Working in the real estate industry, you deal with a wealth of sensitive information all day every day. Whether it be the collection of the name and number of an interested home shopper or the completion of a full mortgage application, buyers and property viewers hand over their information willingly. It is then your job to relay certain information to sellers and, of course, financial institutions and lenders, who go on to process the information you provide.
When it comes to obtaining and storing such confidential information and the sharing of files and information from person to person, security becomes a huge factor. When building a mortgage business, it’s not a detail that you can afford to ignore. There are some strict legal requirements attached to the collection, storage and processing of the data you handle and, in this post, we are going to take a look at the basics plus how to manage it all efficiently.
Disclaimer: We are not able to provide legal advice and everything in this post should be used as a guide for further reading and research. Additional information can be found in the sources provided throughout.
What legal requirements do I need to follow when handling sensitive data?
In the United States, lenders must comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB or GLBA), which is a federal law requiring financial institutions to provide information to customers about how their information is stored and shared. To comply, there must be a written Information Security Plan in place. Failure to comply can lead to penalties of up to $100,000 for financial institutions and $10,000 for individuals, as well as up to 5 years imprisonment – certainly not something to take lightly.
The mortgage industry is regulated by a number of laws and acts in the US, which lenders and loan officers must abide by, depending on the extent of the services offered. Most of these acts and regulations will be covered in the procedures and training you have in place in-house, but it’s always best to stay on top of demands as compliance criteria can change quickly and “I didn’t know” will not be a suitable excuse for failing to meet standards.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a full Code of Federal Regulations available on their website and so it’s a good idea to review this from time to time, ensuring your team is fully aware of any changes.
How to ensure your business runs efficiently and securely
Focusing on the GLB, and ensuring your customers’ data is kept secure, is something that can be easily set up and maintained with the use of software such as Calyx Point. Calyx is a solution that helps to keep all of your customer data in one place, increasing the speed of the services you provide, the efficiency and accuracy of your communication, and automate the lending process from start to finish. Not only does software like this make your life easier in terms of the daily running of the business and closing of sales, but by having all data on one platform, secured together, you have any information readily available for a security audit and you minimize any risk of loss of data by keeping your tools updated and active in one central place.
As the largest Calyx hosting partner in the nation, our customers trust us to run their PointCentral installation because we make it a simple, safe and affordable process. Our experienced staff will install PointCentral, copy all related data to the server, and assist with connecting your PointCentral workstations. We also manage the server, ensuring your backups, patches, and updates are properly installed and maintained. This makes setup quick and easy. Not only do we provide ongoing support, but you also have daily backups to ensure you’re never left without data.
Are you on top of your GLB compliance and other regulations? Join the discussion below and share your tips on how to boost your efficiency and security.
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