Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 8, 2026

Quetzal Solutions LLC ("Company," "we," "us," or "our") operates the HomeHerald mobile application ("App"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use the App.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide:

• Account information (name, email address, profile photo)
• Community information (address, unit number, community membership)
• Communications (messages sent through the app, maintenance requests, reviews)
• Payment information (payment history, transaction records - we do not store credit card numbers)
• Pet information (if you choose to register pets)
• What you say or type to Herald, the App's AI assistant, if you turn Herald on: your questions, and the sound of your voice while you hold Ask Herald or while a Herald call is open

Information collected automatically:

• Device information (device type, operating system, unique device identifiers)
• Push notification tokens (for delivering notifications)
• Usage data (features used, interactions within the app)

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Service;
• Facilitate communication between community members;
• Process and display payments and financial records to authorized community administrators;
• Send push notifications for messages, announcements, and reminders (when enabled);
• Improve and personalize your experience;
• Respond to customer service requests;
• Monitor and analyze usage patterns to improve the Service;
• Power AI-assisted features, such as the HOA Assistant chatbot, violation analysis, document extraction, and content moderation, using Google's Gemini AI service (with your explicit consent).
• Power Herald, the App's AI assistant, which understands what you say or type and answers you, using xAI, our AI provider (with your explicit consent).

3. Sharing of Information

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• Within your community: Your name, address, and contact information (subject to your privacy settings) may be visible to other members of your community.
• Community administrators: HOA board members and property managers within your community may access resident information, payment records, and requests as necessary for community management.
• Service providers: We may share data with third-party services that help us operate the App (e.g., Firebase for authentication and data storage, cloud functions for notifications).
• AI services (with consent): When you use AI-powered features (such as the HOA Assistant chatbot), your questions, community name, publicly available HOA documents, and relevant account context (such as your balance and address) are sent to Google LLC via their Gemini AI service to generate responses. This data sharing only occurs after you provide explicit consent within the App. Google processes this data in accordance with their Privacy Policy.
• AI provider (with consent): If you turn Herald on, what you say or type to Herald, and the information it needs to answer you, are sent to xAI, our AI provider. Section 7, "AI provider (with consent)", says exactly what is sent, what we keep, and who can see it.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal requests.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

4. SMS/Text Messaging

If you provide your mobile phone number and agree to receive text messages, HomeHerald may send you SMS messages such as login verification codes, account and payment notifications, messages and reminders from your community, and replies from the HOA Assistant when you text us first.

• Consent: You opt in by adding your mobile number in the App under Profile settings, where consent language is displayed next to the phone number field. Providing a phone number is optional, and consent to receive text messages is not a condition of using the App.
• Booking a call on homeherald.ai: If you book a call with our founder in the "Or talk to Brett" section of homeherald.ai, you opt in by entering your mobile number in the booking form, where consent language is displayed beneath the form, and by entering the 6-digit code we text to that number. We send up to 4 messages per booking: the code, a confirmation, a reminder about an hour before the call, and a cancellation notice only if the call is cancelled, plus any new code you ask for. We use the number only for that call and its messages, and delete the booking record about 60 days after the call.
• Message frequency: Message frequency varies based on your account activity and communications from your community. Message and data rates may apply.
• Opting out: Reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe at any time, or remove your phone number in Profile settings. Reply HELP for help, or reach us through the contact form on this page.

We do not share, sell, or provide your mobile phone number or messaging consent data to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties, except with our SMS service provider solely as necessary to deliver messages to you.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored using Google Firebase services, which employ industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit and at rest. While we implement reasonable security measures to protect your information, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Your Privacy Controls

You can control your privacy through the App:

• Directory visibility: Choose whether your phone number and email are visible to neighbors.
• Notification preferences: Control which push notifications you receive.
• AI data consent: You must provide explicit consent before any data is shared with AI services. You can manage this in your profile settings.
• Herald (AI assistant): Herald is off until you turn it on. You can turn it off at any time in the App under Profile > Herald. While it is off nothing is sent to xAI, and the rest of the App works as usual; the next time you reach for Herald, the App asks again.
• Account deletion: You can permanently delete your account and all associated data directly from the App via Profile > Delete Account. This removes your data from all communities and deletes your authentication account. The written record of your conversations with Herald is kept without your name, account or phone number, as described under Herald below.

