Introduction
Homestead Land Holdings Limited (the "Landlord") is committed to protecting personal information in its possession. This Privacy Policy (the "Policy") has been developed to explain how the Landlord treats the personal information it collects and to detail its responsibilities under 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 Landlord complies with PIPEDA and CASL including the purposes for which information is collected, used and disclosed, the Landlord's 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 Landlord including, without limitation, applicants for residency and tenants.
Accountability
The responsibility for the personal information under the Landlord's control rests with its Privacy Officer. The individual designated as Privacy Officer may change from time to time, however, his or her identity will be updated in this policy when required.
The Landlord will occasionally disclose personal information under its control to third parties, but only for an identified purpose. When disclosing personal information, the Landlord uses 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 Providers
- Auditors/Accountants
- Great West Life
- Financial Institutions
- Lawyers
- Real Estate Agents
- Appraisers
- Ceridian MPAC
- Yardi
Protecting your privacy is a top priority of the Landlord. Accordingly, procedures have been adopted to give effect to this Policy. The Landlord's employees have received training concerning this Policy and the procedures in place to implement it.
The Landlord 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 Landlord may use a management company to operate its leasing business. 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 in and applicants for tenancy in the building will be exchanged between the management company and the Landlord and may be collected, used and disclosed by either the management company and/or the Landlord 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 Landlord may own one or more buildings in a co-tenancy 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-tenancy, 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 Landlord and may be collected, used and disclosed by either the co-owner(s) and/or the Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal 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 Landlord.
- Selling or Financing a Building.
- When the Landlord sells 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 Landlord will 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 Landlord may also disclose personal information to insurers, lenders or prospective purchasers of properties we own or manage. A complete list of persons or business entities to whom your personal information may be provided and who may, in turn, send Commercial Electronic Messages (CEMs) to you is attached as a schedule to this privacy policy under the heading: "Third Party Disclosure". At this time, we have taken steps to generally prohibit third parties from using your personal information for the purpose of sending you (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 Landlord to refuse rental accommodation. The Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Landlord 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 "Factors"). The reference check is an assessment tool used to determine your suitability to be a tenant of the Landlord based on the Factors. 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 Landlord to refuse rental accommodation. The Landlord 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 Assessment Act (Ontario) your personal information must be disclosed to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation 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 Landlord identifies.
The form of consent required by the Landlord 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 Landlord may collect, use or disclose your personal information without your consent in circumstances indicated in PIPEDA. For example, the Landlord may disclose personal information to a collecting agency for the purpose of collecting any rent that is owed by the tenant.
Limiting Collection
The Landlord does not collect personal information indiscriminately. The Landlord limits the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for purposes it identifies.
The Landlord 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 Landlord collects directly from you; may be disclosed by you to the Landlord, generated by your transactions with the Landlord, or from the Landlord's 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 Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Landlord about changes to your personal information as appropriate. The Landlord 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 Landlord, contact the Landlord at the phone number or address indicated at the end of this document.
Safeguards
The Landlord 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 Landlord's employees have been made aware of the need to safeguard personal information and they only access the information on an as-needed basis. The Landlord also uses firewalls and passwords to protect electronic personal information.
Use of Video Surveillance and Recordings
Video equipment may be installed and operating in common areas of the complex in which your rental unit is located. The video equipment may be operating at all times. Surveillance of the video recordings may occur at any time.
The purpose of the use of such equipment is to ensure your safety, security and reasonable enjoyment and that of the other tenants, to ensure you have access to the premises, equipment and services that our clients have agreed to provide, to preserve our clients' property, and to deter crime.
Where required by law, signs will be posted informing you that video equipment is operating and recording personal information about you. Also posted on those signs will be the contact information for our Information Officer whom you can contact if you have questions regarding the video recordings or if you wish to have access to recorded images of you.
What is Captured by the Video Recordings
Your image, movements, actions, or other identifiable information about you, may be captured by the video equipment.
Retention and Destruction of Personal Information Recorded by Video Equipment
The recordings captured by the video equipment along with the video equipment will be stored in a secured location. Access to the location and recordings is limited. Hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area. Recordings will be kept for a minimum of 30 days before being destroyed.
