These terms govern an estate agency's use of Real CRM. The principal of the agency accepts them on the agency's behalf.
1. What Real CRM is
Real CRM is a customer relationship and contract management service for South African estate agencies. It is provided free of licence fees and is funded by advertising and by paid listings from service providers such as conveyancers, bond originators and compliance inspectors.
Real CRM is a tool. It is not a law firm, a conveyancer, a property practitioner or a financial services provider, and nothing in the service is legal, tax or financial advice.
2. Your agency's responsibilities
The agency:
- Is the responsible party for the personal information of its clients under POPIA, and must name an information officer in the service.
- Must ensure every person it invites is entitled to act in the role given to them, including holding a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate where the Property Practitioners Act requires one.
- Is responsible for the accuracy of what its agents record, and for the content of any mandate, offer or other document it produces using the service.
- Must keep its sign-in credentials confidential and should enable two-factor authentication for anyone handling client documents.
3. Real CRM's role under POPIA
Real CRM operates as an operator for the agency within the meaning of POPIA section 1. We process personal information only on the agency's instruction, keep it secure, and notify the agency without undue delay if we become aware of a compromise.
4. Documents and legal wording
The agency is responsible for the legal content of the mandates, offers to purchase, leases and other documents it produces. Where the service provides default wording, it is a starting point only and must be reviewed by the agency's own attorney before it is used with a client.
Under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, Schedule 2, an agreement for the alienation of immovable property cannot be validly signed electronically. Real CRM records electronic acceptance for convenience and audit purposes, and clearly distinguishes it from a wet-ink signed agreement. The agency must obtain a wet-ink signed document before treating a sale of land as concluded.
5. Content you upload
The agency and its agents keep ownership of the contacts, property information, photographs and documents they upload.
6. Photographs, property data and valuation models
When an agent uploads photographs, property attributes, condition and defect notes, marketing copy or transaction data to Real CRM, the agency grants Real CRM a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to store that material and to use it to operate and improve the service, including to build, train, publish and licence property valuation, condition and market-insight products.
The agency warrants that it holds the rights it grants here, that its mandate or agreement with the seller, landlord or owner permits it, and that it has obtained every consent POPIA requires from the people concerned.
We limit ourselves as follows, and these limits form part of these terms:
- Material used in valuation and market-insight products is aggregated or de-identified. It never carries the name, contact details or identity number of a seller, buyer, tenant or landlord.
- Personal information is never sold or licensed to a third party as personal information.
- An interior photograph of a home is never published alongside its street address in a public product without the agency's separate written agreement.
- An agency's client records, leads and deal information are never shared with another agency or with an advertiser.
- An agency may ask us in writing to exclude a specific property or photograph from these products, and we will do so.
7. Advertising
The service shows advertising and paid service-provider listings to agents. Advertisers receive aggregate statistics only. They never receive a client's name, contact details or any other personal information, and no advertising is shown on a page that a buyer, seller, tenant or landlord sees, or in any document the service produces.
8. Availability
We aim to keep the service available and backed up, but it is provided as is. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may change or withdraw features, and will give reasonable notice of a material change.
9. Liability
To the extent permitted by law, Real CRM is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, or loss arising from the agency's own use of the documents it produces. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
10. Ending the service
The agency may stop using the service at any time and may ask for an export of its data. We may suspend an agency that breaches these terms or the law, and will say why.
On termination the agency's client data is deleted after the retention periods required by law, in particular the five-year FICA retention under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. The licence in clause 6 survives termination for material already uploaded, subject to the limits stated in that clause.
11. Changes
We may update these terms. The principal is asked to accept a material change before continuing to use the service, and the previous version stays available in the service.
12. Law
These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.