Privacy Policy
This policy applies to the information we collect in the operation of the aptrentals.net website including, but not limited to, that contained in tenancy applications, tenancy agreements, pre-authorized debit forms, tenant inquiries, employment applications and email or newsletter subscriptions.
The privacy, confidentiality and security of your personal information is of great importance to Cascadia Apartment Rentals Ltd., Nacel Properties Ltd. and CDM Properties Ltd., the landlords and for their officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively the "Managers"). We are committed to maintaining your information confidential and private in a manner that complies with the related legislation including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA").
What is PIPEDA?
PIPEDA is federal legislation that governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in a manner that respects your right of privacy concerning your personal information. PIPEDA balances these rights against an organization's need to collect, use and disclose personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
What is personal information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Examples of personal information include: gender, age, income, date of birth, drivers license number, current and previous home address, email address, phone number, family status, credit score, names of former landlords, social insurance number, income, the name of your employer and other employment details, names of family members and monthly rent.
What does this Policy encompass?
This Policy describes how the Managers comply with PIPEDA and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation ("CASL") including the purposes for which information is collected, used and disclosed, the Managers' treatment of personal information and your rights concerning your personal information. It is organized based on the principles listed in the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code found in Schedule II to PIPEDA, under which the landlord's privacy responsibilities are organized. This Policy also applies to all individuals whose personal information is collected by the Managers including, without limitation, applicants for residency and tenancy.
Accountability
The Managers may occasionally disclose personal information under its control to third parties, but only for an identified purpose. When disclosing personal information, the Managers use contractual means to ensure that it is treated in accordance with PIPEDA by the third party. Please find listed below third parties that personal information would be disclosed to:
• Government Organizations (Municipal/Provincial/Federal)
• Collection Agencies
• Telecommunication and Internet Service Providers
• Auditors/Accountants
• Financial Institutions
• Lawyers
• Real Estate Agents
• Appraisers
• Property Management and Accounting System service providers
Protecting your privacy is a top priority of the Managers. Accordingly, procedures have been adopted to give effect to this Policy and to implement it. The Managers may transfer your personal information to third parties and servers located within and outside of Canada for the purposes of storage and use with respect to accounting and maintenance systems, and for the processing of payroll and on-line applications. While this information is outside of the country, it is subject to the laws of the country in which it is held. As such, it may be accessible to law enforcement and national security authorities of that jurisdiction.
Identifying Purposes Manager May Be Used
The Managers may use a third party management company to operate its rental business and the management company may differ depending on the building, and it may change from time to time. When a management company is used for a building, the personal information of tenants and applicants for tenancy in the building will be exchanged between the management company and the Managers and may be collected, used and disclosed by either the management company and/or the Managers for any appropriate purposes. Consent may not be withdrawn for this arrangement during the term of the lease or any renewal of it.
Co-Owners
The Managers may own one or more buildings with one or more co-owners. The Co-owner may differ depending on the building, and it may change from time to time. When a building is owned in a co-ownership, the personal information of tenants in and applicants for tenancy in the building will be exchanged between the co-owner or co-owners and the Managers and may be collected, used and disclosed by either the co-owner(s) and/or the Managers for any appropriate purposes. Consent may not be withdrawn for this arrangement during the term of the lease or any renewal of it.
Leasing and Business Operations
Personal information is collected in order for the Managers to operate its business as a landlord. This includes activities indicated in the lease agreement, other activities incidental to tenancy in the building (for example: responding to tenant inquiries, bringing or defending Residential Tenancy Branch of B.C. claims, collecting rent or other amounts due, or informing tenants about various building rules and policies) and activities common to the running of all businesses such as collecting and retaining records for income tax purposes or providing receipts. Personal information is also collected for the purposes of enforcing any terms of the tenancy agreement or tenancy application or to act in respect of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of the tenant. Consent may not be withdrawn for these purposes during the term of the lease or any renewal of it; or while there are amounts owing from you to the Managers.
