Information we collect
To search title, issue a policy and settle a transaction we collect information from you and from the parties acting on your behalf: names, contact information, property address, transaction terms, the contract of sale, mortgage and payoff information, entity formation documents, and — where a closing requires it — bank account and taxpayer identification information. We also obtain information from public records, including deeds, mortgages, judgments, liens, tax and municipal records, and from underwriters, lenders, attorneys, surveyors and municipalities involved in the file.
How we use it
We use your information only to perform the services you or your representative ordered and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations: conducting searches and examinations, issuing title commitments and policies, preparing closing figures, holding and disbursing escrow and settlement funds, recording documents, and responding to audit, licensing and law enforcement requirements. We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for marketing unrelated to your transaction.
When we share it
We share information as necessary to complete the transaction — with the title underwriter issuing your policy, counsel for the parties, the lender and its servicer, searchers, examiners, surveyors, municipalities and county clerks, and the qualified intermediary on an exchange. We also disclose information where required by law, subpoena, court order, or in response to a regulatory examination. We require the service providers we engage to protect the information we give them and to use it only for the purpose we gave it to them.
How we protect it
We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards designed to protect nonpublic personal information, and we limit access to those employees and agents who need it to do their work on your file. Our practices are intended to comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the New York SHIELD Act, and the New York State Department of Financial Services cybersecurity requirements applicable to licensed title insurance agents. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and information sent to us by ordinary email or through a web form is not encrypted in transit.
Wiring instructions and fraud
We will never send you wiring instructions, or a change to wiring instructions, by email. Before transferring funds in connection with any transaction, call our office at a telephone number you have independently verified and confirm the instructions verbally. Report a suspected fraudulent message to us immediately.
Retention
We retain transaction records for the period required by New York insurance and records-retention rules, and for as long as necessary to service a policy that remains in force. Records are disposed of in a manner designed to prevent unauthorized access.
This website
This site does not require an account and does not use advertising or tracking cookies. The rate calculator runs entirely in your browser — the figures you enter are not transmitted to us or stored on a server. Information you submit through the order form is sent to our office for the purpose of opening a file. Please do not include Social Security numbers, bank account numbers or other sensitive financial information in a web form or in an unencrypted email; we will collect that information through a secure channel once your file is open. Links to county clerk and New York State tax forms leave this site and are governed by those agencies' own privacy practices.
Your choices and questions
You may ask us what information we hold about you and request a correction. Some information cannot be changed or deleted because we are required to keep it, or because it comes from the public record. To make a request, or to ask anything about this notice, contact us at the address below. We will update this notice as our practices or the applicable law change, and the effective date above will reflect the current version.
