Version 4: June 2026
1Introduction
1.1Welcome to our website and thank you for visiting us! These terms and conditions, together with our privacy policy, govern our relationship with you in relation to this website. Please read both documents carefully.
1.2These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”), together with our Privacy Policy, govern your use of the MortgageMAX website operated by MortgageMAX, a business unit of BetterLife Origination Services Proprietary Limited (registration number 2001/003522/07) (“MortgageMAX”, “us” or “we”), a division of BetterHome Group Limited (“BetterHome”), at www.mortgagemax.co.za and any associated MortgageMAX web portals.
1.3By accessing or using this website, you (“User” or “you”) agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not accept these Terms, please discontinue use immediately. Continued use of this website following publication of an updated version of these Terms constitutes acceptance of those updated Terms. We may update these Terms at any time by publishing the revised version on our website.
1.4This website is intended for users accessing it from within the Republic of South Africa.
2Use of the website
2.1This website is made available for your personal, non-commercial use. You are responsible for ensuring your hardware, software and internet connection is compatible with and adequately protected for use of this website. By using this website, you acknowledge and warrant that:
2.1.1any instruction submitted through this website is valid, and you authorise BetterHome to act on them; and
2.1.2you have full legal capacity to enter into and be bound by these Terms (or, if a minor, that you have your guardian’s consent and assistance).
2.2BetterHome may modify, withdraw or restrict access to this website at any time and is entitled to remove or amend material you submit to the website. BetterHome does not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free access or the security of the website.
2.3You may print or download content from this website for personal, non-commercial use only, provided that you do not modify the materials, our copyright and trademark notices are retained, and you remove any cached content upon our request. Redistribution or republication of any material without our prior written consent is prohibited.
2.4BetterHome reserves the right to lay criminal charges, suspend your access and/or claim damages for any breach of these Terms or applicable law.
3Content
3.1The information on this website is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial, legal, tax or professional advice. You should not make decisions based on information on this website without considering your personal circumstances or obtaining appropriate professional advice.
3.2We do not warrant that the information on this website is accurate, complete or current. You should verify all information independently before relying on it. We reserve the right to alter or remove content at any time without notice.
3.3This website may contain links to third-party websites. BetterHome does not control, endorse or accept liability for the content, security or consequences of accessing any linked website.
3.4Email communications from BetterHome may be confidential. If you receive an email not intended for you, please notify us immediately and destroy the message. BetterHome accepts no liability for information that is corrupted or does not reach its intended recipient.
4No offer
4.1Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to enter into a contractual relationship, other than these Terms themselves. BetterHome acts as a facilitator and/or broker in relation to financial products and services. All such services are subject to the completion of the required application forms, applicable product-provider approval processes, and the Services Terms and Conditions of the relevant subsidiary. BetterHome reserves the right to reject any application at its discretion.
5Personal and confidential information
5.1By providing your personal information (as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, "POPIA") through any channel, including this website, online forms, WhatsApp, email or any other digital or physical submission channel, you consent to the use, collection, processing, sharing and storing of that information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
5.2Transmission of sensitive information via the internet or other unsecured channels cannot be guaranteed to be secure. Please contact us if you require guidance on a more secure alternative.
5.3MortgageMAX may disclose your personal information to law enforcement or as required by a court order, subpoena or applicable law, including in connection with criminal investigations or suspected unlawful activity.
5.4Personal information may be transferred or stored outside South Africa for lawful purposes (e.g. secure hosting or backup), subject to POPIA’s cross-border transfer requirements.
5.5We may collect additional personal information through secure channels such as recorded telephone calls, WhatsApp, email or SMS where required to deliver our services.
5.6By using this website and submitting information through any channel, you acknowledge and consent to the use of secure, controlled artificial intelligence and transcription tools as part of the Services, which may be used to transcribe, analyse, summarise or otherwise process information you submit. Such tools are used solely to support service delivery, quality assurance, accuracy, record-keeping and regulatory compliance. They are operated in secure environments by authorised service providers subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection obligations, and are implemented in accordance with applicable law and BetterHome’s Acceptable Use of AI Policy. Your personal information will not be used to train public or open AI models. AI-enabled tools will not be used to make solely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant consequences for you without appropriate human oversight, where required by applicable law. All processing of your personal information remains subject to POPIA and applicable data protection legislation, and you retain all rights afforded thereunder.
5.7Where you contact us or are contacted by us via telephone, please note that calls conducted through BetterHome’s company-designated communication platforms and lines are recorded. Recordings are made for quality assurance, training, record-keeping, compliance and regulatory purposes, and are retained in accordance with our data retention policies. By continuing a call on a recorded line, you consent to that call being recorded. Where a call is conducted via a personal device or personal telephone line, that call is not recorded by BetterHome. You may at any time request information regarding whether a specific call was recorded by contacting us at the relevant address set out in clause 14.
