Sitter terms

1. You run your own business

You run your own independent pet care business, and you use Howl as software to manage it. Howl does not hire, employ, supervise, schedule, or pay you for care, and Howl is not a party to your agreements with your clients. This means:

• You decide which clients to take, and when, where, and how you care for their pets
• You set your own services, rates, and cancellation policy
• You are free to work anywhere and to use any other app, platform, or way of finding clients
• Howl never sets your prices, never assigns you work, never takes a cut of what you earn, and never limits where you work or which clients you take, on Howl or off it
• You are responsible for your own business: its taxes, insurance, licenses, and permits
• You may not say or suggest that Howl vets, insures, employs, or endorses you

2. Running your business safely and legally

You alone are responsible for your business and the care you give. That includes:

• Following the law where you work: business licenses, boarding or kennel permits, limits on the number of animals in a home, and zoning
• Following your lease, homeowners association rules, and building policies wherever you board or care for pets, and the owner's rules for their home
• Supervising the pets in your care, and keeping pets that shouldn't mix apart
• Moving pets safely, if you drive them anywhere
• Setting and checking any vaccination or health requirements for the pets you accept
• Deciding which pets you can safely care for, including dogs with health, heat, or behavior risks. Howl doesn't check your experience with any breed or condition
• Handling any incident or emergency during your care, and telling the owner right away
• Keeping keys, lockbox and alarm codes, and entry instructions safe, and using them only for the visits you agreed

3. Taxes and payouts

You are responsible for:

• Reporting all income from your business to the tax authorities
• Paying all federal, state, and local taxes that apply, including self-employment tax
• Keeping your own records of income and expenses, including payments made directly to you
• Filing quarterly estimated tax payments if required

Howl never pays you for care. If you accept card payments through Howl, an owner's card payment is collected through Howl's Stripe account and passed to your own Stripe account: you receive your full rate, Howl keeps the card fee, and Stripe pays you out to your bank. Where tax rules require it, Howl, through Stripe, issues you a Form 1099-K for those payments. To accept card payments, you set up a Stripe account through Howl and agree to Stripe's Connected Account Agreement. We recommend talking to a tax professional about your situation.

4. Your subscription

Howl charges a flat monthly subscription, never a commission on a booking.

• Howl's client tools are free: unlimited clients, pets, scheduling, and owner access, with no time limit and no card required
• The subscription covers the money layer: invoicing, payment collection, and automatic and recurring billing. It starts when you activate the money layer by sending your first invoice through Howl, not at signup. There is no free trial: billing begins when you activate. You subscribe on the web, not in the mobile apps
• The fee is $29 per month for the first 25 sitters to activate (the founding price), kept for as long as that subscription stays active, and $50 per month for everyone after. A founding sitter who cancels and later resubscribes pays the regular $50 per month. The fee you pay is the one shown when you activate
• Your subscription renews automatically every month, and your card is charged the same price each month, until you cancel. Payments are processed by Stripe, and you must keep a working card on file
• We'll tell you by email at least 30 days before any change to your price takes effect, and you can cancel before it does
• You keep 100% of every booking. Howl never takes a percentage of your earnings
• There are no signup fees, profile review fees, or hidden charges

5. Your clients and payments

• You bring and manage your own clients. Only add a client's details to Howl if you have the right to, and use them only to care for that client and run your business with them
• When an owner asks Howl for an introduction, Howl may pass their request to you. Howl shares your phone numbers with each other only when both of you say yes
• You and your clients agree the care, its price, and how you're paid. Payments made directly (for example Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, or cash) don't go through Howl, and Howl never takes a cut of them
• Where you offer it, an owner may choose to pay you by card through Howl's payment processor, Stripe: you receive your full rate, and the owner pays the card fee
• You are responsible for refunds and chargebacks on card payments made to you, and you agree that Howl may take those amounts back from your Stripe balance. When you refund a card payment, your rate is taken back from your Stripe balance and returned to the owner; Howl only lets you refund when your balance covers it. The card fee is not refunded. When an owner's bank takes a payment back (a chargeback), your rate is taken back from your Stripe balance and Howl pays the dispute fee; if the dispute is decided in your favor, your rate is normally paid to you again
• You are responsible for collecting payment from your clients and for your own payment records

6. Howl's rules

How you run your care is between you and your clients. Howl's own rules are about using Howl honestly and safely. When you use Howl, you agree to:

• Never abuse or neglect an animal
• Never provide care while impaired by alcohol or drugs
• Tell the owner right away about any incident or injury during your care, and tell Howl if someone or some animal was hurt or put at risk
• Keep owner and pet information confidential, including addresses and home-access details, and use it only for that client's care
• Be honest in your profile and never fake, buy, or write your own reviews
• Never harass, threaten, or discriminate against anyone
• Follow our Terms of service and the law

Our community standards also share good practice that owners look for. That is guidance, not a Howl requirement.

7. Insurance, liability, and indemnity

We strongly recommend that you carry insurance made for pet care businesses: general liability, and coverage for animals in your care (often called animal bailee or care, custody and control coverage). Many pet care professionals are also bonded. Howl does not provide insurance for your care.

You are responsible for any damage, injury, or loss that happens while pets are in your care. Howl is software you use to run your business; it is not a party to the care arrangement between you and your client and is not liable for incidents during care. The limits of Howl's liability, the release, and the dispute terms in our Terms of service apply to you.

You agree to defend and cover Howl, and the people who work for it, for any claims, losses, and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that come from your care or your business, including claims by clients, landlords, homeowners associations, neighbors, and other pet owners.

8. Profile and directory listing

The Howl team may review a caregiver profile before it appears in Howl's directory, and reserves the right to approve, reject, or remove a profile from the directory at its discretion. That review is about whether your profile is accurate and follows Howl's rules. It is not a background check, it never uses criminal history, and it is not an endorsement. Keep your profile accurate and up to date.

9. Cancelling and ending

• You can cancel your subscription online at any time: open Billing in your Howl account and tap Cancel plan, which takes you to Stripe's billing page. You can also email hello@usehowl.com.
• When you cancel, Billing shows the date your subscription ends. Your invoicing and payment tools stay on until then. Subscription payments are not refunded, including for part of a month, unless the law requires it.
• After it ends, your free client tools keep working, and your clients, records, and history stay in your account. If you send an invoice later, you'll be asked to subscribe again, at the price shown then.
• Your account and its data are kept unless you ask us to delete your account. You can ask in your account settings; we'll process the request and confirm by email. Records of invoices that were sent or paid are kept for tax and legal purposes, as our Privacy Policy explains.
• Howl may suspend or close your account, or remove your profile, for breaking these terms or the Terms of service, or for conduct that puts people or pets at risk or harms Howl or its users. If Howl closes your account, it also cancels your subscription.

10. Services you can offer

You can run any of these services through Howl:

• Boarding — the dog stays overnight in your home
• House sitting — you stay overnight in the owner's home
• Dog walking — walks in the owner's neighborhood
• Drop-in visits — short visits to the owner's home for feeding, potty breaks, and companionship
• Daycare — daytime care for the dog

You choose which services you offer and what you charge, and you can change them at any time.

11. Reviews and ratings

When you send an invoice through Howl, your client can leave you a rating and a written review from that invoice.

• Reviews are one-directional: your clients review you. Howl does not collect or publish caregiver reviews of pet owners.
• A review is submitted from the invoice link and is published to your Howl profile as soon as it is submitted.

You agree not to solicit, manipulate, or falsify reviews.

12. Contact

For questions about these terms, contact us at hello@usehowl.com.