Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Lights Local at lightslocal.com (the “Site”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.

These Terms apply to all visitors, homeowners submitting quote requests, and lighting contractors who create accounts or list their businesses on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after any changes to these Terms constitutes acceptance of the updated version.

2. Description of Service

Lights Local is an online directory and lead generation platform that connects homeowners seeking lighting services with independent lighting contractors. The platform is operated by Matt Staton, founder of Strandr (strandr.com).

Lights Local is not a contractor. We do not perform any lighting installation, removal, or related services. We do not employ the contractors listed on the Site. All contractors are independent third parties responsible for their own work, licensing, insurance, and compliance with applicable laws.

Our services include: maintaining a directory of lighting professionals, routing homeowner quote requests to eligible Pro contractors via a round robin matching system, processing contractor subscription payments, and sending notifications via email and SMS.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use this Site. By using Lights Local, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older.

Contractors who create accounts represent that they are authorized to operate a lighting business in their state and county, hold any required licenses and insurance, and are legally permitted to enter into binding agreements.

Lights Local is intended for use within the United States only.

4. Homeowner Terms

4.1 Quote Requests

When you submit a quote request on Lights Local, you are requesting to be connected with an independent lighting contractor in your area. Submitting a quote request does not create any contractual obligation between you and Lights Local or between you and any contractor.

You agree to provide accurate information in your quote request, including your name, email address, phone number, ZIP code, service type, and property type. Providing false or misleading information may result in your request being disqualified.

Quote requests are routed through our round robin matching system to one eligible Pro contractor serving your county. We cannot guarantee that a contractor will be available in your area, that any contractor will contact you, or that you will receive a quote.

4.2 Data Sharing with Contractors

By submitting a quote request, you authorize Lights Local to share your contact information — including your first name, last name, email address, phone number, ZIP code, and project description — with the matched contractor. This sharing is necessary to fulfill the service you requested.

Once your information is shared with a contractor, that contractor’s own privacy practices and terms govern how they use your data. We are not responsible for the contractor’s communications or data practices after delivery of your lead.

4.3 SMS and Email Consent

By submitting a quote request and providing your phone number, you consent to receive SMS text messages and email notifications from Lights Local confirming your submission and providing status updates. Standard message and data rates may apply.

You may opt out of SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any text message. You may opt out of email notifications by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email. See Section 8 for full SMS consent terms.

5. Contractor Terms

5.1 Account Creation

To list your business on Lights Local, you must create an account using a valid email address and complete SMS or email verification. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

Authentication is passwordless. When you log in, we send a one-time magic link to your registered email address. This link expires after 15 minutes. Your session is maintained via an encrypted cookie that expires after 30 days. We do not store passwords.

You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized access or suspected breach of your account. Lights Local is not liable for losses resulting from unauthorized use of your account.

5.2 Profile Accuracy

You agree that all information in your contractor profile is accurate, current, and not misleading. This includes your business name, contact information, services offered, service area (counties), licensing status, and any photographs you upload.

You are solely responsible for keeping your profile up to date. Lights Local reserves the right to remove or suspend any profile that contains false, misleading, or inappropriate information.

5.3 Photo Uploads

Pro subscribers may upload project photos and a business logo to their profile. By uploading any image, you represent that you own the rights to that image or have obtained the necessary permissions to use it, and you grant Lights Local a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, store, and distribute the image in connection with your profile and the platform.

You may not upload images that are defamatory, obscene, infringing on third-party intellectual property rights, or otherwise in violation of applicable law. Lights Local reserves the right to remove any image at its discretion.

Images are stored on Cloudflare R2 and served via Cloudflare’s CDN. Maximum file size is 10 MB per image. Accepted formats are JPG, PNG, WebP, and HEIC. Images may be compressed or resized upon upload.

5.4 Lead Acceptance (General)

All leads distributed through Lights Local are exclusive — each lead is sent to one contractor only. Pro subscribers receive one free lead per month. Additional leads beyond the monthly allowance are delivered through the Pay-Per-Lead Program described in Section 5.5.

Free monthly leads do not roll over. Unused free leads expire at the end of each calendar month.

5.5 Pay-Per-Lead Program

The Pay-Per-Lead Program is an optional add-on available to contractors of any tier. You opt in explicitly through your dashboard by configuring your services, lead service area (counties), monthly budget cap, and a valid payment method, then activating lead delivery. You are not enrolled in the program by default.

