Archives: FAQ

If you or the other member have changed a response to a matching question, this prompts the backend to look for matches. If your prior responses and new responses both were a match, then you’ll have matched up twice. This function could be helpful if someone you previously didn’t match becomes a new match when one of you changes your responses.

Although the recent chat messages will be visible, individual messages will disappear after 6 months. Please copy and save those that are important to you. It’s necessary for us to limit the data load in our system.

With the fremium model, where you only pay for extras and the main services are free, we are making a bet that if we provide a quality service that people need and want, we will eventually get the member numbers to a point where even a small percentage of members subscribing will cover expenses. In the ethos of the sharing economy, we feel it’s important to buck the trend of monetizing everything. ICmatch is not built to be sold and shifted into a profit-maker. Read more in our mission statement.

ICmatch doesn’t want to police the chats, but we do want all members to feel respected. We expect the following:

• Please do not write to others to give them feedback or criticism about their profile answers unless they ask for your comments. Do not offer unsolicited feedback even if you feel your critique is important. Do not offer unsolicited feedback even if you intend to state it kindly. Do not offer criticisms in the form of questions, for example, “Why would you believe it is appropriate to…?”
• If you find a chat comment irritating or immature, we ask that instead of seeing it as a teachable moment, you simply disengage. 
• If you feel a comment shows an intent to insult or offend, do provide ICmatch helpdesk with screenshots of the comments, including your statements that the commenter was responding to. If members report hostile or goading comments or questions in the chats or profile responses, and show evidence, this will result in a warning. Second or third offenses may cause membership to be paused or revoked. 
• There is no obligation to respond to any questions in chats, unless you are a group coordinator and others inquire about joining. We’ve tried to make it easy to politely block unwanted chats. Use the pre-fab responses button, found above the chat box when a chat message is open. See the FAQ “What do the pre-fab responses say?”

Member question:

I would want to know that if I am forming a community and mention in the group section or in the chat that we are looking to maintain an ethnically and racially diverse membership, that this wouldn’t fall under laws meant to protect people from unfair discrimination in housing. What if I respond to someone who is white and say: “I’m sorry but we have already filled the amount of white people in our housing units. Our group has agreed to maintain a racially diverse group of members, and we are currently only open to BIPOC applicants.” Does this qualify as illegal housing discrimination?

ICmatch response:

A court might consider this illegal discrimination if you already had the housing and were publicly advertising an available unit. Here are some legal options for achieving your goal:

• Invite people to explore your group or IC and get on your waiting list. When you have a waiting list, you can simply invite people in who are the best fit, without ever having to pointedly reject any applicant.
• You are likely to have several selection criteria. You aren’t obligated to tell each applicant which criteria they didn’t meet. If they ask, you can state it was a group decision and you decided another applicant was a better fit.  
• There may be a legal exception you could get from local housing authorities based on a non-profit mission or your business needs. For example, retirement homes have an exemption from age and gender discrimination laws.

Someone could accuse you even if you’ve done nothing illegal. As long as you’re creating your founding group first, then secure housing afterward, any legal hassle is likely to blow over quickly. If you have substantial assets to protect, then it’s wise to get legal advice that takes into account local laws and policies. For more on how to avoid accusations of discrimination, see our page “Stay Legal and Fair With Housing.”

Not only do we insist on ICmatch being a place where communication is respectful, we help you find the right words. If you’re reading a chat message, at the top right there’s a button labeled “pre-fab responses.” Here are the messages that are sent from the three options:

• Invitation to check back later: I don’t currently have the capacity to look over your profile and respond promptly. If I don’t get back to you within a month, feel free to check back if you’re still interested in chatting.
• Polite decline: I’ve taken a look at your profile and I don’t see that we have enough compatibility in the areas that are most important for me for right now. I’ll contact you if that changes. Good luck in your search.
• Polite decline and block: I’m convinced that we don’t have a level of compatibility that would work for me. I won’t be responding further. Good luck in your search.

We need to grow before we can expand. We plan to eventually create a more inclusive platform that can accommodate forming communities everywhere. For now, those outside the United States and Canada can still sign up in the “outside” region. Here’s a resource for international coliving houses: The Coliving Bible. See also the Crash Pads and Temp Housing section or the Ecovillages page that has a Resources section with links to international ecovillages.

In general, we refer to Wikipedia for definitions of terms.

Household: Similar to the tax code meaning, for IC purposes “you and your household” indicates people who when they next move, will likely move as a unit.

As a subscriber, your profile will show up on all of the community types pages that you select as a main interest. As a non-subscriber, others can access your profile thru searches from the Match for Free page, the Team Up page, and the Consultants page if you are a consultant. Yet some may choose to look for members or consultants on only one community types page that most interests them. They may be looking for the most interested members, thinking that subscribers are more likely to be the most invested. As a result, you may get more visibility by subscribing.

Our rates are affordable. You can cancel a subscription at any time. We do not offer refunds.

They will not see your email address or user name. You should use a display name that you don’t use on other platforms, and not your real name. Communication with others can stay on the platform until you feel it’s safe to give out your contact information or meet up with people. All the profile questions you answer will be visible to other registered users.