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Confidentiality: New Paths and Scenarios

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Services for Real Estate Pros with ZipRealty Residential Brokerage 46553

Here are some situations occur that got me thinking about additional ways small business practitioners  need to protect their data, based upon personal experiences.

Several years back, I received a solicitation call from a guy that assisted on a home inspection performed by my home inspector. He had just gone into the mortgage business and was calling all of his old employer's clients to solicit business in his new line of work. Upon calling the home inspector, I found out that none of his employees were required to sign a non-compete or agreeement of confidentiality. Based upon the possibility for misuse, it seems wise to impose these on even minor employees who have regular access to your client lists.

In co-marketing arrangements with a Realtor or Mortgage Broker, it is wise, if you are using a pooled mailing list to define how the list will be used, and if the arrangement ends, terms for cease and desist of the use of the list by both parties.

MLS requires that real estate practitioners in my local area leave business cards at the homes that they show. I was recently spammed by a home inspection team because I showed the property they were later inspecting. I feel very strongly that the information was improperly obtained and complained to the home inspector and let them know that I would never use them, but beyond approaching the MLS, how do we prevent such abuses from occurring? Fortunately there are already guidelines in place on my local MLS governing misuse of data obtained from within the MLS, but this is a new wrinkle.

 

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