Privacy Policy

ROMSPEN INVESTMENT COPORATION
ROMSPEN MORTGAGE INVESTMENT FUND
ROMSPEN US MORTGAGE INVESTMENT FUND
and affiliated and related entities (the ROMSPEN GROUP)

The Romspen Group has developed and implemented this policy to comply with the federal Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), and has adopted the 10 principles outlined in the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information. In this policy “we”, “our”, and “us” mean, collectively, the members of the Romspen Group.  “You” and “your” mean an individual who has made a financing application to us, has provided or may provide a guarantee to us, or intends to make or has made a subscription or opened an account with us.

This policy explains the types of personal information we collect, how it is used and the steps we take to ensure that your personal information is handled appropriately.

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information is any information that is specific to you as an individual, including your residential address, date of birth, age, marital status, education, employment history, identification numbers, financial information and credit records. It does not include business contact information that would typically appear on a business card or email signature or social media, or that is available in public records such as public telephone directory information and professional and business directories and social media sites available to the public.

THE TEN PRINCIPLES

1. ACCOUNTABILITY

Keeping your personal information confidential is the responsibility of every employee and consultant of the Romspen Group.  We are accountable for all personal information in our custody, including personal information that we disclose to third parties for processing, storage, or other administrative functions. Employees, consultants and our service providers are informed about, and must comply with, the policies and procedures that we have established regarding the collection, use and storage of your information. The Romspen Group is committed to ensuring that the appropriate security measures are employed in the transfer of sensitive information.  We have a designated Privacy Officer who is responsible for monitoring and supervising the Romspen Group’s compliance with this policy and with PIPEDA.

2. WHY WE COLLECT AND HOW WE USE AND SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We will identify and document the purposes for which we collect your personal information, before or at the time of collection. In most situations where you are asked to provide personal information, it will be readily apparent to you why we are collecting such information and how we will use it.

For example, if you have decided to invest with us or open an account, we will collect your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, banking information, personal financial information, date of birth, social insurance number, personal financial objectives, investing characteristics and risk tolerance, so that we are able to communicate with you, comply with applicable securities, anti-money laundering and other laws, pay distributions to you, and prepare income tax and other reporting required by applicable laws.

If you or someone on your behalf has approached us for financing, we will collect your name, address, telephone number, and your personal financial information, so that we are able to communicate with you, so that we can assess your creditworthiness and properly underwrite the requested financing, administer and service the financing, and to assist with future enforcement and collection activities.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may gather personal information from the following sources:

  • from you, on applications, contracts or forms filled out through telephone, e‑mail or face‑to‑face meetings
  • from intermediaries with whom you have a relationship or your authorized representatives, such as mortgage brokers or financial advisors
  • from your interactions with us (for example, as an existing investor or client or past borrower or guarantor)
  • from government and other entities, such as Canada Revenue Agency
  • from consumer reporting agencies, such as a credit reporting agency
  • from previous employers

We may collect from, and use and disclose personal information to, any person or organization to:

  • verify your identity and protect you and us from error and fraud
  • understand your financing requirements
  • determine your creditworthiness, ability to pay, and collateral available and thus your eligibility for a loan
  • evaluate your financial needs and determine the suitability of our products and services for you
  • determine your eligibility for products
  • set up and manage payments
  • properly administer the products and services we provide
  • comply with legal, regulatory and contractual requirements
  • to maintain appropriate levels of ongoing service and recommend specific products or services that are suitable for you

We may use third-party service providers to assist us, including law firms, accounting firms, title insurance agents and providers, other insurance providers or agents/brokers, loan and investor administration firms, printing, advertising, marketing and investor services firms, communications distribution firms, compliance consultants, software and information technology providers, and we may release information about you to them. When your personal information is provided to our service providers we will, where they do not have their own privacy policy, or are not governed by a professional code with respect to privacy and confidentiality, require them to protect the information in a manner consistent with this privacy policy.

We may collect, use and disclose your social insurance number (“SIN”) for income tax reporting purposes and also to verify and report credit information to credit reporting agencies and to verify your identity. Your SIN may be used to keep your personal information separate from that of other clients with similar names. You may refuse to consent to its use and disclosure for purposes other than required by law.

