The Cause Behind Semptify
We built this because people facing housing problems deserve the same tools that attorneys have — and they deserve them for free, without someone profiting from their crisis.
Why This Exists
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people face eviction, uninhabitable conditions, illegal rent increases, and landlord retaliation. The legal system can help them — but only if they can organize their evidence, meet their deadlines, communicate clearly, and show up with the right documents.
Most people in a housing crisis do not have a lawyer. They do not have money for one. They are often working multiple jobs, managing children, dealing with health problems, or simply overwhelmed by a system that was not designed with them in mind.
Semptify exists to close that gap. Not by replacing attorneys — we never claim to do that — but by giving people the same organizational tools, the same record-keeping discipline, and the same document-ready posture that a well-funded legal team would provide.
When a tenant has organized evidence, a complete timeline, and records of every communication, their landlord has far fewer excuses. That is what we build for.
Who We Serve
Tenants
People renting a home who need to document conditions, track rent payments, record communications, and build a clear record of their tenancy. This is our primary user and our first priority in every decision.
Advocates
Housing counselors, tenant unions, and community organizers who help multiple tenants at once. Semptify helps them manage cases, deliver documents securely, and stay organized without spreadsheets.
Legal Aid & Attorneys
Legal professionals working in housing law who need organized case files, evidence trails, and court-ready documents. We build to MN Supreme Court exhibit standards (MNDES ADM09-8010).
Researchers & Policy
Academics and policy professionals studying housing patterns. We provide aggregate, anonymized insights — never individual data — to support better housing policy.
Things We Will Never Do — These Are Not Negotiable
Exactly What Data We Use — And What We Do Not
We believe you should know precisely what we collect and why. Here is the complete picture.
We NEVER collect or keep
- 🚫 Your document contents
- 🚫 Which pages you visit or for how long
- 🚫 Which buttons or features you use
- 🚫 Your IP address (beyond routing)
- 🚫 Your device type, browser, or OS
- 🚫 Your physical location
- 🚫 Your search terms inside the app
- 🚫 How many times you tap anything
- 🚫 Any behavioral or usage analytics
- 🚫 Third-party tracking cookies
- 🚫 Advertising identifiers
We ONLY keep (engineering use only)
- ✅ Server error logs (anonymised, auto-deleted)
- ✅ API response times (no user identifiers)
- ✅ Crash reports (stack traces, no user data)
- ✅ Rate limit counters (IP-based, ephemeral)
- ✅ Session tokens (signed, stored in your browser only)
- ✅ Onboarding gate state (which steps are complete)
Technical data is used only to keep the platform running correctly. It is never used to understand user behaviour, target content, or report to any third party.
How Semptify Works
When you connect to Semptify, you connect your own cloud storage account — Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Your documents go directly into your storage. Semptify is the organisation layer: it helps you tag documents, build a timeline, track communications, and generate court-ready exhibits.
When you leave Semptify — if you ever do — your documents are still in your account, in your folders, exactly where you put them. We do not have copies. We cannot hold your files hostage. There is no lock-in.
How We Keep the Lights On
Semptify runs entirely on donations and grants. That is the whole model. No investors. No ad revenue. No data sales. No subscription tiers. No "freemium" plan waiting to lock you in.
If you find Semptify useful and want to support it, a donation directly funds server costs, development time, and the ongoing work of building tools for people who need them most. Every dollar goes to the mission — none of it to shareholders, none of it to growth teams, none of it to marketing.
If you cannot donate, that is completely fine. Using Semptify, sharing it with someone who needs it, and giving us feedback are all valuable contributions. The tool exists to be used, not to be monetised.
Organisations & Government Agencies
Emergency & Crisis Lines
National Housing Resources
Minnesota State & Local
Minnesota County Emergency Contacts
Fair Housing & Discrimination
What We Believe
The Law Is the Law
When the law protects a tenant, we say so clearly. We do not soften legal facts to avoid controversy. We do not hedge to create false balance.
Evidence Integrity First
Every feature is evaluated on whether it improves rights protection, evidence preservation, or user control. Features that optimise for engagement or growth are not our priority.
Privacy Is Not a Feature
Privacy is not a selling point we can remove if business demands change. It is a structural commitment built into how the platform works.
Clarity Under Stress
Our users are often scared, overwhelmed, and short on time. Clear, plain-language guidance beats impressive jargon every time.
Public Infrastructure
Housing justice tools should be public goods, not proprietary products. Open source by default. Anyone can inspect, fork, or build on what we make.
Conviction, Not Commerce
We are not building toward an acquisition or an IPO. We are building something that should exist and currently does not exist well enough.
Contact
General inquiries: [email protected]
Privacy questions: [email protected]
Platform & legal: [email protected]
Code & contributors: github.com/1semptify-arch/Semptify