How renting on Lend Local works.

What Lend Local is

Lend Local is a marketplace that connects neighbors: lenders list items they own, renters book and pay for them, and the two of you meet locally to hand things over. The items belong to the lenders — Lend Local isn’t a party to the rental itself, but we handle the booking, payment, deposit, and messaging that make it work.

Accounts

Use your real name — it appears on your listings, requests, and messages, because neighbors lend to people they can trust. You’re responsible for what happens on your account.

Booking and paying

• Requesting dates is free. You pay only after the lender approves, and an approval holds your dates for 24 hours.
• At checkout you pay the rent, Hawaii general excise tax, and a refundable deposit, each shown as a separate line. Lend Local adds no booking fee on top.
• First rental only: we run a one-time identity check (a government ID plus a selfie match) before your first payment, shown as a $1.50 line item at checkout. It’s charged once, ever — every rental after that skips it. This protects both sides against fraud and theft as the marketplace grows.
• You can cancel any time before pickup for a full refund, deposit included. Refunds usually appear on your card within 5–10 days.

Where your money goes

We believe in showing you exactly who takes what. On a rental, here’s the split:

What the renter pays: the rent, Hawaii GET, and a refundable deposit — plus a one-time $1.50 ID verification fee on your very first rental only. Nothing else, ever.

• Hawaii GET — the state general excise tax, shown at the maximum pass-on rate allowed on Oʻahu (4.712%). Lend Local remits this to the State of Hawaii; we keep none of it.
• Your deposit is fully refundable and is never a fee — you get all of it back when the item comes home in good shape.

What comes out of the lender’s side — the way a shop absorbs card fees rather than charging you extra:

• Lend Local’s service fee — 5% of the rent. That’s our only cut, and it never touches the deposit or the tax.
• Card processing — charged by our payment processor, Stripe (currently 2.9% + 30¢ per charge). It isn’t money Lend Local keeps; it goes to Stripe.
• The lender receives the rest of the rent — often around 91% of it, less when a small rental carries a large deposit. The earnings calculator shows the exact split.

Pickup, return, and photos

• At pickup, look the item over together before it changes hands.
• Both of you take timestamped photos of the item at pickup and again at return. Phones timestamp photos automatically.
• Damage claims aren’t valid without those photos. This protects both sides equally.
• Return the item on time, in the condition you received it.

Deposits, damage, and returns

When the lender confirms a good return, the deposit refunds automatically. If the lender neither confirms the return nor reports a problem within 48 hours of the end date, the deposit is released back to you automatically. If something came back damaged, the lender holds off on confirming and reports the problem — with the pickup and return photos — so it can be reviewed. A deposit can be withheld up to its full amount to cover documented damage.

If damage exceeds the deposit, or an item isn’t returned, you remain responsible for the repair or replacement cost. By booking, you authorize Lend Local to charge the payment method you used for that amount, based on the lender’s report and the timestamped photos you both took. Every rental is tied to your real name and payment details.

Items that aren’t returned may be reported to law enforcement, and unpaid balances may be referred to collections — though we’d always rather sort it out with a message first.

What can’t be listed

No weapons, nothing illegal, nothing recalled or unsafe, and no motor vehicles for now. Listings that don’t belong get removed.

You’re renting from a neighbor, not from Lend Local

Every item belongs to the lender who listed it, not to Lend Local. Lend Local does not own, inspect, maintain, store, or insure any item, and makes no representation or warranty that any item is safe, working, or fit for any particular use. Lend Local operates the marketplace only — the booking, payment, deposit, and messaging — and is not a rental company, is not a party to any rental, and has no role in what happens between pickup and return.

Using a rented item is at your own risk

Many items on Lend Local — surfboards, kayaks, bikes, power tools, camping gear, and more — carry real risk of injury, illness, death, or property damage when used, regardless of who owns them. By requesting, renting, or lending an item on Lend Local, you assume all risk of using or lending that item. Inspect anything you rent before you use it, use it only as intended, and do not use anything that seems unsafe.

Lenders must be honest about an item’s condition and any risk or instruction a renter needs to use it safely, and are expected to use good judgment about who they’re handing an item to — for example, before lending power tools to someone unfamiliar with them, or an e-bike to someone who’s never ridden one, make sure they know what they’re taking on. This is a standard of good judgment between neighbors, not a background check, safety certification, or guarantee by Lend Local, and it does not shift any risk described above away from the renter.

What Lend Local isn’t responsible for

To the fullest extent the law allows, Lend Local, its owners, employees, and contractors are not liable for injury, illness, death, or property loss or damage arising from a rental — including from an item’s condition, how it is used, or any interaction between a renter and a lender. This applies regardless of legal theory, including negligence and breach of contract. Where a jurisdiction does not permit a limit of this kind, this limitation applies to the maximum extent that jurisdiction does allow.

Any liability Lend Local does have is capped at the total fees Lend Local actually collected on the booking at issue. Lend Local is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including lost income or the cost of a replacement rental elsewhere.

This section does not limit a renter’s responsibility for damage or non-return described above, or a lender’s responsibility for what they list and represent.

You release Lend Local from claims between members

To the fullest extent the law allows, by using Lend Local you release Lend Local from every claim, demand, and damages arising from another member — including a lender’s item, a renter’s use of it, and any injury, death, theft, or property loss connected to a rental. Disputes, damage, and injuries between a renter and a lender are between the two of them. Lend Local may help facilitate a resolution but is not a party to the dispute and is not responsible for resolving or paying for it beyond what a deposit covers.

You’ll cover us if something goes wrong

You agree to indemnify and hold Lend Local harmless from any claim, fine, or legal demand arising from your listing, your rental, how you used or represented an item, or your violation of these terms — including reasonable legal fees.

Who can use Lend Local

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a contract to rent, lend, or list on Lend Local.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Hawaiʻi, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and any dispute not resolved directly between members will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hawaiʻi.

If part of this doesn’t hold up

If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, every remaining part still applies in full, and the unenforceable part is narrowed only as much as needed to make it enforceable rather than struck entirely.

The honest fine print

Rentals happen between neighbors, and items are lent as-is — use good judgment with anything you borrow or lend. We’re a small, growing service: these terms are a community agreement, they may evolve, and we’ll keep them readable when they do.

Questions

Email us any time at info@lendlocalapp.com, message us through the app, or start with the how it works section.