7. AI-Powered Features and Third-Party AI Services

The App includes optional AI-powered features provided by Google's Gemini AI service. These features include:

• HOA Assistant chatbot for answering community-related questions
• Violation analysis and document text extraction
• Content moderation and message summarization

Data sent to Google Gemini: When you use AI features, the following data may be transmitted to Google's servers: your questions or inputs, your community name, publicly available HOA documents and rules, and relevant account context such as your address and account balance.

Consent requirement: AI features are only activated after you provide explicit, informed consent within the App. You can decline to use AI features without affecting your ability to use the rest of the App.

Data protection: All data sent to Google Gemini is transmitted over encrypted connections. Google processes this data in accordance with their privacy policies. We do not authorize Google to use your data for training AI models.

AI provider (with consent): Herald is an AI assistant, and it is off until you turn it on. Before anything is sent, the App tells you that Herald is an AI and that what you say or type, along with your name, address and account details, is sent to xAI, our AI provider, and asks you to turn it on; you can decline, and the rest of the App works as usual. Once Herald is on, you can hold Ask Herald to ask one thing, tap it to start a conversation, or type to it. When you use Herald, the following is sent to xAI:

• your question: the audio of your voice while you hold Ask Herald or while a Herald call is open, or the words you type;
• your name, address, move-in date and the account details Herald needs to answer you, such as your balance and payments, your bookings, your requests and the notices addressed to you;
• community information shown in the App, such as rules and documents, announcements, events, votes, amenities, service providers and lost-pet alerts;
• the community directory: the name and address of every resident in your community, and a resident's phone number and email only if that resident has chosen to share them in the directory.

The microphone is on only while you hold the button or while a Herald call is open; it is never on in the background. Herald uses this information only to answer you, and it never pays, books or sends anything on your behalf until you tap to confirm it on screen. Data sent to xAI is transmitted over encrypted connections, and xAI processes it in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

What we keep, and who can see it: we do not keep recordings of your voice. We do keep a word-for-word written record of everything said or typed to Herald and everything Herald answers, so that Herald can be improved. That covers Herald in the App, calls and texts to a Herald phone number (including calls from numbers we do not recognize), typed Herald chat, and the demos on homeherald.ai, including calls Herald places to you from the site. If a payment card number is said or typed, we keep only its last four digits. That record is kept for 12 months and then deleted; it is read only by HomeHerald's founder, to find where Herald misunderstood, refused or fell short, and it is never used to market to you, sold or shared. Your community's board, managers and neighbors cannot see your conversations with Herald in the App. Calls and texts to your community's Herald phone number, and typed Herald chat, are also part of your community's records, which your community's administrators can see. We also keep a short list of your own recent questions with your account, so you can ask them again with one tap; only you can see it. If you delete your account, we delete your personal data, but we do not delete your conversations with Herald. We remove your name, account and phone number from that record, including calls and texts from phone numbers verified on your account, and keep the words only to improve Herald, until the end of their 12 months. When you confirm something Herald proposes, such as a payment, a booking or a request, it is recorded the same way as if you had done it yourself in the App.

8. Third-Party Authentication

We offer sign-in through Google and Apple. When you authenticate via these services, we receive limited profile information (name, email) as permitted by your settings with those providers. We do not receive or store your passwords for these services.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete such information.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

11. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you the Service. If you delete your account or move out of your community, we will delete or anonymize your personal data within a reasonable timeframe, except where we are required to retain it for legal or legitimate business purposes.

12. California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to: (a) know what personal information we collect about you; (b) request deletion of your personal information; (c) opt out of the sale of your personal information (we do not sell personal information); and (d) not be discriminated against for exercising your rights. To exercise these rights, please contact us using the contact form on this page.

13. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us through the contact form on this page.