If we sell or assign all or a portion of a loan or its related collateral, or securitize it, sell parts of our business, or merge or amalgamate with other entities, we may release the information we hold about you to the prospective counterparty as part of due diligence and on completion of the transaction.

When you apply, as a borrower or guarantor, for financing, we may exchange information about you with credit bureaus for the purpose of establishing creditworthiness and maintaining the reliability of the credit reporting system. If you use a mortgage broker or other third party to assist you in your loan application, we may obtain and exchange information with them in order to determine your eligibility for financing.

We may verify relevant information you give us with your employer or your references and you authorize any person whom we contact in this regard to provide such information to us.

We may monitor or record any telephone call we have with you. We will retain the content of the call. This is to maintain an accurate record of the information you provide and to ensure that our service levels are maintained.

3. OBTAINING YOUR CONSENT TO COLLECT, USE OR DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

With certain exceptions as outlined below, we will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information. This consent will allow us to check your employment, obtain a credit report and exchange information with credit reporting agencies, offer you other products and services, and share your information within the Romspen Group. In most cases, we will seek your express consent. 

If you are an investor or a client, by completing and signing a subscription agreement and related documentation to purchase Romspen Group securities or to open an account, you are giving us your express consent for us to use the personal information provided by you in the ways outlined above or in the documentation provided to you at the time or as required or permitted by law or other rules and regulations governing us and our business.

If you are a borrower or guarantor, by completing an application for a loan, including a personal financial statement, you are giving your express consent for us to use the personal information provided by you during the loan approval process in the ways outlined above or in the documentation provided to you at the time or as required or permitted by law or other rules and regulations governing us and our business.

Your consent may be given in writing, verbally or by electronic means. We may rely upon implied consent where permitted by law, including where:

  • a customer/client relationship already exists
  • you have previously given your express consent for the same or similar use of the personal information
  • the intended use is reasonably obvious from the context in which it is obtained and you provide the information voluntarily

The following are exceptions where we may collect, use or disclose information without consent and for which you may not withdraw consent:

  • if we use an outside supplier to do work for us as outlined above
  • if we are required or permitted by law, or are compelled to release information by a court or other legal or regulatory authority
  • to protect our interests, such as collecting overdue payments, realizing on loan collateral, or to detect or prevent fraud
  • to periodically update your information with credit reporting agencies as long as you have a loan with us and for a period of time following payment, in order to maintain the integrity of the credit reporting system
  • where we need to exchange or disclose information to sell or assign all or a portion of a loan or its related collateral, or securitize it, sell parts of our business, or merge or amalgamate with other entities, as part of the sale or merger of our business

Where you are permitted to withdraw your consent and do so, for example if you choose not to receive direct marketing, we will do our best to make sure that our files are updated as quickly as possible. You must give us reasonable notice in writing of your withdrawal of consent.  Depending on the circumstances, withdrawal of your consent may impact our ability to provide you with the products and services you have requested.

4. LIMITS ON COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Romspen Group limits the amount and type of personal information to what is necessary for the purposes we have identified. We will obtain personal information only by fair and lawful means, and not by misleading or deceiving you about the purposes for which information consent to collection is sought.

5. WE LIMIT USE, DISCLOSURE, AND RETENTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will use or disclose your personal information only for the reasons it was collected, as described in this privacy policy. Disclosure means providing specific information about you from our records to a third party. When you apply for a loan with the Romspen Group, or become an investor or establish a client relationship, application and subscription forms contain express consent for use and disclosure pursuant to the terms of both the application and subscription forms and in this privacy policy. If a new purpose is developed in the future, we will notify you and request your consent for use of your information for this new purpose.

We will keep personal information as long as necessary for the purposes identified in this privacy policy, which will be at least as long as any loan indebtedness is outstanding plus any statute-barred claim period, or while you remain a client or investor with the us.

6. ACCURACY

We will make every effort to ensure the information in our records is correct and up to date. We also rely on you to tell us when your personal information changes. If you identify any incorrect or outdated personal information requiring amendment, please contact your client representative or your loan relationship manager, as applicable.

7. SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The security of your personal information involves both physical, organizational and electronic methods. We only contract with key suppliers that have a proven track record of securely handling personal information and have privacy policies similar to ours.  We restrict physical access to areas where information is collected, stored or processed to authorized employees and agents only.  We maintain electronic security measures such as password protection to prevent unauthorized access to our electronic records of personal information.  When information is no longer required and is to be destroyed we shred paper documents that contain personal information and erase or make anonymous any personal information on any electronic media.

8. OPENESS

We attempt to make information about our privacy policies and procedures available to customers and clients. We will use our best efforts to use simple language that is easy to understand and to provide specific information regarding how we are attempting to comply with the Model Code.

Through this policy and other documentation you will be able to find out:

  • the title, office address, and e-mail of the person at the Romspen Group who is responsible for responding to your requests about the privacy of your personal information
  • how to access your personal information held by the Romspen Group;
  • A description of the type of personal information held by us and a general description of its use;
9. INDIVIDUAL ACCESS

Upon your request, we will tell you what personal information we have, what we are or will be using it for, from whom it was collected and to whom it has been disclosed. Depending on the nature of the information you are requesting and the complexity of your request we may ask you to put your request in writing. Some of the information you request may not be immediately available. If this is the case, we may require that your request be submitted in writing or by e-mail and will provide such information as soon as reasonably available and generally within 30 days.

Generally there will be no charge for verifying or correcting your information. Depending on the circumstances there may be a small charge if you want a copy of records that we have already given you or your request is relatively complex. We will let you know in advance if there is a charge.

If we have obtained information about you from other people, you can ask us for the source of that information. If we obtained a credit report on you, we will advise you of the agency that provided such report and you may contact them directly for a current credit report.

We may not be able to provide you with a copy of appraisals or other materials obtained by us from third parties subject to copyright, without the authorization of the author. We will provide you with a summary of the findings of such third-party reports.

On request, and except where legally prohibited, we will provide you with the names of outside companies or organizations to whom we have given your personal information. This will not include outside suppliers engaged to provide services or companies that process information for us. This also won’t include reports to the Canada Revenue Agency, regular updating of credit information to credit bureaus, indicating to third parties when cheques are returned NSF, or information provided to legal counsel for the purpose of collection or enforcement of security or information that has been provided for legal or regulatory reasons.

We will not provide personal information:

  • if the information is not readily retrievable and the cost of retrieving cannot be justified
  • that includes personal information about other customers or clients
  • that contains our own proprietary information, such as underwriting formulas, assessments of risk, or enforcement recommendations
  • that cannot be disclosed for legal reasons
  • that is subject to solicitor-client or other privilege
  • that is used for the detection and prevention of criminal activity, including fraud, and dealings in the proceeds of crime

We will give you brief reasons for any refusal to allow access to your personal information. You may challenge our decision should you disagree with it.

If we discover that we have information about you that is obsolete or incorrect we will update our records accordingly. We reserve the right to decline a requested correction but will append a notation to the records of your requested alternative information. Whenever possible we will correct any information which we may have given to a third party.

If a third party such as a credit bureau or reporting agency has given us information that you tell us is wrong, we will give you the name and address of that party so that you can contact them to correct the information they maintain.

10. COMPLAINTS ABOUT POLICY AND COMPLIANCE

The Romspen Group is committed to treating your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy. If you have any questions or complaints about our Privacy Policy or how we are living up to it, let us know. Your first step should be to talk to the individual with whom you are interacting at the Romspen Group. If your complaint or question remains unresolved you should then bring it to the attention of our Privacy Officer as follows:

Privacy Officer – The Romspen Group
162 Cumberland St #300
Toronto, ON M5R 3N5
Tel: (416) 966-1100
E-mail: privacy@romspen.com

Should you not accept the conclusion of the Romspen Group’s Privacy Officer you may contact:

Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Place de Ville
112 Kent St., 34d Floor Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
Toll free at 1 800 282-1376
Website: www.privcom.gc.ca

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