Personal Information
Personal information is information that is specific to you. We use it not only to identify you as our customer but also to understand your needs and how we can serve you better. This information includes but is not limited to, your name, address and any other contact information.
Why We Collect Your Personal Information
We collect and use your personal information in relation to the operations of Metrowide Appraisal Services and facilitate the delivery of services and products we provide to you. When you use our services and products and while you are our customer, you agree that we may collect your information in order:
- To respond to queries or requests submitted by you, your lender, lawyer or mortgage agent
- To process orders or applications submitted by you
- To administer or carry out our obligations in relation to our services
- To identify you and to understand your needs
- To determine your eligibility of our services
- To inform you about services that may meet your needs
- To provide ongoing service
- To comply with legal requirements and regulations
You also agree that we may use your information, including the way in which you use our services, to tell you about our products or services, or to keep you informed regarding the status of our services, where permitted by law. Additionally, we will not keep any of your personal information if it is no longer required to fulfill these purposes unless it is required to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
Making An Appraisal Request Order
When you apply for an Appraisal Request Order, or any of our other services, as well as during the course of conducting business with us, we may use, give to, obtain, verify, share and exchange other information about you with others who are involved with our appraisal process, as may be permitted or required by law. You also authorize any person whom we contact in this regard to provide such information to us. Please see Terms of Use, General Conditions and Acceptance on this website for further clarification when making an Appraisal Request Order.
The ten Principles
This privacy code outlines our commitment to you and incorporates these 10 principles.
1. Accountability
Our Accountability involves maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information, which is the responsibility of every employee and appraiser at Metrowide Appraisal Services and every supplier that we work with. All employees and appraisers are required to sign a confidentiality agreement, which prohibits them from disclosing or otherwise using your information without your consent. This applies even after they no longer work with Metrowide Appraisal Services. Additionally, employees, appraisers and our suppliers are informed about, and must comply with, the policies and procedures we have in place surrounding the collection, use and storage of your information, to comply with legal requirements.
2. Why We Collect Your Information
We collect and use your personal information in relation to the operations of Metrowide Appraisal Services, to facilitate the delivery of services and products we provide to you or our mutual business constituents. When you use our services and products and while you are our customer, you agree that we may collect your information in order to identify you and to understand your needs, to determine your eligibility of our services, to inform you about services that may meet your needs, to provide ongoing service, and to comply with legal requirements.
You also agree that we may use your information, including the way in which you use our services, to tell you about our products or services, or to keep you informed regarding the status of our services, where permitted by law. Additionally, we will not keep any of your personal information if it is no longer required to fulfill these purposes unless it is required to comply with legal requirements.
This may involve telephone, fax, mail, email or other means. We also collect your information to comply with legal requirements and to maintain both your interests and our own.
3. Consent
We make a reasonable effort to make sure our customers understand why they are providing us with personal information and what we can or will do with that information. You can express your consent to us verbally or in writing, online through the internet, by way of application making an appraisal request order, by e-mail, fax, telephone, mail or by other means.
We can collect, use or disclose your personal information without your consent in limited cases for security or legal purposes. You can have your name and contact information deleted from our data banks, shared information lists, and advisory portal if you do not wish to receive any of our services.
You can refuse to provide us with personal information or withdraw your consent if you have already provided us with information, provided the consent does not relate to our services we are already providing you or you decide to terminate our business relationship. You must give us reasonable notice of our withdrawal of your consent and provide us with your request in writing. We require at least a 60 day notice. This withdrawal may affect our ability to provide you with our services.
We can collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge and consent in a limited number of instances, in order to detect and prevent criminal activity, comply with legal requirements, sending of appraisal reports, emailing appraisal assignment status updates, or collecting overdue accounts.
As of July 1st 2014, the Government has implemented Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), which regulates how we can communicate electronically with our customers.
Should you wish to be removed from our e-mail list, please send an e-mail message to mail@metrowideappraisal.com and state “unsubscribe” in the subject heading.
