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Official Rules & Terms

Great Hills Holiday Lights Contest 2026 — administered by hosts Amy Johnston Harper and Nan Kirkpatrick.

These Official Rules govern the Great Hills Holiday Lights Contest 2026 (the “Contest”). They are provided for community planning purposes and should be reviewed by qualified Texas counsel before final publication.

1. Contest Hosts, Administrators & Community Sponsors

  • Contest Hosts/Administrators: Amy Johnston Harper (Compass Real Estate) & Nan Kirkpatrick (Abundance Home Mortgage LLC). Together they are longtime Great Hills residents organizing and administering the Contest.
  • Mailing Address: Pending confirmation – Great Hills neighborhood, Austin, TX 78759.
  • Contact: Amy.Harper@compass.com (512-826-2169) and nan@abundancehomemtg.com (512-970-8617).
  • Contest Website: holidaylights.amyatx.com and holidaylights.abundancehomemtg.com (collectively, the “Site”).
  • Community Sponsors: Local businesses who financially support prizes, signage, and community events in exchange for recognition. They do not administer the Contest or tally People’s Choice votes. Together with the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy), sponsors choose the Elf’s Choice winner. They do not determine Grand, Second, or Third Place.
  • Governing Law & Venue: State of Texas, U.S.A. Venue for any permitted court action is Travis County, Texas (subject to the arbitration clause in Section 16).

Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary.

2. Eligibility

  • Open only to legal residents whose nominated property sits inside the Great Hills neighborhood boundary in Austin, Texas, as determined by the Hosts’ geofenced boundary data. Participants must be 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry; minors ages 13–17 may participate only with prior written consent of a parent or legal guardian. Individuals under 13 may not enter, be nominated, or vote.
  • Housing types eligible: Single-family residences (including townhomes) located within the geofenced Contest boundary. Apartments, multi-family units, and commercial properties are ineligible unless the Hosts approve in writing. Each nominated property may appear only once per Contest.
  • Entrant must be the property owner or have the owner’s/HOA’s written permission to decorate, to be photographed/filmed, and to participate in the Contest.
  • Employees, contractors, and officers of the Hosts, judging/verification personnel, and members of their immediate households are not eligible to win prizes.
  • All participants agree to comply with applicable laws, ordinances, HOA rules, and safety codes, and to maintain safe premises for visitors and viewers.

3. Contest Periods (Central Time)

  • Before nominations (pre): Until December 1, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. CT, nominate and vote stay closed.
  • Entry (Nominations) Period: December 1, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. CT to December 14, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Entries are accepted only while the Contest phase is “nominations.”
  • Public Voting — Nominations Round: December 1, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. CT to December 14, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Votes cast during this phase determine the finalists.
  • Finals Voting Period: December 15, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. CT to December 19, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Finals begin as soon as nominations end. During this phase, votes are limited to finalists only.
  • After finals (postfinals): December 20, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. CT until the winners reveal. Voting is closed and finals totals stay hidden.
  • Winners Announcement (closed): December 20, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. CT, at a Great Hills neighborhood celebration and on the Site and Hosts’ channels.

The Hosts may adjust any dates/times for weather, safety, technical outages, or other circumstances beyond their control (see Sections 14–15).

4. How to Enter (No Purchase Necessary)

  1. During the Entry Period, visit the Site and complete the online nomination form with:
    • name, email, and whether you live at the nominated address;
    • optional phone number (U.S. 10-digit format);
    • street address within the Great Hills boundary;
    • referral source (how you heard about the Contest);
    • optional photo upload (JPEG, PNG, or WebP, up to 8 MB). If you do not upload one, the public listing can stay without a photo until one is added.
  2. Submissions are subject to a signed device cookie, a captcha challenge when one is configured (hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile), a honeypot field, and a minimum form-completion time to deter bots.
  3. Entries are geocoded via Google Maps or OpenCage and must fall inside the Hosts’ configured boundary. Addresses outside the boundary are automatically rejected. Duplicate nominations of the same address or entries after the 50-property cap are blocked.
  4. Asset standards: uploaded photos must be original or properly licensed, family-friendly, and may not depict unsafe conduct.
  5. Map listing: the public list and map show the decorated property’s address, map point, photo (if one was saved), and vote count. They do not show the nominator’s name, email, or phone. Contact the Hosts before publishing if you require us to display only a general area instead of the exact street number.
  6. The Hosts may place an optional yard/window sign to identify participants. Yard signs are optional, and the Hosts will remove them within five days after winners are announced unless you opt out in writing.

