
• Only bring real landlords who own or manage the houses they list. Bringing made-up landlords or yourself is not rewarded and can close your account.

12. User conduct

You must not:

• give false information, pretend to be someone else, or use another person’s Ghana Card;
• list a house you have no right to rent, or post misleading photos or details;
• harass, threaten or discriminate against any other user;
• ask for or make payments outside the platform;
• copy listings or data from PɛDan by automated means, or try to get around our security or limits;
• use PɛDan for anything unlawful, including fraud or money laundering.

13. Refunds, cancellations and disputes

13.1 “I’m interested” refunds

13.2 Rent refunds

• If the landlord blocks the move-in after rent is paid, you get a full refund.
• If you report within the inspection window that the house is seriously different from the listing, and the landlord has not yet been paid, we look into it and decide: either you keep the house and the landlord is paid in full, or the rental is cancelled and everything you paid is refunded. There are no part refunds.

13.3 How refunds are paid

Refunds go back to the account you paid from, after an admin approves them. The time it takes for the money to arrive depends on your bank or Mobile Money provider.

13.4 Raising a dispute

Use “Report a problem” on the house you’re interested in, or the rental. We review your conversation, photos and payment records, and decide how money held on the platform is paid out or refunded. This does not stop you taking the matter further under section 21. Money linked to an open dispute stays on hold until it is decided.

14. Intellectual property and content

14.1 Our platform

The PɛDan name, logo, design and software belong to us. You may not copy or reuse them without our written permission.

14.2 Your content

You keep ownership of the photos and text you upload, and you give PɛDan permission to show, resize and use them to run and promote the platform for as long as the listing is on PɛDan. Upload only content you have the right to share.

15. Data protection and privacy

We handle personal data, including Ghana Card images, in line with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843). Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who can see it, and your rights.

16. Disclaimers

16.1 As available

We work to keep PɛDan running and accurate, but the platform is provided “as is” and “as available”. It may sometimes be slow or unavailable, for example during maintenance.

16.2 Other services

Payments, maps, email and similar services are provided by other companies. We are not responsible for their failures, though we will help you sort out any problem they cause.

16.3 Events outside our control

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as network or power outages, natural disasters, strikes or government action.

17. Limitation of liability

• We are not liable for loss or damage caused by a tenancy, a house, or the acts of landlords, tenants or scouts, or for indirect losses such as lost profits or lost opportunities.
• Where we are liable, our total liability to you is limited to the fees you paid to PɛDan for the service concerned, plus any of your money we still hold for that rental, which we will return under these terms.
• Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Ghanaian law, including liability for fraud.

18. Indemnity

If you break these terms or the law, and that causes a claim against PɛDan by someone else, you agree to cover our reasonable losses and costs from that claim.

19. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or close an account, remove listings, or cancel bookings if a user breaks these terms, gives false information, puts others at risk, or is suspected of fraud. Where we can, we will tell you why. Money due to you for services already completed will still be paid or refunded under these terms. You can stop using PɛDan at any time; payments and rentals already in progress continue to be governed by these terms.

20. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms and our fees. We will show the date of the latest version at the top of this page and tell you of important changes by email or in the app. Changes apply to new bookings and payments, not to ones already made. Using PɛDan after a change means you accept it.

21. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana. If you have a complaint, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. If we cannot, either side may refer it to mediation under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798), or to the courts of Ghana.

22. Contact

• On a house you’re interested in, or a rental: use “Report a problem” on its page.
• By email: reply to any email from PɛDan, or write to hello@pedan.homes.
• We aim to reply within two working days.