Notice, Take-Down & Complaints
Two things belong on one page, because both are "something here is wrong and I want it fixed": a take-down notice about content, and a complaint about the service. Use the section that fits.
1. What content RealTeasy publishes
Understanding this makes the right route obvious. When you ask us to analyse a listing, we fetch that public listing page and reproduce parts of it inside your report: the property description, the stated facts, and the main photograph. We also keep anonymised market observations drawn from listings, and we re-check a listing you are watching for as long as you watch it.
So the material most likely to be the subject of a notice is content we reproduced from a third-party listing, not content a user posted. If you are the copyright owner of a listing photograph or description, or the agency or agent whose listing appears in a report, this page is for you.
2. Our designated agent
Formal take-down notifications under section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 ("ECTA") should be sent to:
- Designated Agent: The RealTeasy Designated Agent
- Email: hello@realteasy.co.za
- Address: 3 Woodmere Street, Cape Town, South Africa
3. What a valid take-down notification must contain
To be valid under section 77, a notification must be in writing, addressed to the designated agent, and must include:
- Your full names and address.
- Your written or electronic signature.
- Identification of the right allegedly infringed.
- Identification of the material or activity claimed to be unlawful or infringing, and where it sits on our service (a report URL is ideal).
- The remedial action you require.
- Your telephonic and electronic contact details.
- A statement that you are acting in good faith.
- A statement that the information is true and correct to your knowledge.
4. What happens next
- On receipt of a compliant notification we act expeditiously to review it and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the material.
- A notification that does not meet the section 77 requirements may not be actioned and does not by itself fix us with knowledge of unlawful activity.
- Where the material is a listing we reproduced, removal generally means deleting the stored copy and, where the objection is to the analysis itself, withdrawing the report.
A note on our legal position, because overstating it would be the exact thing this page is against. The limitations of liability in Chapter XI of ECTA are available only to members of a recognised industry representative body. RealTeasy is not currently a member, and we therefore do not claim those protections. We follow this procedure because it is the right way to handle a notice, not because it shields us.
5. False or abusive notices
Under section 77(3) of ECTA, a person who lodges a notification that knowingly and materially misrepresents the facts may be liable for damages caused by a wrongful take-down. Please do not use this procedure against a competitor or to remove lawful content.
6. Objecting as an estate agent or agency
Listings published on public property portals carry the marketing agent's name, and that name travels into the report we produce. If you are that agent and you object to your name being processed, you may object under section 11(3) of the Protection of Personal Information Act by emailing hello@realteasy.co.za. Say which listings you mean. We will stop processing your name unless the law requires otherwise, and we will tell you what we did.
7. Disagreeing with a report about a property you are selling
A RealTeasy report may estimate a value below an asking price, and may flag inconsistencies in a listing. That is analysis and opinion based on the evidence available to the software, and it is published to the person who requested it rather than to the public. If you believe a report rests on a factual error, tell us what the error is and we will look at it. Email hello@realteasy.co.za with the report link and the specific fact you say is wrong. Where a factual input was wrong we will correct it and re-run the report. We will not withdraw an estimate simply because it is lower than the asking price.
8. Complaints about the service
For anything else, a report that failed, a charge you did not expect, an account problem, email hello@realteasy.co.za with your account email address. We aim to acknowledge within 2 business days and resolve within 15 business days.
If we cannot resolve it, you may refer the matter to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) (www.cgso.org.za, 0860 000 272) or to the National Consumer Commission. Complaints about how we handled your personal information can go to the Information Regulator, whose details are in our Privacy Policy. None of this limits your right to approach a court.
9. Appeals
If we removed something and you believe that was wrong, email hello@realteasy.co.za with the subject line "Take-Down Appeal", identifying the material and explaining why it should be restored. We may restore content where a notification turns out to be invalid or misconceived.
