Privacy Notice

Last Modified: November 23, 2020

Welcome to Advocate Realty Services, a registered d/b/a of Beth Hoffman Homes, LLC (collectively “ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES,” “us,” “our,” or “we“), respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Notice (“Notice“).

This Notice describes our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of information, including personal information, and the choices you may have. We have made our Notice easy to navigate by providing quick access to information you may care about and easy to understand by using plain English. We strongly urge you to read this Notice from beginning to end.

Overview and Scope

This Notice describes our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of information, including personal information, and the choices you may have. The Notice is intended to be easy to navigate by providing quick access to information you may care about and easy to understand by using plain English. We strongly urge you to read this Notice from beginning to end.

Information We Collect

When you access our websites or use our mobile applications (“Online Services”), contact us, or otherwise interact with us (collectively, “Services”), we collect personal information about you. Personal information is information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include information where the identity has been removed (anonymous data). We may also receive personal information about you from other sources. We may combine the personal information you provide to us with information that is collected through automated methods and with information we receive from other sources. Information we collect about you may include:

  • When you create an account: Through our Online Services you may create an account to, for example, save property searches, sign up for property alerts, access our real estate resources, and for other features we may add from time to time (“Account”). When you create an Account, we collect your first and last name, email address, username, and password. If you wish, you may provide us your phone number, street address, and a state, city, or zip code. We use this personal information to respond to your requests, manage and correspond with you about your Account, send you information and newsletters related to real estate markets, properties, sales associates and/or other information we think may interest you, to connect you with a sales associates who can assist you in your home buying or home selling process, and for other matters described in this Notice.
  • When you contact us: When you contact us with questions about our Services, our business, or other matters, we will use any personal information you provided us, including, for example, your name, email, and phone to resolve your request or answer your questions, or to provide additional information related to your inquiry. We may place you on our marketing list for information related to your inquiry or which we otherwise believe would be of interest to you, and we may otherwise use your personal information as described in this Notice. You will always have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us by following the instructions provided in our communication.
  • Information we automatically collect through our Online Services: As is true with many websites and applications, our Online Services automatically collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including details of your visits, including traffic data, location data (if enabled), logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Online Services, and information about your computer, mobile device, internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type. We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (behavioral tracking).

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

  • Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Online Services. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you use the Online Services.
  • Web Beacons. Pages of the Online Services may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).

The information we collect automatically is only statistical data and does not include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve the Online Services and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:

  • Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize the Online Services according to your individual interests.
  • Speed up your searches
  • Recognize you when you return to the Online Services.

Third parties may also use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the Online Services. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.

How we use the information we collect

We use information that we collected or that you provided to us, including any personal information:

  • To fulfill or meet the reason you provided the information.
  • To provide, support, personalize, and develop our Services.
  • To create, maintain, customize, and secure your Account with us.
  • To provide you with support and to respond to your inquiries, including to connect you with a ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES brokerage or sales associate.
  • To personalize your experience on our Online Services and to deliver content and product and service offerings relevant to your interests, including targeted offers and ads through our Online Services, third-party sites, and via email or text message (with your consent, where required by law).
  • To help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of our Online Services, products and Services, databases and other technology assets, and business.
  • For testing, research, analysis, and product development, including to develop and improve our Online Services, products, and Services.
  • To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.

Legal basis for collecting and using the information we collect

We only use the information we collect about you or that you provided to us for the purposes set forth in this Notice and based on the following legal grounds:

  • Your consent (as permitted by applicable law);
  • Our legitimate business interests, including:
    • managing our relationship with you;
    • managing our relationship with ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES real estate brokerage and sales associates;
    • direct marketing;
    • product development and enhancement;
    • fraud and financial crime detection and prevention;
    • information, system, network, and cyber security;
    • general corporate operations and due diligence;
  • To provide services to you; and
  • To comply with a legal obligation and/or defend against legal claims.

How we share the information we collect

We share the information we collect about you or that you provided to us as described in this Notice:

  • The ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES Network. We may share this information within the ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES Network. The ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES Network includes ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES, our affiliates, our subsidiaries, and sales associates.
  • Service providers. We may share this information with service providers who provide certain services on our behalf such as data hosting or processing services. These service providers may need to access this information to perform their services. We authorize such service providers to use or disclose this information only as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. We require these service providers to contractually commit to protect the security and confidentiality of the information they process on our behalf.
  • Business partners. We may share this information with third party business partners. We require our business partners to contractually commit to protect the security and confidentiality of the information they process on our behalf.
  • Anonymized information. We may share analyses of our server logs, traffic, or information relating to customer leads, including details regarding usage of the Online Services and general information about our audience, with current or potential advertisers or business partners. Such disclosures typically aggregate usage data from these analyses and other information not generally considered to be personal information.
  • Corporate Transactions. In addition, in the event that we go through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition, liquidation or sale of all or a portion of our assets, personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred, or may be disclosed (subject to confidentiality restrictions) during the due diligence process. If such a transfer occurs, the acquiring company’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Notice and the privacy choices you have made.
  • Legal disclosures. Finally, we may share your personal information, any communications sent or received by you, and any other information that we may have about you as may be permitted or as we believe in good faith may be reasonably necessary to comply with any law, regulation, rule or court order; pursuant to subpoenas or other lawful requests from governmental, regulatory or administrative agencies or law enforcement authorities (including in response to law enforcement or national security requirements); to respond to any claims, or to prevent, investigate, identify persons or organizations potentially involved in, or take any action regarding suspected fraud, violations of our Terms of Use, or activity that appears to us to be illegal or we believe may expose us to legal liability. Additionally, we may disclose personal information in situations that we believe to be emergencies involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person or property, if we believe that your information in any way relates to that threat.

