Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective Date: May 28, 2026
Columbel Realty (“Columbel Realty,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information when you visit columbelrealty.com (the “Site”), submit an inquiry, request information about a property, contact us, or otherwise interact with our real estate brokerage services.
1. Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal information:
- Identifiers and contact information you submit through our contact form, including your name, email address, subject, and message.
- Inquiry details you provide regarding properties you are interested in buying, selling, or renting.
- Communications: emails and messages exchanged with our team and our agents.
- Automatically collected data: IP address, browser type, device information, referring URLs, pages viewed, and timestamps. This information is used for security, fraud prevention, and basic analytics.
- Bot-protection data: our third-party bot-protection service collects limited device and application information to distinguish human visitors from automated traffic and protect the Site from abuse.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. We do not collect biometric identifiers, government ID numbers, precise geolocation, payment card numbers, or special categories of sensitive personal data through this Site.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information to:
- Respond to inquiries and requests for property information;
- Connect you with one of our licensed real estate agents;
- Schedule property showings, consultations, and follow-up communications;
- Protect the Site from spam, abuse, and fraudulent submissions through standard bot-protection, rate limiting, and abuse-prevention measures;
- Comply with legal obligations, including those imposed on licensed real estate brokers, and enforce our terms; and
- Improve our services and Site through aggregate, non-identifying analytics.
3. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share information only as follows:
- Our licensed real estate agents and brokerage staff who handle your inquiry.
- Service providers who help us run the business, such as email delivery, bot and abuse prevention, form and content management, and website hosting and infrastructure. These providers are contractually limited to processing data on our behalf.
- Multiple Listing Service (MLS) providers and affiliated real estate platforms when necessary to assist with your property search or transaction, consistent with industry rules.
- Legal compliance: when required by law, subpoena, court order, real estate regulatory authorities, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of our company, our clients, or others.
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, with appropriate confidentiality protections.
4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
The Site uses a minimal number of cookies and similar technologies necessary for the Site to function, for security and bot protection, and for basic analytics. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party trackers for targeted advertising. You can disable cookies through your browser settings, though parts of the Site may not function correctly without them.
5. Data Retention
We retain personal information only as long as needed to provide our services, comply with legal and recordkeeping obligations applicable to licensed real estate brokers, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Contact form submissions and inactive lead records are deleted or anonymized within 36 months unless a longer retention period is required by applicable real estate licensing laws.
6. Security
We use commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information, including HTTPS in transit, access controls, encrypted storage at our service providers, and standard bot-protection and abuse-prevention measures on form submissions. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
7. U.S. Service Only
Columbel Realty serves clients in the United States, primarily in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The Site is intended for U.S. residents. If you are accessing the Site from outside the United States, do not submit personal information through our forms.
8. Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to opt out of certain processing activities. To exercise any right described in this Policy, email us at columbelrealty@gmail.com with the subject line “Privacy Request” and include the state in which you reside and the specific right you wish to exercise. We will verify your identity using the contact information on file and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (typically 30 to 45 days).
If we deny your request, you have the right to appeal by replying to our response. You may also lodge a complaint with your state attorney general.
9. State-Specific Privacy Rights
The list below summarizes the principal statutory privacy and breach-notification rights of residents of all 50 U.S. states. State laws change frequently; this summary is informational and does not replace the text of the applicable statute. Residents of any state may submit a privacy request using the contact method in Section 8.
Alabama
Right to be notified of data breaches involving sensitive personal information under the Alabama Data Breach Notification Act.
Alaska
Right to receive notice of security breaches involving personal information under the Alaska Personal Information Protection Act.
Arizona
Right to breach notification under Arizona Revised Statutes Section 18-552.
Arkansas
Right to breach notification under the Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act.
California
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, to delete it, to correct it, to opt out of sale or sharing, to limit use of sensitive personal information, and to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. We do not sell personal information.
Colorado
Under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), Colorado residents have the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale of personal data, and profiling.
Connecticut
Under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), Connecticut residents have the right to access, correct, delete, port their data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Delaware
Under the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (effective January 1, 2025), Delaware residents have the rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Florida
Under the Florida Digital Bill of Rights, qualifying Florida residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of sale and targeted advertising.
