Legal
Shared Responsibility Model
Effective date: 19 August 2026
Urban Tribe operates as a marketplace intermediary — not as a property owner, manager, or real estate agent. This document defines how responsibilities are divided between Urban Tribe (the Platform) and landlords or property managers (the Owner) who list properties on the Platform.
The core principle
"Urban Tribe guarantees the platform. The Owner guarantees the property."
Urban Tribe is responsible for the integrity of the marketplace: identity verification, payment security, data protection, and platform-level legal compliance. The Owner is responsible for the property relationship: legal tenancy obligations, property condition, RTB registration, and contractual compliance under Irish law.
Liability boundary
Upon confirmation of a viewing and within 48 hours of move-in, Urban Tribe's role as intermediary transitions. After this window, the tenancy relationship is governed directly by the signed tenancy agreement between Owner and tenant. Urban Tribe retains obligations only where explicitly stated below (GDPR, ongoing payment escrow, deposit protection on eligible listings).
1. Urban Tribe is responsible for
The following responsibilities are owned entirely by Urban Tribe. Owners cannot waive or transfer these obligations to themselves.
1.1 Trust & Safety
| User identity verification | KYC process for all users. Verified badge displayed on profiles. |
| Property verification | Photo and video checklist review before a listing is published on the Platform. |
| Fraud detection | Automated flags on listings that match suspicious patterns. Scam warnings surfaced to tenants. |
| Masked address | Exact property address is hidden until a viewing is confirmed — only the area is shown publicly. |
| Masked contact details | Phone numbers and email addresses are never exposed until a viewing is confirmed by both parties. |
1.2 Payments
| Platform service fee — Host | 8% of each monthly payment, deducted before funds are released to the Owner. This covers listing publication, verification, trust & safety features, deposit documentation, and support. |
| Platform service fee — Tenant | 5% of each monthly payment, charged on top of the agreed rent at the time of payment. This covers access to verified listings, masked contact protection, viewing tools, and the review system. |
| Automatic rent collection | Monthly direct debit collection with automated notifications to the Owner. |
| Payment escrow (first month) | The first month's rent is held for 48 hours after move-in and released only after the tenant confirms the property matches the listing. |
| Deposit documentation & protection | Urban Tribe records the deposit amount, payment date, and reference for every tenancy. Deposits are paid directly between tenant and Owner — Urban Tribe does not hold funds. As the tenancy ends, Urban Tribe notifies both parties of the legal return deadline. If the Owner fails to return the deposit within the statutory timeframe, Urban Tribe provides the tenant with a structured evidence pack and step-by-step guidance to file a dispute with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). |
| Rent arrears coverage — 40% | Urban Tribe covers 40% of verified rent arrears for up to 1 missed month per tenancy. Conditions apply (see 1.2.1 below). |
| Cancellation refund processing | Refunds are processed by Urban Tribe within 5–10 business days for covered cancellation events. |
1.2.1 — Conditions for rent arrears coverage (40%)
1.3 Data protection — Urban Tribe as Data Controller
Urban Tribe is the data controller under GDPR (EU) 2016/679 for all personal data processed on the Platform. The following obligations are non-delegable and permanently owned by Urban Tribe, regardless of tenancy status.