California residents

If you are a California resident, California law may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, visit CCPA Privacy Notice .

Your rights and choices

You have choices regarding our use and disclosure of your personal information:

Electronic communications

If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from us, you may opt-out via the unsubscribe link included in such emails. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable. Please note that if you opt-out of receiving marketing-related emails from us, we may still send you important administrative messages that are required to provide you with our services. If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES brokers or ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES sales associates, you may out-out via the unsubscribe link included in those emails or contact them directly.

Your Account

If you created an Account, you can always access your personal information by logging into your Account. If you have trouble or you need further assistance with accessing your Account, or deleting your Account, you may contact us at notice@advocaterealtyservices.com.

Your data protection rights

Depending on where you reside and subject to applicable law, you may have the following rights with regards to the personal information you shared with us:

  • The right to request confirmation of whether we process personal information relating to you, and if so, to request a copy of that personal information;
  • The right to request that we rectify or update personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete or outdated;
  • The right to request that we erase your personal information in certain circumstances provided by law;
  • The right to request that we restrict the use of your personal information in certain circumstances; for example, while we consider a request to update your personal information;
  • The right to request that we sent to another company, where technically feasible, your personal information;
  • The right to withdraw consent to processing your personal information that you previously gave; and
  • The right to object to the processing of your personal information under certain circumstances.

In order to exercise these rights, contact us at notice@advocaterealtyservices.com. We will comply with your request to the extent required by applicable law. If you feel that you have not received a satisfactory response from us, you may consult with the data protection authority in your country.

Information security

We understand that the security of your personal information is important. For this reason, we maintain organizational, physical, and technical security arrangements designed to protect personal information within our organization against unauthorized access, destruction, loss, alteration or misuse. We periodically review our security measures and update them accordingly. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secured.

Information retention

We store your personal information in our servers, and on the servers of the cloud-based database management services we engage, located in the United States and Canada. We will only retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected your personal information, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Links to other websites and social media

Our Online Services may offer links to websites, apps, tools, widgets and plug-ins, such as Facebook “Like” buttons, that are run by third parties. If you visit a third-party website, you should read the website’s privacy notice, terms and conditions, and their other policies. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of third parties. Any personal information you give to those organizations is dealt with under their privacy notice, terms and conditions, and other policies.

Children

The Online Services are not intended or directed to children under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information relating to children or track their use of the Online Services.

International data transfer

Your personal information may be accessed, stored and processed in a country where we have operations or where we engaged service providers. This means that we may transfer personal information that we maintain about you to recipients in countries other than the country in which the information was originally collected. The data protection and privacy laws in those countries may offer a lower level of protection than the data protection and privacy laws of your country. By using our Services, you acknowledge that such transfers of information outside of your country of residency may occur.

Transfers from the EEA or Switzerland

If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or Switzerland, we comply with applicable laws to provide an adequate level of data protection for the transfer of your information to the United States and for onward transfers. ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES is certified under the EU-U.S. and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles of notice, choice, accountability for onward transfer, security, data integrity and purpose limitation, access, and recourse/enforcement/liability, and to the extent applicable, the supplemental principles. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov. In addition, we rely on derogations for specific situations as set forth in in Article 49 of the GDPR. In particular, we collect and transfer to the U.S. information with your consent, or to fulfill a compelling legitimate interest in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms.

We encourage you to contact us if you have any concerns about our compliance with the Privacy Shield. Any questions or concerns should be sent to notice@advocaterealtyservices.com. We will respond to complaints related to the Privacy Shield within 45 days. If a complaint cannot be resolved informally, we have agreed to participate in the JAMS dispute resolution procedures pursuant to the Privacy Shield principles. EEA and Switzerland residents with unresolved complaints may refer them to JAMS as described at https://www.jamsadr.com/eu-us-privacy-shield. Under certain circumstances, these dispute resolution processes may result in your ability to invoke binding arbitration. ADVOCATE REALTY SERVICES is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission.

Changes to this Notice

We recognize that information privacy is an ongoing responsibility. For this reason, we may, from time to time, make changes to this Notice. Changes to this Notice will be made on this page. The date this Notice was last revised is identified on the top of this Notice. We encourage you to visit this page frequently to stay inform of any changes to this Notice.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Notice contact us at:

By email:

notice@advocaterealtyservices.com