This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information, and the rights you have over your information under British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act.
Marc Duhalde, a licensed rental property manager operating with RE/MAX Sea to Sky Real Estate ("we," "us," or "our"), in the Sea-to-Sky corridor. We are committed to protecting the privacy of the owners, prospective owners, tenants, rental applicants, and website visitors whose personal information we handle.
Because we provide licensed real estate services through our brokerage, RE/MAX Sea to Sky, some personal information we collect is collected on behalf of and held by the brokerage. The brokerage maintains its own privacy practices under the same legislation, and this policy is intended to operate alongside, not in place of, those practices.
British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) sets out the rules for how private organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information. We are accountable for the personal information under our control and for following the rules and procedures set out in this policy.
"Personal information" means information that can reasonably identify an individual, either on its own or combined with other available information. Examples include a person's name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, income and financial information, banking details, identification numbers, employment history, and rental history. Personal information does not include business contact information used only to contact someone in their professional capacity.
We have designated a privacy officer who is responsible for our compliance with PIPA. Their contact information is in section 9.
We collect only the personal information that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, and only what is necessary to provide our services. The information we collect, and the reason we collect it, depends on your relationship with us.
When you use the contact form or email us through this website, we collect the information you choose to provide, such as your name, email address, phone number, and the details of your inquiry. We use this to respond to you and to follow up about the services you have asked about. Our website is hosted on a third-party platform (Wix), which may automatically collect limited technical information such as IP address and general usage data through cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with that platform's own privacy practices.
To provide property management services, or to prepare a market analysis or assessment you have requested, we collect contact details, property information, ownership and authorization details, banking information for rent disbursement, and, where applicable, information about your residency status for tax-withholding purposes required by law. We use this information to deliver the services you have engaged us for, to make payments to you, to communicate with you about your property, and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.
To assess a rental application and to manage a tenancy, we collect information such as your name, contact details, identification, employment and income information, rental and reference history, and the results of credit and background checks. We use this information to verify your identity, to assess your application, to administer your tenancy, and to meet our obligations under the Residential Tenancy Act. Some of this information is sensitive, and we collect it only with your consent and only as needed for these purposes.
Credit reports, identification, and income verification are sensitive. We request your express consent before collecting them, we apply consistent and documented criteria to every applicant, and we use this information only to assess and administer a tenancy. We do not use it for any unrelated purpose.
We obtain your consent to collect, use, or disclose your personal information, except where we are authorized or required by law to do so without consent. We will tell you the purpose for collecting your personal information at or before the time we collect it.
Consent may be express (given in writing, verbally, or electronically) or implied, depending on the sensitivity of the information. When you voluntarily provide information for an obvious purpose, such as submitting an inquiry through our contact form, we treat that as your consent to use the information for that purpose. For sensitive information, such as credit and background checks, we ask for your express consent.
You may withdraw your consent at any time by giving us reasonable notice, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. If you withdraw consent, we will explain the likely consequences, which may include our being unable to provide a service that depends on the information. We will not require you to consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information beyond what is necessary to provide the service you have requested.
We use and disclose personal information only for the purposes identified when it was collected, unless you give us additional consent or the use or disclosure is authorized or required by law. We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances:
When we engage a service provider that handles personal information on our behalf, we put an agreement in place requiring that provider to protect the information and to use it only for the purposes we authorize.
Some of the third-party service providers we rely on, including our website host and certain software providers, may store or process personal information on servers located outside British Columbia or outside Canada. Where that is the case, the information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is stored. We make reasonable efforts to ensure that any service provider handling personal information protects it with safeguards comparable to those required under PIPA.
We keep personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required for legal, regulatory, or business purposes. Where we use personal information to make a decision that directly affects you, we will retain that information for at least one year after the decision so that you have an opportunity to request access to it.
Records related to real estate services are subject to retention requirements under the Real Estate Services Act and the rules of the BC Financial Services Authority, and tenancy and tax records are subject to their own statutory retention periods. Once personal information is no longer needed for any identified purpose or legal requirement, we securely destroy or anonymize it.
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the personal information we use to make decisions that affect you, or that we disclose to another organization, is accurate and complete. You may ask us to correct any error or omission in the personal information under our control. If we are satisfied that a correction is reasonable, we will make it and notify any organization to which we disclosed that information in the previous year. If we do not make a requested correction, we will note your requested correction in our records.
We protect personal information in our control with reasonable security arrangements appropriate to its sensitivity, intended to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, or disposal. These include:
If we become aware of a privacy breach involving personal information under our control, we will act promptly to contain and assess it, take steps to reduce the risk of harm, and notify affected individuals and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner where there is a real risk of significant harm.
You have the right to ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, how it has been used, and the names of any individuals or organizations to which it has been disclosed. To make a request, please contact our privacy officer in writing. We may ask you to verify your identity before providing access. We will respond within 30 business days, unless an extension is permitted under PIPA. In limited cases where we are authorized or required to refuse access, we will explain the reason in writing.
A minimal fee may apply to some access requests. If a fee applies, we will give you a written estimate in advance.
If you have a question or concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact our privacy officer first so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, which oversees compliance with PIPA.
We review this policy from time to time and may update it to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated. The current version is always available on our website and on request.