Skip to content
South Shore Home Guide

Legal

Terms of service

Effective date: April 2026.

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of South Shore Home Guide at southshorehomeguide.com(“the Site”), operated by the publisher of South Shore Home Guide(“we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing, browsing, or submitting any form on the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

These Terms apply to all visitors, users, homeowners submitting lead requests, contractors appearing in the directory, and Featured Partners.

2. Eligibility

The Site is intended for users who are at least 18 years of age and who reside in or are seeking services in Massachusetts, with particular focus on the South Shore of Boston and Plymouth County. By using the Site you represent that you meet these requirements. If you are using the Site on behalf of a business or other entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

3. What the Site is and is not

South Shore Home Guide is an independent directory and advice library. The directory aggregates publicly available information about home-services contractors serving the covered region. Guides, cost ranges, and editorial content are provided for general informational purposes only.

We are not a party to any transaction. We do not perform, supervise, guarantee, or warrant any work performed by any contractor listed on the Site. We do not act as a broker, agent, marketplace, escrow service, or intermediary in any contract between you and a contractor.

Nothing on the Site constitutes professional, legal, financial, engineering, medical, or tax advice. Always consult appropriately licensed professionals before making hiring, construction, or contractual decisions.

4. Directory data and accuracy

Directory listings, including contractor names, contact information, licensing references, service areas, specialties, years in business, and third-party review scores, are compiled from publicly verifiable sources such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure, and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Each rating citation includes the source URL and the date the data was captured.

Public data changes over time. We make reasonable efforts to maintain accuracy but cannot and do not warrant that listing data is current, complete, or free of errors. You are responsible for independently verifying any contractor’s current license, insurance, and business standing before engaging them.

If you believe information about you or a business you represent is incorrect, please use our corrections page or email our corrections form. We review every submission and respond within five business days.

5. Featured Partners and sponsored placements

Certain contractors may pay for a clearly labeled “Featured Partner” or “Sponsored” placement on category or town directory pages. Featured Partner placements appear in a separately labeled section above the organic directory, and never influence the organic sort order of non-sponsored listings.

A Featured Partner placement does not constitute an editorial endorsement. Our full disclosure policy is on the disclosure page. Featured Partner agreements are month-to-month unless otherwise agreed in writing and do not alter the liability limits in Section 10.

6. Lead requests and homeowner submissions

When you submit a lead-request form on a directory page, you authorize us to share your submission with the contractor associated with that page or, where applicable, with the active Featured Partner for that page and category. Your submission includes only the fields you provided and the page URL you submitted from; we do not share your data with other contractors, with aggregator networks, or with third-party advertisers.

You represent that information you submit is truthful and that you have authority to submit the contact details you provide. Do not submit a lead request on behalf of another person without their permission.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • Scrape, crawl, or systematically harvest directory data or editorial content (beyond what is permitted for search-engine and AI crawlers in robots.txt and llms.txt) without our prior written consent.
  • Submit false, misleading, or automated form submissions, including lead requests, corrections, or partner inquiries.
  • Use the Site to impersonate any person or business, including another contractor.
  • Interfere with the Site’s operation, including attempts to bypass rate limits, access gated admin routes, or exploit security vulnerabilities.
  • Republish substantial portions of our editorial guides, cost data, or directory content without attribution and a link back to the original source page.
  • Use the Site for any unlawful purpose.

We may suspend or terminate access for any user who materially violates these rules. Security vulnerabilities should be reported responsibly to our corrections form.

8. Intellectual property

All editorial content on the Site, including guides, cost analyses, blog posts, illustrations, photography licensed to us, and the South Shore Home Guide name, logo, and design system, are owned by us or licensed to us and are protected by United States and international copyright and trademark law.

You may link to any page of the Site, quote short excerpts with attribution, and share links on social media. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from our editorial content without our prior written consent, except as permitted by fair use.

Contractor names, trademarks, logos, and business information appearing in directory listings are the property of their respective owners. Their appearance on the Site does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with them (except where a listing is explicitly marked as a Featured Partner).

If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, please send a written notice meeting the requirements of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to our corrections form.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

The Site and all content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy of directory data, cost ranges, licensing information, review scores, and capture dates.

We do not warrant the work, quality, licensing status, insurance status, pricing, or business practices of any contractor listed on the Site, including Featured Partners.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event will South Shore Home Guide, its owner, editors, contributors, or affiliates be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost profits, loss of data, property damage, or emotional distress, arising out of or relating to your use of the Site or your dealings with any contractor found through the Site, whether based on contract, tort, statute, or any other legal theory, and whether or not we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

In no event will our aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Site exceed one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless South Shore Home Guideand its owner, editors, and contributors from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) your misuse of the Site, (c) any content you submit through lead, corrections, or partner-inquiry forms, or (d) any dispute between you and any contractor you engage.

12. Third-party links and services

The Site links to third-party websites, including contractor websites, state licensing databases, review platforms, and government resources. We do not control these sites and are not responsible for their content, availability, accuracy, or practices. Linking from the Site does not imply endorsement.

13. Changes to the Site and these Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site at any time without notice. We may also update these Terms from time to time. The “Effective date” above reflects the current version. Material changes will be announced on this page. Your continued use of the Site after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing law

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or related to the Site are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

15. Dispute resolution and informal process

Before filing any claim, you agree to first contact us at our corrections form and attempt to resolve the dispute informally. Most issues can be resolved quickly this way. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally within 30 days, any court action must be brought in a state or federal court located in Plymouth County or Suffolk County, Massachusetts. You and we each consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts.

16. Severability and entire agreement

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any separately executed Featured Partner agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Site.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms: our corrections form. Directory corrections: our corrections form.