Authorization to charge: By activating the Pay-Per-Lead Program, you authorize Lights Local to charge your card on file each time a qualifying lead is successfully delivered to you. Charges are processed off-session through Stripe using the payment method you selected as active. A lead is considered “delivered” when the homeowner’s contact information is transmitted to you via email, SMS, or both.

Pricing: Lead pricing varies by service type (Christmas Lighting or Permanent Lighting). Current pricing is displayed in your contractor dashboard before you opt in and remains visible throughout enrollment. Lights Local may adjust pricing with reasonable notice through a platform announcement, email, or dashboard update; continued participation after a pricing change constitutes acceptance.

Monthly budget cap: You set a monthly budget cap for pay-per-lead charges. Once your charges for the current calendar month reach that cap, Lights Local will stop routing new leads to you until the cap resets on the 1st of the following month (UTC) or until you raise the cap. You are responsible for setting a cap that reflects what you are willing to spend.

Pause or cancel anytime: You may pause lead delivery at any time by toggling off pay-per-lead from your Lead Settings dashboard page. Pausing stops new lead delivery immediately and does not incur any fee. You may also cancel pay-per-lead participation entirely at any time. Neither pause nor cancel affects charges for leads already delivered.

No volume or quality guarantees: Lead delivery depends on homeowner demand, county coverage, the number of contractors participating in each area, and matching engine eligibility. Lights Local does not guarantee any minimum number of leads, any minimum quality, any conversion rate, any response rate, or any outcome. Paying for a lead does not guarantee that the homeowner will respond, that the project will move forward, or that the contact information will result in a booked job.

Disputes: You may dispute a delivered lead within seven (7) days of delivery through your contractor dashboard, but only on one of four specific grounds: (a) the homeowner’s phone number is invalid (disconnected, fake, or wrong format —notsimply unanswered); (b) the lead’s county is outside the counties you selected as lead areas in your lead settings; (c) the lead is for a service type you did not opt into; or (d) the same homeowner was routed to you more than once within twenty-four (24) hours. Disputes filed for any other reason — including but not limited to a homeowner not returning calls or emails, deciding to use another contractor, or deciding not to proceed — are not eligible for credit. Lead disputes are governed in full by Section 14.1. Lights Local is the sole and final decision maker on lead disputes.

Restrictions on homeowner data: Homeowner contact information delivered through the Pay-Per-Lead Program is shared with you for the sole purpose of responding to the specific lead request. You may not: (a) use the information for marketing, advertising, or promotional messages unrelated to that specific quote request; (b) add the homeowner to any mailing list, distribution list, or CRM for marketing purposes; (c) resell, redistribute, share with third parties, or use the information to populate any other database; (d) contact the homeowner for any purpose other than fulfilling the quote request for the duration reasonably required to complete or decline the project. Violation of these restrictions is grounds for immediate account termination without refund or credit.

Termination of program: Lights Local may suspend or terminate your Pay-Per-Lead Program participation at any time for any reason or no reason, including for suspected fraud, disputed quality, non-payment, or violation of these Terms. On termination, lead delivery stops immediately. Any credit balance is subject to the terms described in Section 14.1.

5.6 Strandr Verified Badge

The “Strandr Verified” badge indicates that a contractor has been confirmed as an active subscriber of Strandr (strandr.com), a professional lighting design platform. Badge status is determined manually by Lights Local administrators and may be added or removed at any time.

The Strandr Verified badge is not an endorsement of any contractor’s work quality or business practices. It indicates only that the contractor uses Strandr software. Lights Local makes no representations about the work of any verified contractor.

5.7 Support

Contractors can contact support through the in-dashboard support button. Support messages are stored for record-keeping and typically receive a response within one business day.

6. Payment Terms

6.1 Pro Subscriptions

Pro subscriptions are available on a monthly basis ($47/month) or an annual basis ($197/year). All payments are processed securely through Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize Lights Local to charge your payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel.

Monthly subscriptions renew on the same day each month. Annual subscriptions renew on the anniversary of your signup date. You will be charged automatically unless you cancel before the renewal date.

Pro upgrades are processed through your contractor dashboard using Stripe’s secure payment system. You can upgrade, manage your payment method, and cancel your subscription directly from your billing page.

Cancelling your Pro subscription downgrades your profile to the free tier at the end of the current billing period. You will lose access to Pro features — including featured placement on local city and county pages, the PRO badge, photo gallery, and full analytics — upon downgrade. Your participation in the Pay-Per-Lead Program (if active) is unaffected by the Pro tier downgrade and continues independently. We do not offer prorated refunds for partial subscription periods.

