Terms of Service

Last updated 26 October 2026.

1. Agreement and who we are

These Terms govern your use of The Broke College Kid app and website (the "service"). The service is operated by Black Side Development Group LLC, a Texas limited liability company ("we," "us," or "our"). By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

2. Who can use the service

You must be 16 or older to use the service. If you are under 18 (or under the age of majority where you live), you confirm that a parent or guardian has agreed to these Terms where local law requires it. Members aged 16 and 17 get high-privacy settings by default and can't use coins or gifts. Accounts of anyone under 16 are deleted.

3. Accounts and security

Give accurate account information and keep it current. Each account is for one person only. Keep your sign-in details secure, do not share your account, and tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorized use. You are responsible for activity under your account.

4. Your content

You own what you create or post. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, display, reproduce and adapt your content solely to operate and improve the service. This license ends when content is deleted from our service, except that copies of public posts made by others may remain. You represent that you have the rights needed to upload and share anything you post.

5. Community rules

Do not harass, bully, threaten or use hate speech; dox people or publish someone else's personal information; post nudity or sexual content involving minors; impersonate someone; send spam or scams; engage in illegal activity; or sell or solicit drugs or weapons. We report apparent sexual exploitation of minors to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as required by law.

Roommate listings must not discriminate or express preferences based on a protected class under the Fair Housing Act, except where the law expressly allows a shared-living exception. Do not upload malware, scrape the service, reverse engineer it, or bypass security measures or paywalls.

6. Moderation and reports

You can report Messy Roommates posts in the app. We may review reports, remove content, or suspend or terminate accounts, but we do not promise to monitor every post.

Reporting illegal content. Report content you believe is illegal with the in-app Report button or by emailing begreat@brokecollegekid.com with a link or description of the content and why you believe it is illegal.

Statement of reasons. When we remove your content or restrict your account, we tell you which rule was broken, what action we took and how to appeal.

Appeals. To appeal a moderation decision, email begreat@brokecollegekid.com with "Moderation appeal" in the subject line and your account details. We handle complaints from UK users under the Online Safety Act through this same report and appeal process. EU users can also use an out-of-court dispute settlement body (see Section 21).

7. Messy Roommates

We do not verify members or listings, are not a party to any housing arrangement, and are not a real-estate broker. Check information for yourself, protect your personal details and meet safely. You are responsible for your own housing decisions and interactions.

8. Educational information only

Budgets, lessons, financial-aid tools, the life simulator, career tools and other content are for general education, not financial, legal, tax or career advice. Pay and cost figures are estimates. Check important decisions with qualified professionals or the relevant institution.

9. Premium subscriptions and renewals

Premium Monthly costs $2.99 per month. The Semester Plan costs $12.99 every 6 months: a 4-month semester plus 2 months free. Six monthly payments total $17.94, so the Semester Plan saves $4.95. Both plans include a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Unless you cancel before the trial ends, it converts to a paid subscription. Subscriptions then renew automatically at the then-current price until cancelled. By starting a trial or plan, you expressly agree to this automatic renewal. Cancel online any time at least 24 hours before renewal: on the website, go to Settings and choose Cancel subscription; on iPhone or Android, manage and cancel through your Apple or Google account settings. Cancelling stops future renewals but access continues through the current paid period. Applicable taxes may be added.

Reminders and price changes. We email you a reminder at least 7 days before each Semester Plan renewal, and we email you before any price change takes effect.

EU and UK right of withdrawal. If you live in the EU, EEA or UK, you can withdraw from a paid plan or coin pack purchase within 14 days of buying it. This right ends once you ask us to give you immediate access and acknowledge that you lose the right of withdrawal (for example, when Premium unlocks right away or coins are added to your wallet). To withdraw, email begreat@brokecollegekid.com, or for App Store or Google Play purchases, contact Apple or Google.

10. Refunds

Web purchases are not refundable for partial billing periods except where required by law or at our discretion; email us to request a review. For purchases through the App Store or Google Play, ask Apple or Google for a refund under their policies. EU, EEA and UK users also have the right of withdrawal described in Section 9.

11. Coins and Gifts

18+ only. Coins and gifts are only for members 18 and older. Members under 18 can't buy coins or send or receive gifts, even if a Gift button or the gift gallery is shown to them.

Buying coins. You must be 18 or older to buy BCK Coins, and you confirm this before your first purchase. Coins are sold on our website through Stripe and, where offered, in the iPhone and Android apps through Apple or Google in-app purchase. One coin has a face value of one cent for pricing only. Coins have no cash value for buyers, can't be exchanged, sold or transferred for money, never expire, and can only be used to send gifts in the app.

