Review Guidelines · v1.0-draft

Review Guidelines and moderation policy.

What we require before publishing a review, what we do with high-risk content, and how businesses and individuals raise concerns.

Draft — pending Australian legal review

Draft for Australian legal review. This policy wording is not final and must be reviewed by an Australian lawyer before production launch.

1. Write about what you experienced

Describe your own first-hand experience, with dates and context where you can.
Separate what happened from how you feel about it — the form asks for both.
Criticism is welcome. Fabrication, exaggeration and second-hand rumour are not.
Do not include private contact details, other people's information, or information that could identify a child.
Competitors must not review each other. Businesses must not incentivise or write reviews of themselves.

2. The reviewer declaration

Every reviewer must make this declaration before submitting. The declaration is stored with a timestamp, the reviewer's user ID, the review ID and the Terms version in force (v1.0-draft).

1.I personally had the experience I am describing.
2.The verification evidence I have provided is genuine and relates to me.
3.This review reflects my honestly held experience and opinion.
4.Factual statements in my review are true to the best of my knowledge.
5.I am not knowingly posting false or misleading information.
6.I am not a competitor of this business acting maliciously.
7.I accept the Property Rank Terms of Use and Review Guidelines.

3. Verification and your documents

Verified Experience means Property Rank obtained evidence that the reviewer had the relationship they claim with this property, business or professional. It does not mean Property Rank independently verified every allegation in the written review.

Redaction

You may black out anything not needed to prove the relationship — bank details, tax file numbers, dates of birth, other people's details. We only need enough to confirm the relationship, the address or business, and the approximate dates.

Document handling

Verification documents are stored separately from public review content.
Documents are never published and are not shown to the business being reviewed.
Access is restricted to trained verification staff and logged in an audit trail.
Documents are never shared with a lawyer or any third party without your explicit, separate consent for each document.

4. High-risk content

Some content is automatically routed to a human moderator before it can be published. Flagged content is routed to a human moderator. Property Rank does not remove legitimate criticism simply because it is negative.

Possible threat or intimidationPossible personal address or identifying detailPrivate contact details detectedInformation that may identify a childCriminal allegationFraud, theft or corruption allegationDiscrimination allegationSexual misconduct allegationMedical or health allegationExtreme personal abuseAccusation unrelated to the property experience

5. Review statuses

Draft: Started but not submitted.
Pending verification: Submitted; relationship evidence not yet assessed. Not public.
Pending: Verified relationship; awaiting moderation. Not public.
Published: Live on the profile and counted in the score.
Under Review: Being assessed against the Review Guidelines.
Challenged: A business has disputed the review; reviewer re-verification requested.
Temporarily Hidden: Restricted while an assessment or legal complaint is completed.
Removed: Removed following assessment.
Rejected: Did not meet publication requirements.

Internal moderation fields recorded on every case: Identity verified, Relationship verified, Relationship dates recorded, Evidence supplied, Evidence reviewed, Risk flags raised, Business challenged, Legal escalation, Policy violation, Duplicate, Suspicious activity.

6. Reports, challenges and legal complaints

These are three separate processes with separate deadlines and outcomes.

Report a review

Anyone · Flag content that may breach the Review Guidelines.

Case number issued and timestamped
Automated risk screen re-run
Moderator assessment against the guidelines
Temporary restriction applied only where warranted
Outcome recorded in the audit history

Content retained, edited by the reviewer, restricted or removed.

Challenge a review

Claimed businesses · Dispute that the reviewer had the claimed relationship, or dispute specific factual assertions.

Case number issued with a business response deadline
Business supplies its evidence
Reviewer asked to re-verify the relationship within the deadline
Moderator compares both evidence sets
Business right of reply remains available throughout

Review upheld, amended, restricted or removed. Both parties notified.

Formal legal complaint

Businesses, individuals or their representatives · Raise a legal issue such as an alleged defamatory imputation or privacy breach.

Case number, timestamp and escalation status recorded
Complaint acknowledged with a stated response deadline
Temporary restriction considered while assessed
Reviewer notified and given an opportunity to respond
Assessment documented with a complete audit history

Documented determination. Escalation path recorded.

7. Your rights as a reviewer

Edit your review
Withdraw or delete your review where legally and operationally permitted
Respond to a verification or re-verification request
Ask how your evidence is stored and who has accessed it

8. About the content on Property Rank

Reviews on Property Rank are user-generated and describe the individual experiences and opinions of the people who submit them.
Reviewers are responsible for the content they submit and declare that it is honestly held and true to the best of their knowledge.
Property Rank does not endorse individual reviews and does not guarantee every factual assertion made in them.
Verification confirms that a reviewer had the relationship they claim — it does not confirm every allegation in the review.
Property Rank maintains moderation, review-challenge, report and legal-complaint processes, and acts on them.