Terms of Service

Ishla is a marketplace. We introduce people who need work done to independent professionals who do it. We do not perform home services ourselves and we are not a party to the agreement you make with the other side. The job, the price, the schedule and the result are between the two of you.

Every professional on Ishla is an independent contractor running their own business. They are not employees, agents, partners or representatives of Ishla, and nothing here creates an employment relationship.

That means they set their own prices, choose which jobs to take, decide how and when the work is done, and use their own tools and materials. It also means they are responsible for their own taxes, their own licences, and their own insurance. Ishla does not withhold taxes, does not provide benefits, and does not supervise how any job is carried out.

Ishla carries no insurance on your behalf. We are not bonded for the work of professionals on the platform and we do not offer a guarantee, warranty or protection plan covering damage, loss, injury or unfinished work.

Professionals are expected to hold whatever insurance their trade and their state require. Clients are free to ask for proof of it before hiring, and we recommend doing so for anything substantial. If damage occurs, it is a matter between the client, the professional, and their insurer.

We verify identity: a government ID matched against a photo of the person holding it. Where a trade requires a licence and a professional provides one, we check that the number is real and current, and only then display it.

We do not run criminal background checks, credit checks or reference checks, and a verified badge is not a statement about anyone's character, skill or honesty. It means we believe they are who they say they are. The decision to let someone into your home is yours.

Payment is arranged directly between the client and the professional. Ishla does not process, hold, escrow or refund payments for jobs, and takes no commission from them. We are not able to reverse a payment, release funds, or settle a dispute about what was owed.

Professionals pay Ishla a subscription for access to the platform. That subscription is between the professional and Ishla, and is separate from anything a client pays for work.

Many trades require a state or local licence — electrical, plumbing, HVAC and pest control among them. Professionals are responsible for holding every licence, permit and registration their work requires, and for working within them. Offering work you are not licensed to do is a breach of these terms as well as of the law.

Messages, photos and calls stay inside the platform, and phone numbers and email addresses are not shared between users. This is not bureaucracy: it is what lets us keep a record when there is a disagreement, and what stops a request turning into weeks of cold calls.

Asking someone to move the conversation off Ishla to avoid the platform, and sharing contact details in messages, profiles or photos, are both grounds for suspension.

When a client hires a professional, the job is offered to them and they have two hours to accept. An offer that isn't accepted goes back to other professionals, and the first one loses it.

Either side may cancel a job. A client can cancel at any time before it is done. A professional who cancels a job they had accepted has it recorded: five cancellations within 90 days pauses new leads and hires for seven days, and every five completed jobs cancels one of them out. Work already under way is not affected by a pause.

None of this is a penalty payment — no money changes hands either way for a cancellation, and cancelling does not affect anyone's rating.

Clients review professionals after a completed job, and professionals review clients. A client's rating is visible only to professionals and to the client themselves; it is not published.

Reviews must describe your own experience of a real job. Buying, trading or writing reviews for jobs that did not happen, and pressuring someone to change or withdraw one, will remove the review and may remove the account. We do not delete honest negative reviews on request, from either side.

Any user may block another, which stops messages and calls in both directions. You may close your account whenever you like.

We may suspend or remove an account for breaking these terms — including fraud, harassment, working without a required licence, pushing users off-platform, or repeatedly abandoning accepted jobs. A paid subscription is not a right to remain on the platform, and we will refund the unused portion where we end it.

Photos of your work, your profile and your messages remain yours. By uploading them you give Ishla permission to display them on the platform and to use profile and portfolio images to promote the service. You confirm you have the right to the images you upload, and that photos of someone's home were taken with their knowledge.

Disagreements about work, price or damage are between the client and the professional. We can supply the record we hold — messages, photos, dates and what was agreed in chat — to either party or to their insurer, and we will act on conduct that breaks these terms. We do not arbitrate the outcome and we cannot compel anyone to pay, refund or redo work.

Ishla is provided as it is. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for the acts or omissions of any user, for the quality, safety or legality of work performed, for damage to property or injury arising from a job, or for losses from a job that fell through.

Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you have paid Ishla in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability for anything that cannot lawfully be limited.

Ishla currently serves New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. You must be at least 18 to use the platform. These terms are governed by the law of the State of New York.

We may update these terms. If a change materially affects your rights we will tell you before it takes effect, and continuing to use Ishla afterwards means you accept the new version. Older versions are available on request.

Questions about these terms: support@ishla.net. We answer in plain English too.