Georgia
Right to breach notification under Georgia's Personal Identity Protection Act.
Hawaii
Right to breach notification under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 487N.
Idaho
Right to breach notification under Idaho Code Sections 28-51-104 through 28-51-107.
Illinois
Right to breach notification under the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act. Biometric information is protected under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA); we do not collect biometric identifiers.
Indiana
Under the Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026), Indiana residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Iowa
Under the Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act, Iowa residents have the rights to access, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising and sale.
Kansas
Right to breach notification under the Kansas Wayne Owen Act.
Kentucky
Under the Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026), Kentucky residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Louisiana
Right to breach notification under the Louisiana Database Security Breach Notification Law.
Maine
Right to breach notification under Maine's Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act.
Maryland
Under the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (effective October 1, 2025), Maryland residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling. Maryland law also imposes strict data minimization requirements that we follow. Columbel Realty is licensed to provide real estate services in Maryland.
Massachusetts
Right to breach notification under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93H. Massachusetts residents are also protected under 201 CMR 17.00 governing safeguards for personal information.
Michigan
Right to breach notification under the Michigan Identity Theft Protection Act.
Minnesota
Under the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (effective July 31, 2025), Minnesota residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, opt out of targeted advertising, sale, profiling, and to question the results of profiling decisions.
Mississippi
Right to breach notification under Mississippi Code Section 75-24-29.
Missouri
Right to breach notification under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 407.1500.
Montana
Under the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act, Montana residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Nebraska
Under the Nebraska Data Privacy Act (effective January 1, 2025), Nebraska residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Nevada
Under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A, Nevada residents have the right to opt out of the sale of covered personal information. We do not sell personal information.
New Hampshire
Under the New Hampshire Privacy Act (effective January 1, 2025), New Hampshire residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
New Jersey
Under the New Jersey Data Privacy Act (effective January 15, 2025), New Jersey residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
New Mexico
Right to breach notification under the New Mexico Data Breach Notification Act.
New York
Right to breach notification under the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act, which also requires reasonable safeguards for personal information.
North Carolina
Right to breach notification under the North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act.
North Dakota
Right to breach notification under North Dakota Century Code Section 51-30.
Ohio
Right to breach notification under Ohio Revised Code Section 1349.19.
Oklahoma
Right to breach notification under the Oklahoma Security Breach Notification Act.
Oregon
Under the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (effective July 1, 2024), Oregon residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Pennsylvania
Right to breach notification under the Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act.
Rhode Island
Under the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026), Rhode Island residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
South Carolina
Right to breach notification under South Carolina Code Section 39-1-90.
South Dakota
Right to breach notification under South Dakota Codified Laws Section 22-40.
Tennessee
Under the Tennessee Information Protection Act (effective July 1, 2025), qualifying Tennessee residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Texas
Under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, Texas residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling.
Utah
Under the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, Utah residents have rights to access, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising and sale.
Vermont
Right to breach notification under 9 V.S.A. Section 2435. Vermont also regulates data brokers; we are not a data broker.
Virginia
Under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), Virginia residents have rights to access, correct, delete, port, and opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling. Columbel Realty is licensed to provide real estate services in Virginia and is a member of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Washington
Right to breach notification under RCW 19.255. Health data is protected under the Washington My Health My Data Act; we do not collect consumer health data covered by that act.
West Virginia
Right to breach notification under West Virginia Code Section 46A-2A.
Wisconsin
Right to breach notification under Wisconsin Statutes Section 134.98.
Wyoming
Right to breach notification under Wyoming Statutes Sections 40-12-501 through 40-12-509.
10. Children's Privacy
The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. Do Not Track
Some browsers transmit “Do Not Track” signals. Because there is no industry-standard interpretation of these signals, the Site does not respond to them. We do not engage in tracking for cross-context behavioral advertising regardless.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Effective Date” above reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the Site or communicated by email where appropriate.
13. Contact Us
Columbel Realty
Email: columbelrealty@gmail.com