Refunds. Coin purchases are final and non-refundable except where required by law or by the app store's policy. If a payment is refunded or charged back, we remove the coins from that purchase, reverse gifts and creator earnings that haven't been paid out yet, and may pause gifting or cash-out while we review it.

Gifts. Gifting is voluntary and final. You can't gift yourself, members who blocked you or whom you blocked, or members who muted you. To keep gifting safe there are daily limits on coin purchases (default $500 per day) and on gifts sent (default 50,000 coins per day), plus a short-term rate limit. We may change these limits.

Creator payouts. Only creators who are 18 or older, accept the creator terms and complete Stripe identity and tax verification can receive gifts and cash out. Creators earn 60% of each gift's coin face value; Black Side Development Group LLC keeps 40% as its platform fee, which also covers payment and app store fees. Earnings are held for 30 days (the refund window), then can be cashed out once at least $25.00 (2,500 coins) is available. Creators are responsible for their own taxes. Full details are in our Virtual Coins & Gifts Policy.

12. App store terms

These Terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support and is not responsible for claims about the app, including product liability or intellectual-property claims. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them. You represent that you are not in a country subject to a U.S. embargo or on a U.S. government prohibited-party list. Google Play purchases are also subject to Google Play's terms.

Where the service is available. The service is not offered in China, India, or in countries and regions under comprehensive U.S. sanctions (currently Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions). Don't use the service from those places.

13. Our intellectual property

The app, name, logo and our original content belong to us or our licensors. We give you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the service for personal, non-commercial purposes in accordance with these Terms. This does not transfer ownership to you.

14. Copyright complaints (DMCA)

If you believe content infringes your copyright, send a notice to our copyright agent at begreat@brokecollegekid.com or 539 W Commerce St, Dallas, TX 75208. Include: your physical or electronic signature; identification of the copyrighted work; the location of the allegedly infringing material in our service; your name, address, phone number and email; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is unauthorized; and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner.

If your content was removed by mistake, you may send a counter-notice to the same contact. Include your signature, identification and former location of the removed content, a statement under penalty of perjury that removal resulted from mistake or misidentification, and your name, address and phone number. You must also consent to the jurisdiction of the appropriate U.S. federal court for your address (or, if outside the U.S., any U.S. judicial district where we may be found) and accept service of process from the complainant. We may terminate accounts of repeat infringers.

15. Feedback

If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without payment or obligation to you.

16. Third-party links and services

The service may link to third-party sites or use outside services. We do not control their content or practices. Their own terms and privacy policies apply.

17. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, the service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access, accuracy or particular results. Nothing here limits rights you cannot waive under applicable law.

18. Limits on liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages. Our total liability for claims relating to the service is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or $50. These limits do not apply where the law does not allow them.

19. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend and indemnify us against third-party claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your content, your misuse of the service or your violation of these Terms. This does not limit any rights you have under applicable law.

20. Ending use

You can delete your account in Settings. We may suspend or end access if you break these Terms or if needed to protect the service or others. Provisions that should continue by their nature, including ownership, licenses for copies others made, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification and terms on disputes, survive termination. Deleting an account does not automatically cancel a subscription billed by Apple or Google; cancel it in your store account.

21. Disputes and governing law

(a) Contact us first. Before bringing any claim, email begreat@brokecollegekid.com with a description of the issue and your account email. Give us 30 days to try to resolve it informally. We will work with you in good faith.

(b) U.S. users: individual arbitration. If you live in the United States and we can't resolve a dispute informally, it will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Either of us may instead bring an individual claim in small-claims court. Claims may be brought only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class action, class arbitration or other representative proceeding. We pay any arbitration filing fees beyond what you would pay to file in court. Texas law governs these Terms, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, along with the Federal Arbitration Act.

You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing begreat@brokecollegekid.com with "Arbitration opt-out" in the subject line and your account email. If you opt out, or if a claim can't be arbitrated, it will be brought in the state or federal courts in Dallas County, Texas, or in small-claims court. If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable for a claim, that claim goes to court, not arbitration.

(c) EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland. If you live in the EU, EEA, UK or Switzerland, the mandatory consumer protection laws of your country apply, and you may bring claims in your local courts. EU users can also use any out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under the Digital Services Act for disputes about our moderation decisions.

(d) Your non-waivable rights. Nothing in these Terms limits rights that can't be waived under the law that applies to you.

22. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms and will post the new version here. We will notify you by email or in the app about material changes. Continued use after the updated Terms take effect means you accept them; if you do not agree, stop using the service.

23. Other legal details

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement about the service. If one part is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our consent; we may assign ours in connection with a business transfer, subject to applicable law.

24. Contact

Black Side Development Group LLC, a Texas limited liability company
Email: begreat@brokecollegekid.com
Mailing address: 539 W Commerce St, Dallas, TX 75208