This policy covers 804re.com: the home value requests, the seller and buyer intake forms, the search-area map, the calculators, and the tour pages. It says what the site collects, why, who sees it, how long it is kept, and what you can ask to have done with it.
The short version. The site collects what you choose to send so Michael can answer you, and nothing beyond that. Your information is not sold, not shared for advertising, and not used to build a profile of you. There are no ad trackers or analytics on this site.
Who we are
804re.com is run by Michael Hottman (804Michael), a licensed Virginia real estate broker, license #0225224914, with Malcolm Real Estate, a Virginia real estate firm, license #0226020452, through its Ashland branch office, license #0226039677. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean Michael Hottman and Malcolm Real Estate.
What we collect
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email, phone | You request a home value, fill in a seller or buyer intake form, send a search area, or call or text | To answer you |
| Your home's address and details: timeline, occupancy, reason for selling, whether you still owe on it | You request a home value or fill in the seller intake form | To prepare a value estimate and plan a sale with you |
| What you are looking for: timeline, budget, areas, financing status, must-haves | You fill in the buyer intake form or draw a search area on the map | To find homes that fit |
| Whether you already work with an agent | Either intake form | Virginia rules limit how we may work with someone who already has an agent |
| Preferred days and times | Either intake form | To schedule a call or meeting |
| Home addresses, showing times, and your name | Michael builds a tour page for homes you plan to see | To give you a route and schedule for the day |
This site never asks for your Social Security number, bank details, or loan documents, and you should not send them through it. When a transaction needs documents like those, they go directly to your lender or settlement company through their own secure systems.
Wire fraud warning. Criminals send convincing emails that look like they come from an agent or a settlement company, with "updated" wiring instructions. We will never email you a change to wiring instructions. Before you wire any money, call the settlement company at a number you have verified yourself.
How the site handles it
- Forms are delivered to Michael by email through a service called EmailJS. The site does not keep a database of form submissions.
- Address suggestions. When you type an address into a form, the characters you type are sent to an address lookup service (OpenStreetMap's Nominatim, or sthan.io through our own server) so it can suggest matches.
- Calculators run in your browser. Some remember what you entered so it is there next time, using storage in your own browser. That stays on your device; we never see it.
- Tour pages are stored with our host, Cloudflare, and can be opened by anyone who has the link. Share a tour link only with people you want to see it. Michael's private notes and ratings are never shown on a client tour page. Ratings and notes you leave on a tour page go only to Michael, and are deleted when the tour is removed.
What we do not collect
There are no advertising trackers, analytics, or social media pixels, and the site's own code sets no cookies. Like any website, the services that deliver it receive the technical details every visit sends, such as your IP address. Those services are Cloudflare (hosting), Google Fonts (typefaces), OpenStreetMap (maps and address lookups), OpenRouteService (tour routes), and the public code libraries some tools load. They handle that information under their own policies.
How we use it
- To answer your question or request.
- To prepare a home value estimate, or search for homes that fit what you described.
- To schedule showings, calls, and meetings.
- To represent you, once you have signed a written brokerage agreement.
- To keep records a licensed Virginia real estate firm is required to keep.
We do not use your information for anything you would not expect from that list. We do not sell it, rent it, or share it with data brokers or advertisers.
Who sees it
- Michael Hottman, and Malcolm Real Estate, whose principal broker, Ann Malcolm, supervises his work and keeps the firm's required records.
- The other parties to your transaction, such as a lender, a settlement company, or the other side's agent, and only what that step of the sale or purchase needs, once you are in a transaction and have asked us to proceed.
- Service providers that deliver email and host this site on our behalf and do not use your information for their own purposes.
- Anyone we are legally required to give it to, such as a court, or a regulator like the Virginia Real Estate Board.
How we protect it
- The site is served only over an encrypted connection.
- Form submissions go to Michael's inbox and are not published anywhere on the site.
- We keep information only for the periods below.
No system is perfect, and we will not claim otherwise. If we ever learn of a breach that affects your information, we will notify you as Virginia law requires.
How long we keep it
| Messages and form requests that did not lead to a transaction | 7 years |
| Records of a sale or purchase we handled | 7 years after closing (Virginia requires real estate firms to keep them at least three) |
| Tour pages | Until the tour is over and Michael clears it, or until you ask |
Your rights and choices
You can ask us to:
- Show you what we hold about you.
- Correct anything that is wrong.
- Delete your information, where we are not required to keep it.
- Stop texting you. Reply STOP to any message, or just tell us.
Contact us using the details below and we will respond within 30 days. We may need to confirm who you are before acting, which protects you as much as us.
Children
The site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, the date at the top of this page will change with it. If a change is significant and affects information you have already sent us, we will tell you.
Questions about your information
Michael Hottman, 804Michael
Malcolm Real Estate, P.O. Box 231570, Centreville, VA 20120
Phone and text: (804) 642-4235
Email: [email protected]