Use the directory with care.

EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2026 · LAST UPDATED AUGUST 1, 2026 · VERSION 1.0

These Terms of Service govern access to and use of BLACK OWNED HERE., including its public directory, accounts, business-listing tools, saved businesses, reviews, corrections, and editorial or community contributions when those features are enabled. BLACK OWNED HERE. is operated by Roger Mitchell. By using the service, you agree to these terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Eligibility and minors

People under 13 may not use the service or create an account. People ages 13 through 17 may use public discovery features only with permission and supervision from a parent or legal guardian. Business listing, ownership attestation, claim, and owner-management tools are for adults who are authorized to act for the business. Youth-run listing types remain unavailable unless adult management and the required safety, privacy, and moderation controls are in place.

Directory role

BLACK OWNED HERE. helps people discover businesses and eligible community organizations. It is not the seller, service provider, employer, licensing authority, insurer, booking agent, or payment processor for a listed organization. Purchases, appointments, delivery, refunds, warranties, and disputes occur with the business or its linked provider. Users should independently evaluate a business before a purchase or engagement.

Accounts and security

• Provide accurate information and keep account credentials private.
• Do not impersonate another person or business, share an account to evade controls, or attempt to access another person's private data.
• Notify security@blackownedhere.com if you reasonably believe an account or the service has been compromised.
• Authentication messages such as confirmation and password reset may be handled by the authentication provider. Application-owned messages may be recorded in the account dashboard even when external email is delayed or unavailable.

Listing eligibility and submissions

A for-profit listing represented as Black-owned must be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by one or more Black people. Nonprofits and community organizations are evaluated under the distinct standards stated in the Listing Standards and are not called Black-owned by default. Submitters must be authorized to provide the information, attest honestly, and have the rights needed for submitted text, images, logos, and links.

Owners edit private drafts. A submitted version is preserved for review, and later owner edits do not replace the currently published version until a new version is approved. Submission does not guarantee acceptance, publication, placement, or a verification label. BLACK OWNED HERE. does not infer Black ownership from a name, appearance, photograph, neighborhood, or social-media presentation.

Verification and paid visibility

Verification labels describe only the specific evidence or control reviewed. They are not government certification and do not guarantee ownership beyond the stated review, quality, licensing, safety, legal compliance, availability, or customer satisfaction. Payment may never purchase credibility, ownership status, verification, reviews, or a moderation outcome. Any future paid placement must be clearly disclosed and governed by a ranking policy.

User content and intellectual property

Submitters retain their rights in original content. By submitting content, the submitter grants BLACK OWNED HERE. a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, format, resize, review, display, and distribute approved content as needed to operate and promote the service. The submitter represents that the content and this permission do not violate another person's rights. Content may be edited for formatting, accessibility, safety, or accuracy without changing its material meaning.

Report copyright, trademark, or other intellectual-property concerns to legal@blackownedhere.com with the work or right at issue, the location of the challenged material, contact information, and a good-faith explanation. Do not send passwords, government ID numbers, or unrelated private records.

Reviews and contributions

When reviews are enabled, signed-in members may submit honest, first-hand experiences. Every review and business response is private until an Administrator approves it. Fabricated, retaliatory, discriminatory, unlawful, irrelevant, promotional, privacy-invasive, or conflicted reviews may be rejected or removed. Owners may respond but may not edit, remove, suppress, or retaliate against reviews. A rejected reviewer may submit one appeal within 30 days. News, Culture, resource, and community contributions must be original or appropriately attributed, include a source where requested, disclose relevant relationships, and pass administrative review before publication.

Prohibited conduct and content

• False ownership claims, fraud, impersonation, manipulation, or moderation evasion.
• Malware, malicious links, unlawful material, confidential records, doxxing, threats, harassment, discrimination, exploitation, or content that endangers another person.
• Scraping or automated access that disregards published controls, disrupts service, or unlawfully copies protected content or private data.
• Attempts to bypass access controls, probe private systems without authorization, overload the service, or reverse engineer it in violation of applicable law.

Moderation, corrections, appeals, and removal

Administrators may request information, reject a submission, limit visibility, suspend, unpublish, or remove content or accounts to enforce these terms, protect users, address legal or security risk, or preserve directory integrity. A business owner or affected person may use the correction link on a business profile or the support form to explain an error, request removal, or ask for reconsideration. Appeals are reviewed using the submitted record and any clarification provided; a particular outcome or response deadline is not guaranteed.

Privacy and communications

The Privacy Policy explains how information is handled. Operational, security, account, privacy, and listing-status communications may be sent when needed to provide the service. Delivery is not guaranteed, so signed-in users should also check their account and notification pages. Marketing communications, if introduced, must provide the choices required by applicable law.

Third-party services and links

Hosting, authentication, database, storage, analytics, and optional email delivery rely on third-party providers. External websites, maps, booking, ordering, social, payment, or contact services are controlled by their operators and subject to their own terms and privacy practices. A link or directory listing is not an endorsement or guarantee.

Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, the service and its content are provided “as is” and “as available.” Listings may be incomplete, inaccurate, or become outdated. No promise is made that the service will always be available, secure, error-free, or suitable for a particular purpose. Nothing on the service is legal, financial, medical, licensing, or other professional advice.

Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Roger Mitchell and BLACK OWNED HERE. are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost profits or data, or harm arising from a listed business, third-party service, user content, unauthorized access, or inability to use the service. Applicable law may not allow every limitation, so these limits apply only to the extent permitted.

Your responsibility

You are responsible for your conduct, submissions, business dealings, and compliance with applicable law. To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend and indemnify Roger Mitchell and BLACK OWNED HERE. from third-party claims arising from your unlawful conduct, your breach of these terms, or content you submitted without required authority or rights.

Suspension, termination, and service changes

You may stop using the service at any time and may request account deletion through the privacy-request process. Access or content may be suspended or terminated when reasonably necessary for safety, security, legal compliance, abuse prevention, or these terms. Features may change or pause, but material policy changes will be dated and published before or when they take effect as required by applicable law.

Governing law and severability

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where another law must apply. If a provision cannot be enforced, the remaining provisions continue to apply. Subject to mandatory law, disputes will be heard in the state or federal courts serving Suffolk, Virginia. These terms and incorporated policies are the agreement governing use of the service unless a separate written agreement applies.

Questions and legal notices

BLACK OWNED HERE. is operated by Roger Mitchell. A mailing address may be provided when legally required or through an appropriate formal legal request. The operator’s private mailing address is not a public business location. Questions about these terms or legal notices may be sent to legal@blackownedhere.com. General support is available at support@blackownedhere.com or through the contact form.