6Transmission of information
6.1Information transmitted via the internet is susceptible to monitoring and interception. Use of this website is at your own risk. MortgageMAX gives no warranties and will not be liable for any damage arising from the transmission of information to or from this website or unauthorised access to your information.
6.2Except for personal and private information, any material you post to this website is considered non-proprietary and non-confidential, and MortgageMAX may use, publish and distribute it as it sees fit.
6.3You may not post or transmit material through this website that:
6.3.1contains harmful code, viruses, corrupted data or other malicious software;
6.3.2is unlawful, discriminatory, threatening, defamatory, obscene or pornographic; or
6.3.3constitutes deep-linking, embedding, scraping or similar activity.
7Cookie and other tracking technologies
7.1This website uses cookies and tracking technologies to gather usage data (such as browser type and visitor numbers) to improve user experience. You may manage or reject cookies through your browser settings or via the consent pop-up on our website. Cookies do not access data on your hard drive. Only aggregated cookie data is shared with third parties.
7.2By using this website, you consent to MortgageMAX monitoring internet and email traffic on our website to customise our services, ensure compliance with these Terms, and detect and prevent unauthorised use.
8Limitation of liability and indemnity
8.1While we endeavour to keep the information on this website accurate, we do not accept liability for:
8.1.1direct or indirect loss arising from information on the website or transactions resulting from it;
8.1.2any loss resulting from your reliance on or use of this website;
8.1.3physical damage to your device, including damage arising from a virus; or
8.1.4business losses including lost data, lost profits or business interruption.
8.2Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for fraud or any matter that cannot lawfully be excluded.
8.3You indemnify MortgageMAX against any claim, loss, damage, cost or liability (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your use of or access to this website.
9MortgageMAX Service Waiver
9.1MortgageMAX, a business division of BetterLife Origination Services Proprietary Limited, provides home loan origination services (“Origination Services”) by acting as a referral partner between you and a panel of credit providers and financial institutions. All Origination Services are delivered in accordance with applicable legislation, recognised industry best practices, and the banking-related eligibility and credit assessment criteria applied by our lending partners. Your financial situation is unique. You remain responsible for evaluating your own circumstances and, where necessary, obtaining independent financial, tax or legal advice before making any commitment. You should never take up a home loan that will stretch your repayment capacity to its maximum.
9.2By electing to use the Origination Services, you authorise MortgageMAX to: (a) assess your eligibility and financial profile in accordance with applicable credit and lending criteria; (b) submit your application to one or more credit providers and/or financial institutions on your behalf; (c) liaise with the relevant credit provider or financial institution to obtain, collate and submit all documentation required to support your application, including documentation evidencing the sale of the relevant immovable property; and (d) provide you with information regarding the pricing, interest rates, fees and terms of any credit agreement offered, to enable you to make an informed decision before accepting any offer.
9.3All financial product information provided during the Origination Services process is indicative only and subject to change. The binding terms of any credit agreement will be those set out in the written agreement issued by the relevant credit provider or financial institution at the time of conclusion.
9.4We act as a referral partner to various credit providers for credit applications. You may request a list of credit providers with whom we are associated. We will receive a commission from the credit provider with whom you conclude a credit agreement with. This commission includes a base commission calculated as a percentage of the loan amount granted, as well as additional commission that may be earned based on further incentives, including the volume of business placed with a particular credit provider. As a result, the total commission paid to us may vary between credit providers. You may request the commission paid to us for your credit agreement.
9.5These Website Terms and Conditions constitute the primary and entire contractual document governing your use of the MortgageMAX Origination Services. MortgageMAX does not currently issue standalone Services Terms and Conditions. MortgageMAX reserves the right to introduce such terms at any time, which will be published and made available to Users accordingly.
9.6Upon or following your acceptance of an offer from a credit provider or financial institution, MortgageMAX and other BetterHome subsidiaries may, with your consent, present you with information regarding financial products and value-add services that may be of interest to you, including but not limited to home loan protection, home owner’s insurance, and other products relevant to your transaction (“Value-Add Products”). The provision of Value-Add Products is subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant subsidiary or third-party product provider, and acceptance of any such product is entirely at your election. No obligation to accept any Value-Add Product is imposed as a condition of the Origination Services. You may opt-out at any stage by informing us of this.
9.7Information collected in the course of providing the Origination Services shall, within reason, be shared for the purposes for which it was collected with companies within or affiliated with the BetterHome Group (including, without limitation, the entities listed in clause 15 below, i.e. SwitchX Proprietary Limited and Loom Property Insights Proprietary Limited), financial institutions, registered credit providers, and authorised service providers, including for credit checks, fraud checks, reporting to the South African Fraud Prevention Service, and for research purposes.