5. Finalists, Voting Rounds & Determining Winners

  1. Nominations Round: During the Entry Period, the Site displays all eligible entries with running vote totals. Nominating a home counts as that nominator’s vote for that home. Community members may also register once and cast one additional vote per other property; duplicate votes by the same verified email (or the same phone used to nominate that home) are ignored.
  2. Finalists: After nominations close, the five (5) entries with the most nomination votes that have not been voided advance. If the counts tie, the home with the later last counted vote is listed first, then the lower entry number. Voided nomination ballots are not counted.
  3. Finals Voting: During finals, the Site displays only the finalists, and public vote totals stay hidden. Each verified email may cast one finals vote in total. Nomination votes do not carry into the finals ballot. After finals end, and until winners are shown, the phase is postfinals: voting stays closed and totals stay hidden.
  4. Winners: After finals close and anti-fraud review is complete, Grand, Second, and Third Place prizes are awarded to the finalists with the three highest final vote totals (People’s Choice). Elf’s Choice ($250) may be awarded to any nominated home. The sponsors and the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy) choose that winner privately. It is not a public vote and is not based on vote totals. An administrator records the pick. Elf’s Choice is displayed next to People’s Choice only when winners are announced.

6. Anti-Fraud & Verification Measures

The Hosts use layered safeguards to keep voting fair:

  • hCaptcha challenge-response tokens, honeypot fields, and minimum submission times block automated entries/votes.
  • Registration requires name, email, and a valid U.S. 10-digit phone number; disposable email domains are rejected.
  • Phone numbers are normalized to digits; invalid numbers fail validation.
  • Each browser receives a signed HttpOnly device cookie (did) used to throttle votes. It is not shown on the public pages. Rate limits cap entry submissions (20 per minute), the older signup path (10 per 5 minutes), text-code checks (10 per 10 minutes), and votes (50 per 24 hours per IP and device). A minimum account age or a wait between votes applies only when those settings are turned on.
  • Public voting uses a text-message code. After the code is accepted, the browser stores a voter token and sends it as Authorization: Bearer. Each vote also needs a fresh vote check from the server; a reused check is rejected. Votes record the voter’s email and IP address. The same email cannot vote twice for the same house during nominations, and cannot cast more than one finals vote.
  • The Hosts monitor for sudden spikes and may pause, audit, or void suspicious votes. Leaderboard counts stay unofficial until that review is done.
  • An older registration address can still email a verification link when that setting is on. That link is not how the public Vote button signs someone in. The public path is the text-message code.
  • Attempts to circumvent safeguards (bots, scripts, VPN farms, paid voting, harassment, or manipulation) may result in disqualification of the entrant and/or voter.

7. Prizes & Approximate Retail Values (ARV)

  • Grand Prize (People’s Choice): $1,000 USD.
  • Second Place (People’s Choice): $500 USD.
  • Third Place (People’s Choice): $250 USD.
  • Elf’s Choice: $250 USD. Chosen by the sponsors and the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy), not by public vote. Any nominated home may be selected. The default amount is $250 unless the Hosts substitute a prize of equal or greater value.

General Prize Terms

  • People’s Choice winners are determined by final-round verified vote totals after the Hosts’ audits. Ties may be broken by earliest nomination timestamp, additional review, or a random drawing at the Hosts’ discretion. Elf’s Choice is not ranked by votes.
  • Prizes are non-transferable and may not be substituted, except the Hosts may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if advertised prizes become unavailable.
  • The Hosts will distribute prizes via check or electronic payment, coordinated directly with each verified winner within approximately 30 days of final verification. Winners are solely responsible for any associated fees.
  • Taxes: U.S. winners receiving cumulative prizes of $600 or more must complete IRS Form W-9; the Hosts may issue the required IRS Form 1099. Failure to timely provide tax forms may result in forfeiture.

8. Winner Notification & Claiming

The Hosts will notify potential winners using the email and/or phone submitted with the entry. Potential winners must respond and complete required paperwork (including eligibility and tax forms) within five (5) business days unless the notice specifies a different deadline. If a potential winner cannot be reached, fails to respond within the stated timeframe, or is disqualified, the Hosts may award the prize to the next highest-ranked finalist or choose an alternate method, subject to timing and feasibility. The Hosts may conduct additional verification (e.g., photo proof, site visit, or utility bill) to confirm eligibility and property location.

9. Odds

Odds of being named a finalist depend on the number and quality of eligible entries and votes received during nominations. Odds of winning a People’s Choice prize in finals depend on the number of finalists and valid votes cast during the finals voting period. Elf’s Choice is a private selection by the sponsors and the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy), so it has no public-vote odds.

10. Conduct, Safety & Community Standards

  • Decorations must be installed and operated safely, following manufacturer instructions, electrical codes, HOA/landlord policies, and local ordinances. Manage cords, inflatables, and traffic to avoid hazards.
  • Avoid excessive noise or lighting that disrupts neighbors, and follow any posted curfews or traffic guidance. Entrants are responsible for visitor safety on and around their property.
  • The Hosts may disqualify displays that are unsafe, unlawful, hateful, harassing, or substantially non-compliant with these standards.

