The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues rules and regulations which govern institutions involved in consumer financial services. Two regulations impacting both lenders and closing agents like Whatcom Land Title Company are Regulation X (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, RESPA), and Regulation Z (Truth in Lending Act, TILA). Some disclosure requirements under each were combined under TRID (TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures).
TRID requires consumers be provided a Loan Estimate form after submitting a loan application and a Closing Disclosure form prior to closing the loan. This applies to closed-end credit transactions secured by real property, like buying your home with a bank loan, (except, for instance, a reverse mortgage, HELOC, mortgages secured by a mobile home or by a dwelling that is not attached to real property). TRID also requires the forms disclose the cost of title insurance premium(s). To calculate an estimated cost for your title insurance, please visit WLT Rate Calculator Suite (whatcomtitle.com)
Buyers, borrowers, sellers, Realtors, agents, real estate brokers, and escrow closing agents are targets for phishing scams and wire fraud. Fraudsters gain access to a party’s email account, monitor the account for upcoming transactions, then send a legitimate appearing email to the buyer purporting to be a party to the transaction, such as the escrow agent. Fraudsters then direct the buyer to wire funds to a fraudulent account. For more information on wire fraud, visit the Coalition to Stop Real Estate Wire Fraud at https://stopwirefraud.org or go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at https://www.fbi.gov. To report a scam, go to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at http://www.ic3.gov.
Pay special attention to email addresses from which you receive updates on your real estate transaction. If you receive a suspicious email, do not reply to the email. Do contact your escrow officer or real estate agent by a known phone number to verify the information contained in the email.
Cybercrime comes in many forms. A scam that affects the real estate housing industry is the use of “money mules” by criminals to help launder and move money obtained through online scams, fraud, or other crimes. Money mules may or may not know they are assisting criminals. Another form of cybercrime that often involves the real estate housing industry is known as the “romance scam.” According to the FBI, romance scams account for some of the highest financial losses compared to other internet crimes. The romance scam often involves the use of “money mules.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation offers data and resources on what a money mule is and how to avoid becoming one unwittingly [Money Mules – FBI]. The FBI also provides similar data on romance scams, example cases, and how to report such crimes [Romance Scams – FBI].
Information Collection and Use
Information Collection
Whatcom Land Title Company Inc (WLT), is the sole owner of the information collected on https://www.whatcomtitle.com. WLT collects information from users at several different points on the website including email address, name, surname and address.
Information Use
This information will be used to help WLT streamline marketing efforts. It will also be used to communicate with consumers in the manner in which they have requested.
Profile
WLT stores information collected to create a profile of our users. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users’ personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. We do not share your profile with third parties.
Log Files
Like most standard website servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers and Updates
Our Website: https://www.whatcomtitle.com contains areas where you can sign up for E-newsletters. You will only receive information via email on the topics which you have chosen.
Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information to comply with a judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process.
Business Transitions
In the event WLT goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition, or selling a portion of its assets, users’ personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred. Users will be notified via email if retained and prominent notice on our website for 30 days prior to a change of ownership or control of their personal information. If, as a result of the business transition, the users’ personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different than that stated at the time of collection, they will be given notice and the option to opt-out consistent with our Notification of Changes section.
Links
This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, WLT, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use of this site and improve our marketing efforts. Users’ personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and the option to opt-out. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users’ personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Security
This website takes every precaution to protect user information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both online and off-line.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user’s personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users’ personally identifiable information. This can usually be done by emailing Customer Support.
Notification of Changes
WLT may update or change this privacy policy at any time. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
If we are going to use users’ personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. However, if users have opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their account, then they will not be contacted, nor will their personal information be used in this new manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our website notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post a notice we will also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us.