Legal · Housing Search

Housing Search — Terms of Use

Last updated: August 2026

1. Scope of These Terms

Student in the Netherlands ("we", "us", "our") is an advisory service operated by Milan Magyar and Andrei Alexandru Nita, helping international students navigate their move to the Netherlands. We can be reached at studentinthenetherlands@gmail.com.

These Terms of Use apply specifically to the Housing Search service ("the Service"). The Service is a separate, standalone offering from The Program — it is not a Program offer or a reduced version of it. Our general Terms of Service govern The Program and the Student Income Program. Where these Terms of Use are silent on a matter, our general Terms of Service and Privacy Policy apply in addition.

By purchasing the Service, you agree to these Terms of Use. Please read them carefully before completing your purchase.

2. The Service

Housing Search is our service for students moving to Groningen who need help finding rental housing. On your behalf, we:

  • Search rental platforms and private listings for properties within your stated minimum requirements — budget, location, and property type
  • Contact landlords and agencies about available properties
  • Verify the landlord and listing before every viewing
  • Attend every viewing on your behalf, or together with you if you would like to join in person or virtually
  • Give you a private WhatsApp group with our team for direct communication throughout your search

Every property we put forward falls within the minimum requirements you give us at the start of your search. The final decision on any property, including whether to sign a rental contract, is always yours.

We do not guarantee that we will find you housing, nor do we guarantee a specific outcome, price, location, property type, or timeframe. The Service is advisory and search assistance, carried out with genuine effort on our part, but it does not constitute a promise of results.

3. When the Search Begins

We begin actively searching for properties on your behalf as soon as your first payment is received and cleared. No search activity takes place before payment.

4. Estimated Timeframe

Based on our past experience, most searches take 45 to 60 days from the first payment. This is heavily dependent on your requirements: the more specific or restrictive your budget, location, move-in date, or other conditions, the longer the search is likely to take.

This timeframe is a good-faith estimate only. It is not a guaranteed or contractual deadline, and it does not create any obligation on our part to secure housing within that window. Your rights under Section 8 (Refund Policy) are not affected by whether this estimate is met.

5. Payment Terms

All payments are processed securely through Stripe. We do not store your card details. By completing a purchase, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service in addition to ours.

The Service is paid for in two parts:

  • First payment (€99.90): due at checkout, before we begin searching on your behalf. This fee covers the cost of running your search and is non-refundable except as set out in Section 8 (Refund Policy).
  • Second payment: due once a rental contract is signed, as described in Section 6. The amount is fixed to the total price of the housing type secured — currently €599.90 total for a Room, €799.90 total for a Studio, or €999.90 total for an Apartment — minus the first payment already made.

Only one second payment will ever be requested per placement, matched to whichever housing type is secured, never the highest tier by default. All prices are in Euros (EUR) and inclusive of applicable taxes unless stated otherwise.

6. Scope of the Second Payment: Any Housing Counts

Your search with us is active from the moment your first payment clears until either a rental contract is signed for a home you keep, or the engagement ends under Section 8 (Refund Policy).

While your search with us is active, it does not matter who found the property. If you sign a rental contract for any rental home during that time, whether we found it, introduced it to you, or you found it entirely on your own, the second payment becomes due for that housing type, exactly as set out in Section 5.

There are only two situations in which the second payment is not owed:

  • No housing is found at all during your search with us; or
  • Nothing is found within the first 30 days of your first payment, and you request a refund of your first payment under Section 8.

Outside of these two situations, the second payment is always due once you have secured housing, regardless of how it was found.

7. Second Payment Deadline & Non-Payment Penalty

Once you sign a rental contract for a rental property while your search with us is active (see Section 6), you become contractually obligated to pay the second payment. It is due within 14 days of the date the rental contract is signed. We will send an invoice to your registered email address once we are made aware that a contract has been signed.

You agree to inform us promptly once you sign any rental contract during your search with us, whether or not we found the property, so that this deadline can be tracked accurately.

Non-payment penalty. If the second payment is not made within 14 days of the contract signing date, the following consequences apply:

  • An immediate contractual penalty (boetebeding) of €2,500 becomes due, in addition to the original outstanding second payment.
  • We reserve the right to initiate legal proceedings or engage a debt collection agency to recover all amounts owed, including the second payment, the contractual penalty, and all associated legal and collection costs.
  • You will be liable for all extrajudicial collection costs (buitengerechtelijke incassokosten) calculated in accordance with the Dutch Extrajudicial Collection Costs Act (Wet incassokosten).
  • We reserve the right to report the matter to relevant consumer protection and rental market authorities.

This clause is a material part of the agreement between you and Student in the Netherlands, and by purchasing the Service you explicitly acknowledge and accept these terms. The purpose of this clause is to protect the time, effort, and resources invested by our team in finding and securing your housing.

8. Refund Policy

No-results refund. If 30 days have passed since your first payment and no rental contract has been signed, you may request a full refund of your first payment at any time after that point, for as long as no rental contract has been signed. Requesting this refund is entirely optional and at your sole discretion — you are welcome to keep working with us past the 30-day mark without requesting one. Once a refund is issued, we stop searching on your behalf and this agreement ends.

This refund option no longer applies once you have signed a rental contract for any rental property — at that point, Section 7 (Second Payment Deadline & Non-Payment Penalty) governs instead.

Statutory right of withdrawal. Under Dutch and EU consumer law, online purchases of services ordinarily come with a 14-day right of withdrawal. By purchasing the Service, you explicitly request that we begin performing it — actively searching on your behalf — immediately, before that 14-day period has expired, as described in Section 3. You acknowledge that once the Service has been fully performed (a signed rental contract has been secured), your statutory right of withdrawal no longer applies. If the Service has not yet been fully performed, the no-results refund above sets out your rights.

Outside of the cases described in this Section, payments made under the Service are non-refundable.

9. Your Responsibilities

By using the Service, you agree to:

  • Provide accurate and up-to-date information about your budget, preferred location, timeline, and housing requirements
  • Respond to our messages and property suggestions in a reasonably timely manner — delays on your part may extend how long the search takes
  • Let us know if you would like to join a viewing yourself, in person or virtually
  • Inform us promptly once you sign a rental contract for any property, whether found by us or by you
  • Not misrepresent yourself or your intentions to landlords or agencies
  • Use the Service only for lawful purposes related to your own move to the Netherlands
  • Honour all payment obligations arising from your purchase, including the second payment and any applicable penalty under Section 7

10. Intellectual Property

Any materials, guides, or communications we provide as part of the Service remain the intellectual property of Student in the Netherlands and are for your personal use only. You may not reproduce, distribute, or share them with others without our written permission.

11. Limitation of Liability

The Service is advisory and search-assistance in nature. We provide effort and expertise based on our experience with the Groningen rental market, but we cannot guarantee that housing will be found, nor the price, quality, or condition of any property, nor the conduct of any landlord or agency we introduce you to.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Student in the Netherlands shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service, including but not limited to housing loss, financial loss, or delays in your move.

Our total liability to you shall not exceed the total amount you have paid us under the Service.

12. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers, including:

  • Stripe — payment processing
  • Supabase — secure data storage
  • Resend — transactional email

We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or terms of these third-party services. Your use of them is subject to their respective terms and privacy policies.

13. Governing Law

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Any disputes arising from or relating to these terms or the Service shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Netherlands.

If you are an EU consumer, you also have the right to use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Use from time to time. We will notify existing Housing Search customers of material changes via email. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

15. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us at studentinthenetherlands@gmail.com.