| GDPR obligation | What this means in practice |
|---|---|
| Lawful basis for all data | Every processing activity on the Platform has a documented legal basis (contract, legitimate interest, or consent). |
| Privacy policy & cookie notice | Maintained and published at /legal/privacy. Users are notified of changes. |
| Data subject rights (DSAR) | Requests for access, deletion, rectification, or portability are handled by Urban Tribe within 30 days. |
| Breach notification | Urban Tribe notifies the Data Protection Commission (DPC) within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach. |
| Sub-processor DPAs | Data Processing Agreements are maintained with all third-party vendors (Supabase, Google Cloud, Anthropic, etc.). |
| DPIA for high-risk processing | Data Protection Impact Assessments are conducted for AI-assisted search, scam scoring, and profiling features. |
| Data minimisation | Only data necessary for the stated purpose is collected. Retention periods are enforced. |
1.4 Platform legal compliance (Digital Services Act)
| Know Your Business Customer (KYBC) | Urban Tribe verifies that Owners operating as traders meet DSA requirements before publishing listings. |
| Illegal content reporting | A "Report listing" mechanism is available on every listing page for users to flag illegal or fraudulent content. |
| Content moderation | Urban Tribe removes listings that are discriminatory, fraudulent, or violate Irish housing law. |
| Transparency reporting | Urban Tribe publishes annual transparency reports as required under the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). |
1.5 User management & support
| User onboarding & offboarding | Full lifecycle management: signup, onboarding, account closure, and data deletion. |
| Notifications | In-app, email, and web push notifications for all platform events. |
| Review integrity | Urban Tribe moderates the bidirectional review system. Reviews cannot be removed by either party without a verified dispute. |
| Dispute mediation | Best-effort mediation support. Urban Tribe is not a binding arbitration body — disputes may ultimately require RTB or court resolution. |
| Multilingual support | Platform UI and support materials are available in multiple languages. |
2. The Owner (landlord or property manager) is responsible for
The following responsibilities are owned entirely by the Owner and cannot be delegated to Urban Tribe. Urban Tribe may surface information, reminders, or guidance on these topics but bears no legal liability for the Owner's compliance failures.
2.1 Irish legal compliance (non-delegable)
| Obligation | Legal reference |
|---|---|
| RTB registration | Mandatory. All tenancies must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board within 1 month of commencement. Fee: €40. Failure is a criminal offence. |
| BER certificate | A valid Building Energy Rating certificate (A1–G) is legally required on all rental listings under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (SI 243/2012). |
| RPZ rent compliance | In Rent Pressure Zones, rent for existing tenants cannot increase by more than 2% per year (Housing (Regulation of Rented Accommodation) Act 2022). The Owner must provide comparable property evidence for new tenancy pricing. |
| Minimum tenancy duration | From March 2026, standard residential tenancies are subject to a minimum duration of 6 years under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2024. Important exceptions apply: licence agreements (where the Owner resides in the same property) and sub-licences are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Acts and carry no statutory minimum term. Corporate tenancies and student-specific accommodation schemes are also subject to different rules. The Owner is responsible for correctly identifying the type of arrangement and complying with the applicable legal framework. |
| Deposit cap | Security deposits may not exceed 1 month's rent under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019. |
| Habitability standards | The property must meet minimum standards as defined in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. |
| Tax obligations | Rental income must be declared to Revenue Ireland. Urban Tribe is not a tax agent and bears no responsibility for the Owner's tax affairs. |
2.2 Verification & selection
| Tenant selection | The final decision on which tenant occupies the property rests entirely with the Owner. Urban Tribe provides verification tools but does not select tenants on the Owner's behalf. |
| Company or individual verification | Urban Tribe verifies legal existence (CRO lookup for companies; ID for individuals). The Owner is responsible for ensuring all submitted information is accurate and kept up to date. |
| Property-specific licensing | HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licences, planning permissions, and any other property-specific regulatory requirements are entirely the Owner's responsibility. |
2.3 Property & tenancy management
| Tenancy agreement | The Owner is responsible for drafting, signing, and enforcing a legally compliant tenancy agreement. Urban Tribe does not provide or validate tenancy contracts. |
| Property condition & maintenance | The Owner must maintain the property in the condition advertised. Any changes after verification must be updated on the Platform. |
| Check-in & key handover | Coordinated directly between the Owner and tenant. Urban Tribe does not facilitate physical access. |
| Ongoing rent collection (post-escrow) | After the first-month escrow window, rent collection is the Owner's responsibility except where an ongoing payment plan is active on the Platform. |
| Deposit return | The Owner must return the deposit within the statutory timeframe (typically within 28 days of tenancy end, less any agreed deductions). Urban Tribe records the deposit details and sends automated reminders as the deadline approaches. Failure to return without valid deductions may result in the tenant filing an RTB dispute, supported by documentation provided by Urban Tribe. |
3. Questions about this model
If you have questions about how these responsibilities apply to your specific situation, contact us at legal@urbantribe.io. For data protection matters, contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@urbantribe.io.
Ireland's supervisory authority for data protection matters is the Data Protection Commission (DPC). For tenancy disputes, the relevant authority is the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).