Read this section carefully. It changes how any dispute between you and Better Abode gets resolved, and it affects your rights. You can reject it. See “You Can Opt Out Within 30 Days,” below.
Talk To Us First
Before starting arbitration or a lawsuit, send us a written Notice of Dispute at admin@better-abode.com or by mail to the address in Contact Information. Describe the problem, what you have done about it, and what you want. We will do the same if we have a dispute with you. Both sides agree to try in good faith to resolve it informally for 60 days from the date the notice is received. This step is a requirement, and the clock on any limitation period pauses while it runs.
Most problems end here, which is why it is first.
Agreement To Arbitrate
If we cannot resolve it informally, you and Better Abode agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to Better Abode, these terms, our Privacy Policy, or any communication between us, including any claim about calls, texts, or emails under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, will be resolved by binding individual arbitration rather than in court, and that both of us are giving up the right to a trial by jury.
This agreement to arbitrate is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. It survives termination of these terms and the end of your use of Better Abode. It also covers disputes that arose before you accepted these terms.
What Is Not Covered
Either of us may still:
- bring an individual claim in small claims court, if it qualifies there
- seek an injunction or other equitable relief in court to stop actual or threatened infringement or misuse of intellectual property
- bring any claim that an applicable law, whether federal or state, says cannot be arbitrated or cannot be waived, including any claim under a state privacy statute that gives you a right to sue
- report anything to, or file a complaint or charge with, any government agency, including a state attorney general, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Federal Communications Commission. Nothing in these terms stops you from doing that, and nothing here requires you to arbitrate with an agency.
No Class Actions
You and Better Abode agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, mass, or representative action. The arbitrator may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking it, and only to the extent necessary to provide relief for that party's own claim. The arbitrator may not consolidate or join claims of more than one person without the written consent of everyone affected.
Only a court, and not an arbitrator, may decide whether this paragraph is enforceable. If this paragraph is found unenforceable as to any claim, then the agreement to arbitrate does not apply to that claim and that claim proceeds in court. The rest of this section still applies to every other claim.
How Arbitration Works
Arbitration is administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and, where a mass filing occurs, its Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, each as in effect when the arbitration begins, except where they conflict with this section. The rules and forms are at adr.org.
One arbitrator decides. Arbitration is less formal than court, uses limited discovery, and the arbitrator's decision is final and binding with only the very limited review the Federal Arbitration Act allows. The arbitrator may award any individual relief a court could award under applicable law, including attorneys' fees where a statute provides for them.
Where and how. If your claim is for $25,000 or less, you may choose to have it decided on documents alone, by phone, or by video, and you will not have to travel. If an in-person hearing happens, it will be in the county where you live or at another place we both agree to.
Fees. We will pay your share of the AAA filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees, under the AAA's then-current consumer fee schedule, for any individual claim seeking $10,000 or less, unless the arbitrator finds the claim frivolous. Above that, fees are allocated under the AAA rules. Each side otherwise pays its own attorneys' fees unless a statute or the arbitrator's award provides otherwise.
Mass filings. If 25 or more similar claims are filed against Better Abode by or with the coordination of the same counsel or organization, the AAA's Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules apply, including the appointment of a process arbitrator to resolve procedural issues and, where the AAA or the process arbitrator directs, the resolution of claims in staged batches. Both sides agree to cooperate with that process, and any limitation period is paused for all claims in the group while the batching process runs.
You Can Opt Out Within 30 Days
You can reject this entire section. Send written notice to admin@better-abode.com, or to the mailing address in Contact Information, within 30 days of the date you first accept these terms. Include your name, the email address or phone number you use with Better Abode, and a clear statement that you reject the arbitration agreement.
That is all it takes. Rejecting arbitration will not affect your access to Better Abode, the pros we show you, or anything else about how we treat you, and we will not retaliate for it. If you opt out, disputes between us go to the courts named in Governing Law and Where Disputes Are Heard, and the class-action waiver does not apply to you.
If you do not opt out within 30 days, this section applies.
If We Change This Section
If we materially change this section in the future, the change does not apply to any dispute where notice was already given, and you will have 30 days from the change to reject the new version the same way.