9.8Where an application for any financial product is a joint application or involves another party such as a surety or co-applicant, these Terms apply to all such parties. The User warrants that all co-applicants and sureties will be informed of and agree to be bound by these Terms. MortgageMAX makes provision for more than one applicant per application; however, it cannot be guaranteed that the personal information of co-applicants will not be disclosed to one another during the course of the bond application and registration process.
9.9MortgageMAX, a business division of BetterLife Origination Services Proprietary Limited, and its Licensees operate within the financial services industry and are regulated under the Mortgage Origination Regulatory Council of South Africa (”MORCSA”). As such, MortgageMAX and its Licensees are members of MORCSA and adhere to its regulatory framework and standards. For any queries regarding MORCSA, you may contact the Council directly at info@morcsa.org.za or visit their website at https://www.morcsa.org.za.
10No Fees to User; No Induced Influence
10.1.1No fees, charges or payments of any kind are payable by you to MortgageMAX in respect of the Origination Services. MortgageMAX is remunerated solely through commission received from the credit provider or financial institution with whom you conclude a credit agreement with, as disclosed in clause 9.4. You will not be charged for accessing, using or benefiting from the Origination Services, regardless of whether a credit agreement is ultimately concluded or not.
10.1.2MortgageMAX will not, at any time, apply undue pressure, inducement or influence to cause you to accept any particular offer, credit agreement or Value-Add Product. While we may receive varying commission from different credit providers and financial institutions (as disclosed in clause 9.4), this will never be used as a basis to steer, encourage or incentivise you toward any particular provider or product in a manner that is not in your best interest.
10.1.3You retain the absolute right to independently evaluate any offer presented to you and to accept, decline or defer any credit agreement or Value-Add Product without consequence to the Origination Services being provided to you. Acceptance of an offer is not a condition of receiving the Origination Services.
10.1.4MortgageMAX is committed to presenting all offers and options available to you objectively, without bias and in accordance with applicable legislation.
11MortgageMax Licensee Information
11.1A MortgageMAX Licensee is a person or business that has concluded a Licensing Agreement with MortgageMAX (the “Licensor”) to conduct Origination Services under the MortgageMAX brand (“Licensed Brand”) in accordance with the terms of that Licensing Agreement. Origination services carried out by a Licensee include:
11.1.1completing mortgage bond applications on your behalf with relevant credit providers and financial institutions;
11.1.2collating documentation required by the applicable credit provider or financial institution, including support for value-add products and property sale documentation; and
11.1.3providing information regarding the pricing, fees, your financial capacity, and the relevant credit provider or financial institution’s rights to insure the property.
11.2All MortgageMAX Licensees are regulated as members under MORCSA and must comply with its standards and codes of conduct. For queries regarding MORCSA, contact info@morcsa.org.za or visit https://www.morcsa.org.za.
12Credit Report Service Provider Terms
12.1Should you choose to make use of our services, you consent to a credit check being done as part of the MortgageMAX services you elect to use. You further consent to the following in respect of the registered credit bureau’s terms:
12.1.1To contact, request and obtain credit information (for the avoidance of doubt this includes any and all information held on your profile by the Credit Bureau including payment profile information) from a registered credit bureau for any purpose including to verify your identity, perform an assessment of your behaviour, profile, payment patterns, indebtedness, whereabouts, and creditworthiness, or risk associated with doing business with you or your company’s representative or for any other related purposes in any format (including but not limited to pdf, xml or raw data string) available and to continuously access your information from the credit bureau for as long as you may have a relationship with MortgageMAX or any of its subsidiaries and for a period of 24 (twenty-four) months thereafter.
12.1.2make any reasonable enquiries to verify and research any details provided by you or your representative to MortgageMAX or any of its subsidiaries;
12.1.3to access the information in any format, including online, batch and raw xml string and you consent that the enquiry should not be displayed on your credit profile if the enquiry was not performed for credit application purposes.
13Intellectual Property
13.1MortgageMAX and BetterHome Group are the sole and exclusive owners of all intellectual property rights in and to this website and its content, including trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade names, trade secrets, proprietary information and underlying databases. Unauthorised use of these intellectual property rights constitutes an offence and may give rise to criminal charges and/or a claim for all losses, damages and expenses incurred.
13.2You may not sublicense, resell, republish (including internet posting, electronic mailing, archiving in a public database, or redistributing via a computer network), reproduce, retransmit, disseminate, sell, broadcast, commercially exploit, adapt or circulate any content from this website without MortgageMAX’s prior written consent, which consent may be refused at MortgageMAX’s sole discretion.
14Prohibited Use
14.1You may not use this website in any way that could damage, overburden or impair MortgageMAX’s servers or networks, or interfere with any other party’s use of the website.