6.2 Per-Lead Charges

Per-lead charges are billed to your card on file immediately upon successful lead delivery. Charges are processed off-session through Stripe using the payment method you designated as active in your Lead Settings dashboard. If a charge fails, the lead is not delivered and your account is skipped in the rotation. You will be notified of failed payments and asked to update your payment information.

Monthly budget cap: You set a monthly budget cap for per-lead charges in your dashboard. Once charges for the current calendar month reach that cap, Lights Local stops routing new leads to you until the cap resets on the 1st of the following month (UTC) or until you raise the cap. The cap is a soft stop, not a guarantee of non-charge — charges already in flight at the moment the cap is hit will still complete.

Pricing changes: Lead pricing is displayed in your dashboard before you opt in and remains visible throughout enrollment. Lights Local may adjust pricing with reasonable notice. Continued participation after a pricing change constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

6.3 Refund and Credit Policy

No refunds are issued for accepted leads. Once homeowner contact information has been delivered to you, the lead charge is final. This applies regardless of whether the homeowner responds, whether the project moves forward, or whether the contact information is ultimately usable.

Credits, not refunds. When Lights Local approves a lead dispute under Section 14.1, the remedy is a credit applied to your Lights Local lead balance — not a cash refund to your card. Credits offset future lead charges automatically. Credits have no cash value, are non-transferable, and expire upon account termination for cause (Section 15).

We do not issue prorated refunds for Pro subscription cancellations. Your Pro access remains active through the end of your paid period.

If you believe a charge was made in error (for example, a technical failure that prevented delivery), contact us at support@lightslocal.com within 7 days or file a lead dispute through your dashboard within 7 days. Lights Local has sole and final discretion over whether to issue credits, refunds, or take no action in any dispute case — see Section 14.1.

6.4 Payment Processor

Payment processing is handled by Stripe, Inc. By providing payment information, you also agree to Stripe’s Terms of Service. Lights Local does not store full credit card numbers on its servers.

7. Free Tier Limitations

Free contractor listings are provided as a courtesy. Free tier contractors receive a basic directory listing with their business name, phone number, website link, and service information, but do not receive leads through the platform.

Quote forms submitted on a free contractor’s profile page are routed through our standard round robin system to an eligible Pro contractor in the same county — not directly to the free contractor. This is disclosed in the contractor dashboard as an upsell signal.

Lights Local reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the free tier at any time with reasonable notice.

8. SMS and Communications Consent

8.1 Homeowner SMS Consent

By submitting a quote request and providing your mobile phone number, you expressly consent to receive transactional SMS text messages from Lights Local, including confirmation of your submission and notification that a contractor has been matched to your request. These messages are sent via Twilio.

Message frequency: typically 1–2 messages per quote request. Message and data rates may apply depending on your carrier and plan. Consent to receive SMS is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services.

To opt out, reply STOP to any message. To request help, reply HELP. For support, contact us at support@lightslocal.com.

8.2 Contractor SMS Consent

Account phone vs. lead-alert numbers. The phone number you provide at signup is used for your public directory listing (so homeowners can call you) and for account identification. It is not used to send you SMS lead alerts. Lead-alert SMS is sent only to mobile numbers you separately add as “Lead alert numbers” in Lead Settings.

Adding a lead-alert number is your consent. When you add a mobile number as a lead-alert number, you represent that you are authorized to receive operational SMS at that number, or have permission from the person who uses it to receive lead-alert texts on their behalf. We will send one identifying message confirming the number is being used for Lights Local lead alerts, then begin sending lead-alert SMS as exclusive matches arrive in your service area.

Opting out. You (or anyone holding a lead-alert number) may reply STOP at any time to disable SMS delivery to that number. STOP is honored at the carrier level and via our service. A number can be re-enabled later from your Lead Settings dashboard, which clears the opt-out and resumes alerts; by re-enabling, you represent that the device holder has agreed to receive SMS alerts again. The device holder can text STOP again at any time. Disabling SMS to all lead-alert numbers means you receive lead notifications by email only, which may delay your response time.

Other SMS. Account alerts and billing-related SMS may be sent to your signup phone number when necessary for the operation of the service (for example, security notifications). Message frequency varies based on lead volume in your service area and account activity.

8.3 Email Communications

By providing your email address, you consent to receive transactional emails related to your account activity, quote submissions, and lead delivery. Email communications are sent via Resend. You may unsubscribe from non-essential marketing emails at any time via the unsubscribe link in any email.

