This policy explains how Zola Property Management collects, uses, shares, keeps and protects personal information, as required by Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). It covers this website, requests sent through it, and the information we handle when we screen rental applicants for our landlord clients.

Who is accountable

Zola's privacy officer is responsible for our compliance with this policy. You can reach the privacy officer at info@zolapropertymanagement.com, by phone or text at 437-448-6162, or by mail at 49 High St, Barrie, ON L4N 5J4.

What we collect

Website requests: your name, phone number, email (optional), the property's address or area, the property type, and the page you sent the form from.
Calls, texts and emails: whatever you choose to tell us.
Rental applicants: the information in your rental application and the documents you give us, and, with your written consent, a credit report and the answers from your employer and references.
LTB record search: the email address you give us to receive an order and, if you tick the box, your request for our emails for landlords. See LTB record search and our emails.
Bank verification, if you choose it: the information from the bank accounts you choose to share through Plaid. See Bank verification through Plaid.
Technical data: our website host keeps standard server logs, such as IP addresses, browser types and the pages requested, to run and secure the site.
Analytics: if we turn analytics on, it runs only after you accept it. See Analytics and cookies.

We don't ask applicants for a Social Insurance Number.

Why we collect it

To answer your request and prepare a rental strategy
To market a landlord's property and arrange showings
To screen applicants and report the results to the landlord who will decide
To prepare the lease and keep the records the law and our regulator require
To send an LTB order you ask for and, if you sign up, our emails for landlords
To run, secure and improve this website

We don't sell personal information. We send marketing emails only to people who sign up for them, and every one has a way to unsubscribe.

Who we share it with

We share personal information only as needed for the purposes above:

The landlord: applicants' screening results go to the landlord who is choosing a tenant.
Screening providers: the credit bureau or screening service that prepares a credit report, with the applicant's consent.
Plaid: Plaid Inc. connects to your bank when you choose to verify your income on our bank verification page.
Website hosting, forms and email: Vercel Inc., which hosts this website and runs the code that receives form requests, and the email service that delivers them to us and sends the orders and emails you ask for.
Email and document storage: the providers we use to communicate and keep files.
Analytics, only with your consent: Google Analytics, if it's turned on.

Some providers store or process information outside Canada, including in the United States, where it is subject to local law and may be accessible to authorities there. We may also disclose information where the law requires it.

How long we keep it

Requests that don't lead to an agreement: 12 months after our last contact, then deleted.
Applicants who aren't chosen: their application, documents and any credit report are deleted or securely destroyed within 30 days after the unit is rented (or the listing ends), unless the law requires us to keep them. We keep a short note of the decision, without the documents, for 12 months, so we can answer questions about it.
Bank verification reports: deleted within 30 days after the unit is rented, whether or not you're chosen. We keep only a note that your income was verified.
The applicant who is chosen: the credit report and copies of ID are deleted within 30 days after the lease is signed. The application and screening notes are kept for 3 years after the lease starts.
Landlord client files and accounting records: 6 years, as tax law requires.
Email sign-ups: until you unsubscribe. We remove you within 10 business days of your request, and keep the record of your consent for 3 years after our last email to you.
Email addresses given only to receive an LTB order: used to send it, and not added to any list.
Server logs and analytics data: for the limited periods set by the provider.

How we protect it

This website uses HTTPS encryption. Access to personal information is limited to the people who need it, and we choose providers for their security practices. No transmission over the internet is completely secure, so please don't send identity documents through the website form.

Bank verification through Plaid

If we ask you for proof of income, you can connect your bank on our bank verification page instead of sending statements. It's your choice: you can always email your statements instead.

How it works: you sign in to your bank inside a window run by Plaid Inc., so we never see your bank password. The connection is read-only: no one can move money.
What we receive: for the accounts you choose, their balances, 12 months of transactions, the names your bank has on the accounts, and credit card and loan details where your bank provides them. It reaches us by email, with a report Plaid prepares.
Why: to assess your rental application. We look at income together with your credit check, rental history and references, never on its own, and never use anything the Human Rights Code protects, such as receiving social assistance.
How long: we close the bank connection as soon as your report reaches us, so no new information can be pulled, and we delete the report within 30 days after the unit is rented.
Plaid's role: Plaid handles the connection under its own End User Privacy Policy, and may process information in the United States.

LTB record search and our emails

Your searches: the names and addresses you type go from your browser straight to Ontario's open data site. We don't receive or keep them.
Orders by email: when you ask for an order, we use your email address only to send it to you. The order comes from Ontario's LTB Order Catalogue.
Our emails for landlords: only if you tick the box. We keep a record of when and how you signed up, as Canada's anti-spam law requires. Every email names Zola, gives our mailing address and has an unsubscribe link.

Analytics and cookies

This website doesn't use advertising cookies. If we turn on Google Analytics, its cookies are set only after you choose "Accept analytics" in the cookie choices bar; if you choose "Reject analytics", nothing is loaded. You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie choices" link in the footer.

Your rights

Access and correction: you can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it.
Withdrawing consent: you can withdraw consent to further use, subject to legal and contractual limits. To stop our emails, use the unsubscribe link in any of them, or email us.
Complaints: contact our privacy officer first. If you're not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Changes

We may update this policy. The "Updated" date on this page shows when it last changed.

Privacy policy