Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for our web sites (www.colindelaney.com and www.costamesaestates.com and VerandaHomes.com)

Effective July 1, 2001

Colin Delaney and the Veranda Homes Companies have created this Privacy Policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and so that you, as a visitor to eiter of our websites (“Web site”), will be aware of the uses made of information that may be generated as a result of you using our Web site.

What information is generated when you visit our site?

Depending on how you use our Web site, certain types of personal and nonpersonal information may be generated and collected.  For example, you may give us your name or e-mail address when you complete a registration screen, respond to a questionnaire or submit an e-mail to us.  Any personal information that you provide to us will be used by us primarily to fulfill the stated objective for which the information was requested or collected (e.g. if information is provided as a result of you e-mailing us, we will use the information provided, such as e-mail address, to respond to you).

Other types of information that may be generated and collected when you use our Web site is information that we consider nonpersonal in nature.  For example, we may collect the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account); the date and time you access our site or and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site.  We use this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our Web site and to help us make our Web site more useful to visitors.

Use of Cookies

What is a cookie?  A cookie is a data file that is created and stored on your computer’s hard drive when you visit a Web site.  The typical purposes of a cookie is to make your use of the Web site easier and more convenient and to assist the Web site in tracking your use of the site.  For example, a cookie may save the registration information, passwords, purchases or preferences that you create when using a Web site so you don’t have to reenter this information.  Cookies may also tell the Web site which areas of the site are popular and which aren’t.  Cookie technology is used by most major Web sites and is considered an industry standard for the Internet.

Our Web site uses cookie technology to verify user information.  Also, most Internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies.  If you prefer, you may set your browser so that it refuses cookies or alerts you when cookies are being created on your hard drive.  You should be aware though that by not accepting cookies, you may impair your ability to use certain shopping or password protected areas of web sites.

“Contact Us” Feature

Like most sites on the Internet, our Web site contains a feature that allows you to contact us with your comments or questions.   Not surprisingly, we call this feature “Contact Us.”  To use this feature, there is an icon at the top of each page on our Web site which you can click onto.  When you do click this icon, a screen will prompt you to provide us with certain information, such as your first and last name, email address, phone and fax number and your address, including your city and state. 

The information collected through the “Contact Us” feature is used to investigate and respond to your inquiries. 

Links to Other Sites

In many areas of our Web site, we have included links to other Internet sites which we feel add to or improve the quality of our Web site.   While we hope you find these links helpful, we cannot assume responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of any linked site.  Therefore, we encourage you to investigate and determine the privacy policy and practices of any linked site prior to providing information to the linked site. 

Consumer Newsletter Service

We currently offer as a free service to our members an e-mail of current properties and a “Consumer Newsletter Service.”  Through this service, our members can send a customized electronic newsletter to clients and customers, which includes pertinent real estate related information as well as a photo of the member and his or her business contact information.  To provide this service, we have retained Inman News Features to provide the content and technical support.

To sign up for the Customer Newsletter Service, we ask you to provide certain information, such as your name, phone number, business postal and email addresses and your web site address (if you have one).   In addition, you can submit the names and email address of your friends and colleagues who you want to be subscribers of the service. 

Under no circumstances will the information provided you when signing up for the Customer Newsletter Service, including the names and email address of clients and customers, be used for any purpose other than to perform the Customer Newsletter Service. 

Surveys

We may from time to time create and use surveys on our Web site.  Most surveys are simple “click box” surveys where you click a box on the screen to indicate your response.  However, we may from time to time ask you for your name, email address or demographic information.  If a survey does ask you this information, we will use the information to complete the survey, compile statistics and update member records.

Contests

We may from time to time run contests on our Web site.  If our contests require you to provide personal or demographic information, we will use this information primarily to complete the contest and update member and vistor records.

Advertisements

Currently we do not sell advertising on our websites. Should this change in the future, our privacy policy will be updated to contain the nature of the advertising space on our Web site and how that effects our visitors and members.

Public Chat Rooms or Forums

We from time to time may provide chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups on our Web site.  While we feel these features will be helpful to the users of our Web site, we will not monitor them regularly nor will we be responsible for what is said on or done as result of them.  Please remember that any information you disclose on these types of features will be accessible to the public and you should exercise caution prior to disclosing any personal information on these features.

Required by Law

We may disclose information provided by you if we are legally required to do so, such as by court order or subpoena.

Security

We have adopted what we consider to be reasonable security measures to protect against the loss, theft, misuse and alteration of information collected through our Web site.  However, if you are concerned about the security of the Internet or our Web site, we suggest that you not provide this information.

Other Products and Services

Although we generally collect and use information to fulfill the stated objective for which the information was requested or collected, we may also provide the information to our subsidiaries so that they may send you information regarding other products or services that may be valuable or interesting to you.

Children's Guidelines

Our Web site does not currently attempt to collect or solicit information from persons who are under the age of eighteen.  However, given the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible that someone under the age of eighteen may access our Web site and provide us with personal information.  If this situation occurs and it is brought to our attention, we will not use the information in any way without prior parental consent and we will take all reasonable steps to prevent it from occurring again.

Choice/Opt-Out

Our Web site provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us.  To exercise your opt-out privilege, please feel free to e-mail us at colin@verandahomes.com or write us at 2973 Harbor Blve, #251, Costa Mesa CA 92626.  Please be advised that if you are a member and choose to opt-out of receiving communications from the Web site, this may affect your ability to receive other e-mail communications that are sent.

Corrections/Updates

If you are a member and there is information about you on our Web site which needs to be corrected or updated, please feel free to email us at colin@colindelaney.com or write us at 2973 Harbor Blve, #251, Costa Mesa CA 92626.

Contacting our Web site

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of our Web site, or your dealings with our Web site, please feel free to email us at colin@colindelaney.com or write us at 2973 Harbor Blve, #251, Costa Mesa CA 92626.

Changes to Privacy Policy Statement

With the ever-changing environment of the Internet and to maintain our ability to improve the quality and safety of our Web site, we reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.  In the event we make any material changes to our Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the Policy’s Effective Date and indicating the previous effective date.  As you use our Web site, we encourage you to periodically check back with this Privacy Policy for changes that we may make.  Your continued use of our Web site will constitute your agreement to any changes we make and if you do not agree with a change, please refrain from using our Web site.  Thank you!