PRIVACY POLICY
If you have any questions pertaining to our privacy policy,
please E-Mail us.
This Privacy Policy covers the information provided to us when you call or
visit the websites of Sierra Western Home Loans, Inc. and Sierra Western Real
Estate (herein after collectively known as Sierra Western): www.sierrawestern.com and www.sierrawesternhomeloans.com, and obtain or seek to obtain Sierra Westerns financial products or services. Sierra Westerns products and services are intended for U.S. Residents aged 18 years and older. Please be aware that other websites that you may access through our site may collect personally identifiable information about you. Our Privacy Policy does not cover those third-party websites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies prior to providing them with your personal information.
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Sierra Western may collect and use your personal information to respond to your requests for our financial products and services or to provide you with information about products or services that may be of interest to you. Certain personal information Sierra Western collects about you may be publicly available via government records, telephone books, and other widely available media (i.e. the Internet). However, we treat all information you provide to us as non-public.
Sierra Western collects the personal information you provide when you use our loan planning tools, apply for a mortgage or home equity loan via our website, register for a My SWHL account, or contact Sierra Western with a question or suggestion. Information that we collect in these instances includes your name, email address and telephone number. It may also include your loan amount, interest rate and payment terms. The mortgage application requests many other items of information that are used to determine your credit-worthiness for the mortgage for which you are applying.
When accessing the Sierra Western website, we may give you the option of submitting general information, such as whether you own a home, for the purpose of providing you with new financial products or services that may be of interest to you. Certain information must be provided at the time you apply for a financial service or product. We allow you to submit your loan application without providing all of the requested information to speed up the loan process. You will be required to give us any missing information required by our lenders or needed to process and fund your loan.
Sierra Western may also collect information about you from other sources, such as a consumer reporting agency. We receive information regarding your creditworthiness or credit history and use it to determine which product is right for you and to get your loan processed and approved. We may also receive information regarding your employment or bank accounts from others who have outside relationships with you. Sierra Western uses this information to verify representations you make, such as your employment history, assets, or your property insurance coverage.
Sierra Western does NOT use third-party advertising companies to provide advertisements on the Sierra Western website.
INFORMATION WE SHARE
Sierra Western believes that existing privacy laws are not comprehensive enough, so we go even further to protect your personal information. We do not sell our data to anyone. However, in some cases we may need to share your information.
We may share some items of information about you with the companies involved in the loan process. Appraisers, lenders, title companies and credit reporting agencies are a necessary part of the loan transaction; therefore, we must provide some of your information to these companies in order to process and fund your loan. These companies are required by law to adhere to federal and state privacy regulations.
We may also need to share your information with law enforcement or government agencies in response to a subpoena, state or federal audit, or other similar circumstances. Additionally, the law requires that all mortgages and deeds of trust be recorded with the local county recorders office.
The Sierra Western website may link you to other companies websites that offer services that may be of interest to you. These companies do not obtain any specific information about you or your transaction on the Sierra Western website. You may also access the Sierra Western website from another companys website. We may collect Web traffic statistics from you and other consumers Web browsers, and we may share this aggregated information with outside companies to assist them with assessing the effectiveness of their website content. No personal information is shared in this aggregated information.
Sierra Western always provides you with the opportunity to opt-out of communications that offer our products and services. You can opt-out of the marketing communications at anytime by clicking on the following link: https://www.sierrawestern.com/optout and completing the applicable section(s) or by calling us at 800-931-0011 and requesting to be excluded from electronic marketing communications, mailed marketing communications, or both.
Sierra Western uses a variety of security safeguards to protect your information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. For example, the username and password you create when you set up a My SWHL account are required to access the information you provide. We provide access to your information to Sierra Western employees and other authorized parties on a need-to-know basis. Sierra Western also uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology supporting up to 256-bit encryption to prevent unauthorized parties from viewing any personal information transmitted to or from Sierra Western during your session. We have also obtained a digital certificate from DigiCert for www.sierrawestern.com and www.sierrawesternhomeloans.com and their subdomains.
Federal and state agencies require that Sierra Western provide aggregated demographic and loan funding information about our loan applicants. We maintain electronic and hardcopy loan application information for funded, closed and withdrawn loans for a period of 7 years as mandated by federal and state laws.
Please call us at 925-358-4300 or email us to report any known or suspected privacy or security breaches or to submit privacy-related questions or complaints. After receiving your inquiry, we will respond within two business days. If you not hear from us within this timeframe or if your question or complaint is not handled to your satisfaction, then you may contact the Better Business Bureau at www.oakland.bbb.org .
To accommodate changes on the website, changing technology, and legal developments, Sierra Western may change this Privacy Policy occasionally. We will prominently post the current version of the Privacy Policy at the Sierra Western website.
Last revision date: January 5, 2007