Selling or Financing a Building
When the Managers sell a building, or finances it, the personal information of the tenants of the building contained on the building's rent roll will be disclosed to the potential buyer or financer. The rent roll contains personal information including the location and size of leased premises, the amount of rent paid, if there are rental arrears or ever have been, and other similar information. The rent roll is used to calculate the value of a building. Disclosure of it to a buyer or a financer is essential to assess the risk involved in buying or financing the building. Consent may not be withdrawn for this purpose during the term of the lease or any renewal of it.
Secondary Marketing Purposes
The Managers may disclose limited personal information to third party suppliers of services, such as telecommunications and utility service providers, so that they can market and make available their services to new and existing tenants. The Managers may also disclose personal information to insurers, lenders or prospective purchasers of properties we own or manage. At this time, we have taken steps to generally prohibit third parties from using your personal information for the purpose of sending you Commercial Electronic Messages ("CEMs") unless same are exempt from restrictions of, and are otherwise sent in full compliance with, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
Consumer Reports
Personal information is collected for the purpose of conducting a credit check on applicants for tenancy. The credit check is a risk assessment tool used to ensure that you will be able to make the monthly payments required to lease premises. Consent to collect personal information for the purpose of conducting a credit check will be requested on the application for accommodation or offer to lease premises. Your refusal to provide information and consent to its use and disclosure for the purposes of conducting a credit check is grounds for the Managers to refuse rental accommodation. The Managers may also obtain a credit check in the event that the tenant is in arrears of rent or wishes to renew his/her tenancy agreement. The Managers will retain the results of a credit check for a minimum of two and a maximum of seven years following (i) a rejected application or (ii) the end of your tenancy.
References
(1) Your personal information may be used to provide credit or rental-history references to third parties. (2) Your personal information is collected in order for the Managers to conduct a reference check during the application process. The reference check will include references concerning rental payments, cleanliness, noise violations and complaint history. The reference check is an assessment tool used to determine your suitability to be a tenant of the Managers. Your refusal to provide reference names and telephone numbers and consent to their use and disclosure for the purposes of conducting a reference check is grounds for the Managers to refuse rental accommodation. The Managers will retain the results of a reference check for a minimum of two and a maximum of seven years.
Identification
Personal information is collected for the purposes of identification when the need arises. Consent may not be withdrawn for this purpose during the term of the lease or any renewal of it, except where specifically indicated.
Assessments
Pursuant to the relevant Assessment Act, your personal information must be disclosed to the relevant government authority for the purposes of assessing the value of the property on which the building in which your leased premises are situate. This disclosure is made for the purposes of municipal taxation. Your consent for this purpose is not required as this disclosure is required to comply with a provincial law.
Co-Tenant's Access Requests
Your personal information may be disclosed to a tenant with whom you have co-signed your lease if a request is made by that tenant to access his or her personal information.
Consent
Consent is required for the collection of personal information for the above purposes, or any new purposes that the Managers identifies. The form of consent required by the Managers varies depending on the sensitivity of the information requested and the reasonable expectations of the tenant. Consent shall be implied for all purposes unless the purpose indicates that express consent will be collected. The Managers may collect, use or disclose your personal information without your consent in circumstances indicated in PIPEDA. For example, the Managers may disclose personal information to a collections agency for the purpose of collecting any rent that is owed by the tenant.
Limiting Collection
The Managers does not collect personal information indiscriminately. The Managers limits the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for purposes it identifies. The Managers primarily collects personal information directly from you; however, personal information may also be collected from other sources including credit bureaus, employers, previous landlords, referees, other tenants or other people who represent that they have the right to disclose information. The personal information that the Managers collects directly from you; may be disclosed by you to the Managers, generated by your transactions with the Managers, or from the Managers' observations.
The types of personal information collected include: (i) information related to facilitating the tenancy including your name, proposed occupants, address, email address, amount of rent paid, payment history, complaints, requests, etc.; (ii) information necessary to have a credit check conducted on you, including your social insurance number; (iii) information necessary to evaluate tenancy-worthiness such as current and past employment information, banking information and references from prior landlords; and (iv) information necessary to identify you as well as telephone numbers, persons to contact in case of emergency, vehicle information, posted information and email addresses.
Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
The Managers only uses and discloses information for the purposes for which, it was collected, or otherwise in accordance with PIPEDA or CASL. Any new purpose for which the information is to be used or disclosed shall be documented, and consent will be obtained for it. Unless this Policy indicates otherwise, the Managers retains personal information for a minimum period of seven years. Personal information will be disposed of by shredding or otherwise destroying it. Third party services may be retained to destroy personal information; however, that third party will be required to enter into a confidentiality agreement with the Managers in order to protect the personal information.
Accuracy
Personal information will be kept as accurate, complete and up-to-date as necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used. You are responsible for informing the Managers about changes to your personal information as appropriate. The Managers encourages you to examine your lease agreement, application for lease and any other documents that you submit to the landlord that contain the personal information in order to ensure that the information is accurate. If you have concerns about the accuracy of your personal information collected by the Managers, contact the Managers at the phone number or address indicated at the end of this document.
Safeguards
The Managers protects personal information against loss or theft; as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying use or modification; with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the personal information. Files are protected by keeping them in areas restricted to employees, and/or in locked filing cabinets or rooms. The Managers' employees have been made aware of the need to safeguard personal information and they only access the information on an as-needed basis. The Managers also uses firewalls and passwords to protect electronic personal information.
Openness
The Managers' policies and practices related to the management of personal information are contained in this Policy. The Policy as well as additional information and documents are available from the Privacy Officer by written request at the address at the end of this Policy.
Individual Access
Upon written request, the Managers will divulge the existence, use and any disclosure made of personal information and will give you access to your information. Written requests should be delivered to the Privacy Officer at the address at the end of this Policy. If assistance is needed with the request, please contact the Privacy Officer.
The Managers will respond to an access request within thirty (30) days, unless an extension of time is required, pursuant to PIPEDA, in which case the response may take up to an additional thirty (30) days. A fee for reasonable costs incurred pursuant to the request may be charged to the requestor by the Managers, provided that you are informed of the fee in advance and do not withdraw your request. The Managers may require additional information from you in order to locate certain personal information. If this is the case, the additional information will not be used for any purpose other than locating the personal information. Should your information on file with the Managers be proved to be incomplete or incorrect, it will be amended as required. Where necessary, the amended information will be transmitted to third parties using the information in question.
The Managers will not comply with access requests in certain situations:
• If it would reveal information about a third party;
• If the information is subject to solicitor-client privilege;
• If to do so would reveal confidential commercial information; and
• If the information was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process.
• If the Managers does not comply with an access request, it will inform you of the reasons for such refusal.
Challenging Compliance
Any concerns respecting the Managers' compliance with PIPEDA should be addressed to the Privacy Officer. A Privacy Complaint Form or Personal Information Request Form is available from our Branch offices or at www.homestead.ca for making complaints. The Managers will investigate and respond to written complaints within thirty (30) business days of receiving a complaint. If a complaint is found to be justified the Managers will take appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending its policies and procedures.
Privacy Officer
For Written Inquiries or Feedback:
For properties managed by Cascadia:
Cascadia Apartment Rentals Ltd.
Attention: Vice President
Suite 200, 555 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5Z 1C6
Fascimile: (604) 683-7690
Email: vp@aptrentals.net
For properties managed by Nacel:
Nacel Properties Ltd.
Attention: Vice President
Suite 200, 555 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5Z 1C6
Email: vp@aptrentals.net
For properties managed by CDM:
CDM Properties Ltd.
Attention: Vice President
Suite 200, 555 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5Z 1C6
Email: vp@aptrentals.net
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy legislation in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as a kind of ombudsman for privacy disputes. The Information and Privacy Commissioner can be reached at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
Phone: (613) 995-8210
Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376
Fax: (613) 947-6850