4. Limits On Collecting Information
We collect your personal information directly from you for the purposes listed above. We may also collect information from external sources such as Municipal or Public Records, Lawyers, Lenders, Mortgage Brokers or Agents, Real Estate Brokers or Salespersons, Government Services and Bodies, Toronto Real Estate Board or Multiple Listing Services.
We ask for your consent for this external collection for the ongoing reporting of your information in order to facilitate our operations, the accuracy and completeness, to maintain the integrity, and to comply with legal requirements.
5. How We Use, Disclose And Store Your Information
We will use or disclose your personal information only for the reasons it was collected as disclosed above. Disclosure involves providing specific information about you from our records to a third party. When you are having an appraisal assignment conducted by our company, you are expressing your consent to the terms, conditions and disclosure of that information outlined on the pages on our website, how that information is used, and to comply with our regulators.
If a new purpose is developed in the future, we will notify you and request your consent to use your information for this new purpose. We will keep personal information as long as necessary for the identified purposes even if you cease to be a customer. This is also required to comply with legal requirements.
6. Keeping Your Information Accurate
Metrowide Appraisal Services strives to maintain the accuracy, completeness and relevance of your personal information. It is your responsibility to notify us if there is any change to your information so that we may update your files.
You may challenge the accuracy and completeness of your personal information and we will make any necessary amendments that we feel are appropriate, subject to the laws of the Province of Ontario and our regulators.
If the information has been provided to third parties with your consent, we will convey any corrected information to them as necessary. You have the right to access and correct the information held by a personal information agent who prepared that information. If you wish to correct such information, you may contact our firm at our contact information below.
7. Keeping Your Information Secure
We ensure the physical, organizational and security of your personal information. For that reason we contract with key suppliers that have a proven track record. For greater certainty, we conduct periodic reviews of all our key suppliers to ensure their compliance.
Physical access to areas where that information is collected, stored or processed is restricted to authorized employees and personnel only. We also have controls over our computer systems, data banks, and appraisal reports which exist to ensure compliance with our privacy code and to comply with legal requirements. We destroy, erase or make anonymous any personal information that is no longer required to meet legal requirements or serve our stated purposes.
8. Openness
We make information about our policies and procedures available to customers which is made available in a manner that uses simple language and is easy to understand. Through our documentation you can find our mailing address, contact information, how to access information in our control, what type of information is in our control, and what it is used for.
For any inquiries regarding our policies and procedures, please contact Metrowide Appraisal Services at the address listed in the contacts sections below.
9. Your Access To Your Information
When you request it, we will tell you what personal information we have, what it is used for, from whom it was collected and to whom it has been disclosed. This is your right. We will provide the personal information in a timely manner, and for a reasonable cost. We will also provide you with access upon request, to your own personal information, except in certain situations. We will explain the reason for the lack of access when you make your request.
We will not provide certain information if it:
- Contains references to other persons
- If it is subject to client-appraiser confidentiality
- If it cannot be disclosed for legal reasons
- If it is used for the detection and prevention of criminal activity
If we deny your request for access to personal information, we will tell you why. You may then challenge our decision by writing to our contact information below.
You may cause information which is contained in your file which is inaccurate or incomplete to be rectified, subject to legal compliance. You may also cause obsolete information or information not justified by the purpose of the file to be deleted, or deposit your written comments in your file, subject to legal compliance of our regulators.
You may also challenge the reasonableness of the cost of retrieving or providing that personal information.
10. Dealing With Your Concerns And Questions
Metrowide Appraisal Services has policies and procedures to retrieve, investigate and respond to customers complaints and questions. We will respond to your questions and concerns as quickly as possible. All inquiries should be sent to our contact information below.
Contact Information:
Metrowide Appraisal Services Inc.
345 Renfrew Drive Suite 201
Markham, Ontario L3R 9S9
Email: mail@metrowideappraisal.com
Telephone: 905.479.4400 Extension 1
Fax: 905.479.9700