14.2You may not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any accounts, systems or networks through hacking, password mining or any other means.
14.3You may not use this website to conduct any business that competes with BetterHome or MortgageMAX, including but not limited to bond origination or insurance brokering, without prior written authorisation from MortgageMAX.
14.4MortgageMAX may deny access to this website at any time without notice if it determines, in its sole discretion, that any of the above restrictions are being breached.
15Queries and complaints
15.1If you have any queries or comments in relation to the website and/or these terms and conditions or should you no longer wish to receive communications from BetterHome related entities, please contact us at this address:
BetterHome Group — Complaintsandqueries@betterhome.co.za
MortgageMax — info@mortgagemax.co.za
BetterSure — marketing@bettersure.co.za
BetterID — info@betterid.co.za
16Disclosures required under section 43 of the Electronic and Communications Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECT Act”)
16.1The following disclosures are made in accordance with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECT Act”):
| Entity | Registration number | Physical address and domicilium | Tel number | Website address | Email address | Directors | Regulatory registrations | Membership of industry bodies | Terms relating to supply of services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetterHome Group Limited | 1992/000443/06 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 011 516 5500 | www.betterhome.co.za | info@BetterHome.co.za | 1. Botha, R; 2. Bruyns, C; 3. Ncguka, B; 4. Cuba, A; 5. Fleisschauer, K; 6. De Abreu, J; 7. Le Roux, J.D; 8. Small, J.W; 9. Cooke, JA. Alt: P Viljoen | N/A | N/A | Standard terms and conditions provided to you |
| MortgageMAX, a division of BetterLife Origination Services (Pty) Ltd | 2001/003522/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 011 516 5500 | www.mortgagemax.co.za | Legal@betterLife.co.za | 1. Botha, R; 2. Ncguka, BT | N/A | MORCSA | Standard terms and conditions provided to you |
| BetterSure Financial Consultants (Pty) Ltd | 2005/024995/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 086 124 9294 | www.bettersure.co.za | marketing@bettersure.co.za | 1. Budler, R; 2. Stoman, C | Authorised Financial Services Provider with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, FSP | FSCA | Standard terms and conditions provided to you |
| BetterSure Insurance Brokers (Pty) Ltd | 2008/011624/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 086 124 9294 | www.bettersure.co.za | marketing@bettersure.co.za | 1. Budler, R; 2. Stoman, C | Authorised Financial Services Provider with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, FSP | FSCA | Standard terms and conditions provided to you |
| BlueDoor Investments (Pty) Ltd | 2021/530550/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 011 516 5500 | www.betterhome.co.za | Legal@BetterHome.co.za | 1. Bruyns, C; 2. Small, J.W | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Snappy Home (Pty) Ltd | 2015/220464/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 011 516 5500 | https://amplifi.social | hello@amplifi.social | 1. Bruyns, C; 2. Small, J. | N/A | N/A | Standard terms and conditions provided to you |
| BetterID (Pty) Ltd | 2024/355753/07 | Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Str, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 | 011 516 5500 | www.betterid.co.za | info@betterid.co.za | 1. Van Onselen, L; 2. Bruyns, CJ | Operating Under TGPDC NCRCB License | N/A | Website Terms and Conditions and Services terms and conditions provided to you |
16.2In terms of section 44 of the ECT Act, to the extent applicable, you are entitled to exercise the cooling-off rights set out in sections 42 and 44 of the ECT Act.
17General
17.1These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms will be resolved exclusively in the South African courts, to whose jurisdiction you hereby consent.
17.2These Terms constitute the entire agreement between MortgageMAX and the User in respect of your use of this website and the Origination Services accessed through it and supersede all prior disclaimers and legal notices. No variation of these Terms is binding unless reduced to writing and signed by both parties (save for updates published by MortgageMAX under clause 1.2 above).
17.3If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, then provision will be severed and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect to the fullest extent permitted by law.
17.4If an existing client is identified on the Targeted Financial Sanctions list, any business conducted by MortgageMAX or any affiliated BetterHome Group entity that is an accountable institution will be terminated, related funds will be frozen, and the matter will be reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre in accordance with applicable regulations.
17.5Legal notices to MortgageMAX must be sent by email or by registered post or delivered by hand to Bendehuis, 5 Hazelwood Street, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081 (our chosen domicilium citandi et executandi). Legal notices may not be delivered by fax, SMS, or WhatsApp.
17.6Notices delivered to MortgageMAX will be deemed received: by hand, at the time of delivery; by registered post, 14 (fourteen) days from the date of posting.
17.7Any failure by MortgageMAX to exercise or enforce any right or provision under these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
17.8A certificate issued by an administrator of this website constitutes prima facie proof of any fact relating to this website, including which version of these Terms applied at a particular time and what content or functionality was available on the website at that time.