9. Intellectual Property

All content on the Lights Local website — including text, design elements, logos, page layouts, and programmatically generated city and service content — is owned by Lights Local or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Certain content on Lights Local, including city page descriptions and contractor business descriptions, may be generated or assisted by artificial intelligence. AI-generated content is provided for convenience and may contain errors. Contractors are responsible for reviewing and editing AI-generated descriptions before publishing.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, republish, or create derivative works from any Lights Local content without prior written permission. This includes scraping or harvesting contractor data, contact information, or directory listings.

By submitting content to Lights Local — including profile information, photos, or project descriptions — you grant Lights Local a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, display, and distribute that content in connection with providing the services described in these Terms.

10. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use Lights Local to:

• Submit fake or fraudulent quote requests
• Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with a business
• Scrape, harvest, or systematically collect data from the Site
• Interfere with or disrupt the Site’s infrastructure or servers
• Upload content containing viruses, malware, or harmful code
• Use the platform for any purpose that violates applicable law
• Create multiple contractor accounts to manipulate the round robin lead routing system
• Contact homeowners for purposes unrelated to the service they requested

11. Disclaimer of Warranties

Lights Local is provided “as is” and “as available” without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses. We do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any contractor information listed on the Site. We do not guarantee that any homeowner quote request will result in contractor contact, a quote, or a completed project.

We are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality, timeliness, or fitness of services provided by any contractor listed on Lights Local. Any agreement for services is solely between you and the contractor.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Lights Local, its owner, officers, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Site, including but not limited to:

• Loss of revenue, profits, or business opportunities
• Damages resulting from work performed (or not performed) by any contractor
• Unauthorized access to or alteration of your data
• Failure to match a homeowner request with a contractor
• Any lead not resulting in a completed project or contract

In no event shall Lights Local’s total liability to you for all claims exceed the greater of (a) $100 USD, or (b) the total amount you paid to Lights Local in the 30 days preceding the claim.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Lights Local, its owner, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Site; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) any content you submit or upload to the Site; (d) any dispute between you and a homeowner or contractor; or (e) your violation of any applicable law.

14. Dispute Resolution

14.1 Lead Disputes (Pay-Per-Lead Program)

This section governs disputes about the quality, validity, or charge amount of an individual lead delivered through the Pay-Per-Lead Program. It is separate from and supersedes Sections 14.2 and 14.3 for per-lead disputes. Sections 14.2 and 14.3 continue to apply to all other disputes between you and Lights Local.

How to file a lead dispute: You may dispute a delivered lead within seven (7) days of delivery by filing the dispute through your contractor dashboard. Disputes filed after the window closes are not eligible for review.

Eligible grounds for dispute: Disputes are eligible only on the following four specific grounds. The dispute form requires you to select one of these grounds and provide supporting detail:

• Invalid phone number. The homeowner’s phone number is disconnected, fake, or in an unusable format. A phone number that simply rings unanswered or goes to voicemail is notgrounds for dispute. It is the contractor’s responsibility to follow up on delivered leads, including making multiple contact attempts.
• Outside service area. The lead’s county falls outside the counties you have selected as lead areas in your lead settings. (Routing is county-based; ZIP is collected from the homeowner only to identify which county the lead belongs to.)
• Wrong service type. The lead is for a service type (Christmas Lighting or Permanent Lighting) that you have not opted into in your lead settings.
• Duplicate within 24 hours. The same homeowner (matched on email address or phone number) was routed to you more than once within a twenty-four (24) hour window. Submissions from the same homeowner more than 24 hours apart are not duplicates and represent renewed intent.

Reasons that are not eligible for dispute: Disputes will be denied if filed for reasons including, but not limited to: the homeowner did not answer their phone or respond to email; the homeowner chose to use a different contractor; the homeowner decided not to proceed with any service; the price quoted was higher than the homeowner expected; the project scope was smaller than the contractor expected; the lead is for a property type (residential or commercial) the contractor would prefer not to serve (the Pay-Per-Lead Program matches on service type — Christmas Lighting or Permanent Lighting — only; property type is not a routing dimension); the contractor changed their service area or service-type opt-ins after the lead was delivered; or any other matter that does not fall within the four grounds listed above. Lead delivery is the service we provide; outcomes after delivery are the contractor’s responsibility.

How disputes are reviewed: Lights Local reviews each dispute against the stated reason, the homeowner’s submission record, contact attempt logs where available, and any other evidence we consider relevant. We may request additional information from you. Review may take up to ten (10) business days.