11. Intellectual Property & Publicity

  • Entrants retain ownership of their submitted photos, videos, and descriptions. By entering, you grant the Hosts and their affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use, modify (e.g., crop, color-correct), publish, and display your entry assets, name, likeness, and city for Contest administration, promotion, winner announcements, community sponsor recaps, and future holiday programming in any media now known or later developed.
  • Entrant warrants they have all rights necessary for the submitted content and that it does not infringe any third-party rights.
  • Except where prohibited, entry constitutes permission for the Hosts to use winners’ names, likenesses, and entry imagery for promotional purposes without additional compensation.
  • Social media platforms (Meta, Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, YouTube, Google, etc.) do not sponsor or endorse this Contest.

12. Privacy Notice (Summary)

  • The Hosts collect the information you submit (name, email, phone, address, referral source, ownership status, photos) plus technical data (IP address, device/cookie identifiers, captcha tokens, vote logs) to administer the Contest, verify eligibility, prevent fraud, map entries, contact participants, and deliver prizes.
  • Data may be shared with trusted vendors supporting Contest operations, including mapping/geocoding providers (Google Maps and/or OpenCage), cloud storage (S3-compatible services such as Cloudflare R2), email/SMS or webhook services, analytics/logging, and anti-fraud tools (including hCaptcha).
  • Personal data is stored in secure databases with access controls; the Hosts do not sell personal data.
  • Optional marketing opt-ins (if offered) are voluntary and can be withdrawn at any time by contacting the Hosts.
  • Individuals under 13 should not submit personal data; if discovered, the Hosts will delete such information.
  • For full details, including how to exercise privacy rights, review the Site’s Privacy Policy.

13. Technology, Availability & Force Majeure

  • Contest participation requires reliable internet access, modern browsers, cookies, and scripts. Some in-app browsers block the secure cookies needed for voting; the Hosts are not responsible for device, carrier, browser, or platform limitations.
  • The Hosts are not liable for service outages or issues caused by weather, power/internet failures, third-party platforms, or other events beyond their reasonable control. The Hosts may delay, modify, or cancel portions of the Contest if such events occur.

14. Release of Liability; Assumption of Risk; Indemnity

By participating, entrants release and hold harmless the Hosts, administrators, vendors, affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from any liability for injury, illness, damage, or loss arising from participation, decorating activities, visitors to the property, or prize acceptance/use, except where prohibited or resulting from the Hosts’ willful misconduct. Entrants acknowledge holiday decorating and increased traffic involve inherent risks and accept full responsibility. Entrants agree to indemnify Released Parties against third-party claims arising from entrant’s acts or submissions.

15. Right to Modify, Suspend, or Cancel

The Hosts may disqualify entries for rule violations or disruptive behavior. The Hosts may modify, suspend, or cancel the Contest (or any portion) if fraud, technical failures, force majeure, or any factor impairs the Contest’s integrity or proper functioning, as determined in their sole discretion. If cancelled, the Hosts may select winners from eligible, non-suspect entries received before the action or take other equitable measures.

16. Disputes; Binding Arbitration; Class Action Waiver

Any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to this Contest or these Rules shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules and governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. The seat of arbitration is Travis County, Texas. Proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis; class, consolidated, or representative actions are not permitted. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Hosts may seek injunctive relief or protection of intellectual property/confidential information in a court of competent jurisdiction.

17. General Conditions

  • No purchase necessary; a purchase or payment does not increase chances of winning.
  • If any provision of these Rules is found invalid, the remainder remains in effect.
  • Headings are for convenience only.
  • These Official Rules constitute the entire agreement between the Hosts and participants regarding the Contest and supersede prior communications.

18. Winners List / Official Rules Requests

After winners are confirmed, the Hosts will post a winners list on the Site for at least 30 days. To request a copy of the winners list or these Official Rules, email Amy.Harper@compass.com and nan@abundancehomemtg.com with subject line “Great Hills Holiday Lights Contest — Winners List” within 60 days after the Winners Announcement Date.

19. Sponsor & Partner Disclosures

Prizes may be supported by community sponsors. Sponsors do not control People’s Choice vote counts or Grand, Second, or Third Place. Sponsors and the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy) do choose the Elf’s Choice winner. Any sponsor-provided gift cards or products are subject to the issuer’s standard terms. Social media platforms are not affiliated with or responsible for the Contest.

20. Abbreviated Rules (for quick reference)

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to eligible residents within the Great Hills boundary who are 18+ (minors 13–17 with parent/guardian consent). Enter at holidaylights.amyatx.com or holidaylights.abundancehomemtg.com by December 14, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Nominations voting runs December 1 at 12:00 a.m. through December 14 at 11:59 p.m., 2026; finals voting runs December 15 at 12:00 a.m. through December 19 at 11:59 p.m., 2026 (all CT). Winners are revealed December 20, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. CT. Prizes: $1,000 Grand, $500 Second, $250 Third (People’s Choice, by public finals vote), plus Elf’s Choice $250 chosen by the sponsors and the neighborhood elves (Nan and Amy), not by public vote. Void where prohibited. Contest Hosts/Administrators: Amy Johnston Harper & Nan Kirkpatrick (Great Hills, Austin, TX 78759). Contact: Amy.Harper@compass.com or nan@abundancehomemtg.com.

Last updated: October 28, 2026 (CT)