Retention and Destruction of Personal Information Recorded by Voicemail
Voicemail messages left for us will be erased after they have been listened to by an employee. If a message contains personal information of an individual which we will rely upon when making a decision, that voicemail will be kept for a period of no more than 21 days. After that period has expired, the voicemail message will be erased, and thus will not be available for review.
Disclosure of Personal Information Recorded by Video Equipment or Voice Mail
We may disclose your personal information without your knowledge or consent under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include: if the disclosure is required by law, provided to our lawyers, for the purpose of collecting a debt you owe to us, in compliance with a subpoena, warrant, or issued order made by a court, person or body with jurisdiction to compel the production of information, or to comply with rules of court relating to the production of records.
Disclosure may also be made to a government institution that has made a request for the information, identified its lawful authority to obtain the information and indicated that: it suspects that the information relates to national security, the defence of Canada or the conduct of international affairs, the disclosure is requested for the purpose of carrying out any investigation relating to the enforcement, gathering intelligence for the purpose of enforcing, or enforcing any law of any jurisdiction, or the disclosure is requested for the purpose of administering any law of Canada or a province. Disclosure may be made by an investigative body if the disclosure is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province.
Upon our initiative, we may disclose the information to an investigative body or a government institution if we have reasonable grounds to believe that the information relates to a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of any jurisdiction that has been, is being or is about to be committed, or if we suspect that the information relates to national security, the defence of Canada or the conduct of international affairs.
If information regarding an identifiable individual is disclosed to a person who needs the information because of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual and, if the individual whom the information is about is alive, we will inform that individual in writing of the disclosure without delay.
Use Without Knowledge or Consent of Personal Information Recorded by Video Equipment
We may, without your knowledge or consent, use your personal information if: we become aware of information that we have reasonable grounds to believe could be useful in the investigation of a contravention of the laws of any jurisdiction that has been, is being, or is about to be committed, and the information is used for the purpose of investigating the contravention, it is used for the purpose of acting in respect of an emergency that threatens the life, health, or security of an individual, or has been collected under circumstances in which consent is not required.
Openness
The Landlord's 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 on request or online at www.homestead.ca They include:
- A Personal Information Request Form to be used to inquire about or gain access to personal information held by the Landlord; and
- A Privacy Complaint Form used to complain about the Landlord's treatment of personal information.
PERSONAL INFORMATION REQUEST FORM
Individual Access
Upon written request, the Landlord 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 Branch Offices or the Privacy Officer at the address at the end of this Policy. Personal Information Request Forms and Privacy Complaint Forms are available at the Landlord's Branch Offices and online at www.homestead.ca. If assistance is needed with the request, please contact the Privacy Officer.
The Landlord 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 Landlord, provided that you are informed of the fee in advance and do not withdraw your request.
The Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Landlord 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 Landlord does not comply with an access request, it will inform you of the reasons for such refusal.
Challenging Compliance
Any concerns respecting the Landlord's 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 Landlord 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 Landlord will take appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending its policies and procedures.
Human Rights Policy
Homestead is committed to providing an environment free of discrimination and harassment, in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Our Human rights policy can be reviewed by opening the document below:
Alberta Human Rights Policy
Privacy Officer
Homestead Branch Offices
Homestead Land Holdings Limited (Head Office)
80 Johnson Street
Kingston, Ontario, K7L 1X7
Phone (613) 546-3146 Fax (613) 546-5206
Homestead Land Holdings Limited
2001 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario, K2A 3W5
Phone (613) 729-4115 Fax (613) 729-5723
Homestead Land Holdings Limited
1000 Mount Pleasant Road, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2M2
Phone (416) 322-0265 Fax (416) 646-2864
Homestead Land Holdings Limited (Hamilton/Brantford/Burlington/Oakville/Mississauga/Etobicoke/St. Catharines)
5555 North Service Road, Suite 200
Burlington, Ontario, L7L 5H7
Phone (905) 335-8700
Homestead Land Holdings Limited
(London/Kitchener/Guelph/Sarnia/Cambridge/Waterloo)
Executive Centre
1950 Oxford Street East, Suite 2
London, Ontario, N5V 2Z8
Phone (519) 433-1560 Fax (519) 963-1012
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
TTY: (613) 992-9190