Lights Local is the sole and final decision maker: Lights Local has sole, absolute, and final discretion over whether to approve or deny a lead dispute. Our decision is not subject to appeal, arbitration, small claims court, or any other form of review. Lead disputes are expressly excluded from the binding arbitration provision in Section 14.2 and the small claims provision in Section 14.3. By opting into the Pay-Per-Lead Program, you agree that Lights Local’s lead-dispute decisions are final.

Remedy for approved disputes: When we approve a lead dispute, the remedy is a credit applied to your Lights Local lead balance in the amount of the disputed charge. Credits are a goodwill remedy, not a refund. We do not reverse the Stripe charge on your card. Credits automatically offset future lead charges, have no cash value, are non-transferable, and expire upon termination for cause.

Repeat or pattern disputes: If a contractor files repeat disputes that Lights Local determines are frivolous, fraudulent, or designed to avoid legitimate charges, we may suspend or terminate your Pay-Per-Lead Program participation without further credit or refund, consistent with Section 15.

14.2 Informal Resolution (Other Disputes)

For disputes not governed by Section 14.1, before initiating any formal dispute, you agree to contact Lights Local at support@lightslocal.com and give us a reasonable opportunity (at least 30 days) to resolve the issue informally.

14.3 Binding Arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and Lights Local agree to resolve any disputes (other than lead disputes governed by Section 14.1) through binding individual arbitration, not through a class action or jury trial. The arbitration will be conducted under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Consumer Arbitration Rules.

Class Action Waiver: You agree to resolve any disputes with Lights Local on an individual basis only and waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

14.4 Small Claims

Either party may bring qualifying claims in small claims court in lieu of arbitration, so long as the action remains in small claims court and proceeds only on an individual basis. Lead disputes under Section 14.1 are not eligible for small claims review.

15. Termination

Lights Local reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account or access to the Site at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, including for violation of these Terms, fraudulent activity, or conduct that we determine is harmful to other users or the platform.

We reserve the right to suspend, pause, or terminate contractor accounts at our discretion. We may also modify your subscription tier (e.g., upgrading from Free to Pro) at your request through our support process. Contractors will be notified of significant account changes via email.

Contractor accounts that are terminated for cause are not eligible for refunds of unused subscription time or lead charges already incurred.

Pay-Per-Lead Program termination: Lights Local may suspend or terminate your Pay-Per-Lead Program participation at any time, independently of any broader account action, for any reason or no reason, including suspected fraud, payment failures, repeat frivolous disputes, or violation of Section 5.5. On termination for cause, any lead credit balance is forfeited and will not be paid out in cash. On voluntary termination (opting out via your dashboard), any remaining credit balance remains attached to your contractor account and applies to future charges if you re-enroll.

You may terminate your contractor account at any time by contacting us at support@lightslocal.com. Termination of your account does not entitle you to a refund of any subscription fees already paid.

16. Data Retention and Deletion

Contractor account data (profile information, photos, service area selections) is retained for the duration of your account. If your account is deleted, your profile is removed from the directory and your photos are deleted from our storage. Lead records associated with your account are retained for reporting purposes but your contractor ID is removed from them.

Homeowner quote request data (name, email, phone, ZIP code, project description) is retained for up to 24 months for business operations, analytics, and fraud prevention, after which it is periodically purged. Contact form submissions are retained for support and record-keeping purposes.

To request deletion of your personal data, contact us at support@lightslocal.com. We will process deletion requests within 30 days, subject to our legal obligations to retain certain records.

17. Analytics and Tracking

Lights Local tracks certain interactions on the platform to provide analytics to contractors and improve the service. This includes: listing impressions (when a contractor’s card appears on a city or county page), profile views, phone number reveals, and website link clicks. These events are logged anonymously and associated with the contractor’s listing, not with individual homeowners.

We use Cloudflare Turnstile for invisible bot detection on forms to prevent spam and fraudulent submissions. This service may collect device and browser characteristics to distinguish humans from automated traffic.

We filter bot traffic from analytics data using User-Agent detection. Analytics data is available to contractors through their dashboard.

18. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict of law principles. To the extent any dispute is not subject to arbitration under Section 14, you consent to exclusive jurisdiction in the state and federal courts located in Ohio.

19. Modifications to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify registered contractors via email.

Continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

20. Third-Party Links

The Site may contain links to third-party websites, including contractor websites and external service providers. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third-party site. Visiting external links is at your own risk.

21. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us: