Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

This Privacy Policy describes how Appraisers of America Inc. ("Appraisers of America," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you:

• Visit commercialappraiserfl.com or any related subdomain (the "Site")
• Submit a quote request, contact form, or sample-report request
• Call our offices at (407) 894-0201 (Orlando) or (786) 449-4885 (Miami)
• Engage us for a commercial real estate appraisal or related service

We are a Florida corporation with offices in Orlando and Miami. Our principal appraiser is Jorge V. Canellas, State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, license number RZ3108.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you fill out our quote form, contact form, request a sample report, call us, or email us, you may provide:

• Full name
• Phone number
• Email address
• Property address
• Property type (office, retail, industrial, hotel, multifamily, land, etc.)
• Reason for the appraisal (SBA loan, refinance, divorce, estate, tax appeal, sale or purchase, internal valuation, litigation, etc.)
• Timeline expectations
• Company or business affiliation (for institutional clients)
• Any other details you choose to share in messages or supporting documents

2.2 Information Required to Perform the Appraisal

If you engage us for an appraisal, we may collect or receive additional documents and data needed to complete the work, including:

• Rent rolls
• Lease agreements
• Operating financial statements (income and expenses)
• Property tax records
• Prior appraisal reports
• Site plans, surveys, and floor plans
• Insurance policies (for replacement-cost work)
• Loan documents
• Photographs taken by us during inspection
• Recorded measurements and notes

This information is necessary to produce a USPAP-compliant report. Some of this data is considered non-public personal financial information under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA"), and we treat it accordingly (see Section 6).

2.3 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Site, we and our service providers collect:

• IP address and approximate location (city/region level)
• Device type, operating system, browser type and version
• Pages visited, time on page, referring URL, click paths
• Search terms (when you arrive from a search engine)
• Form interaction events (started, abandoned, completed)
• Phone-click events (when you tap a phone number on mobile)
• Cookie identifiers (see Section 8: Cookies)

Collected via Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Google Ads, Cloudflare, and server logs.

2.4 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from lenders or banks who engage us on your behalf, attorneys or CPAs who refer you, public records used in the course of producing your appraisal, and Google when you find us through a search ad or organic listing.

3. How We Use Your Information

1. Respond to your quote request and contact you about your project
2. Perform the appraisal you have engaged us for
3. Produce, deliver, and explain the appraisal report to the appropriate parties
4. Maintain workfile records as required by USPAP and Florida appraisal regulations (typically 5 years from the date of the report, or longer if litigation is pending)
5. Communicate with you about your project, follow-up questions, and post-delivery clarifications
6. Improve our website and services through usage analytics
7. Run paid advertising on Google and other platforms to reach potential clients
8. Comply with our legal, regulatory, and professional obligations, including USPAP, FIRREA, SBA, IRS, and Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board requirements
9. Defend our rights in any dispute, audit, or legal proceeding

We do not sell your personal information. We do not rent your contact information to third parties for their marketing.

4. How We Share Your Information

4.1 With the Party Who Ordered the Appraisal

The completed report is delivered to the client who hired and pays us, typically the lender on a loan transaction, or the borrower on a cash deal, divorce, estate, or tax appeal. We will not deliver a copy to other parties unless the client authorizes us in writing.

4.2 With Our Subcontractors and Staff

We may share information with appraisers, trainees, and support staff working on your project. All staff and subcontractors are bound by confidentiality obligations consistent with USPAP, GLBA, and Florida law.

4.3 With Service Providers

We share limited information with vendors such as hosting and CDN, form processing, email and CRM, analytics and advertising (Google Analytics, Google Ads), document storage, and payment processing. These providers receive only the data they need and are contractually obligated to protect it.

4.4 For Legal and Regulatory Reasons

We may disclose information when required by a subpoena, court order, or regulator (Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, IRS, SBA, etc.). We will, when legally permitted, notify you before disclosing.

4.5 In Connection with a Business Transfer

If Appraisers of America is sold, merged, or acquires/disposes of substantial assets, your information may be transferred to the successor entity. We will notify you and ensure the new entity honors this Privacy Policy.

4.6 With Your Consent

We may share information for any other purpose with your express consent.

5. Your Privacy Rights

5.1 All Users: Access, Correction, Deletion

You may contact us at any time to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to opt out of marketing communications.

5.2 California Residents: CCPA / CPRA

California residents have the right to know, delete, correct, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell personal information. To submit a request, email info@commercialappraiserfl.com with the subject line "California Privacy Request."

5.3 Florida Residents: FIPA

We comply with the Florida Information Protection Act (Fla. Stat. § 501.171), including breach notification within 30 days for incidents affecting more than 500 Florida residents.

5.4 EEA, UK, and Switzerland

If you access the Site from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we process your personal data based on consent, contractual necessity, legitimate interest, or legal obligation. You have rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, and portability. We rely on Standard Contractual Clauses for EU data transfers to the US.

5.5 Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for adults engaged in commercial real estate transactions. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Contact us at info@commercialappraiserfl.com if you believe a child has provided us personal information.

6. How We Protect Your Information

We treat financial information provided for an appraisal as non-public personal information subject to the GLBA Safeguards Rule. Measures in place include:

• Encryption in transit: TLS 1.2+ on all forms and email
• Encryption at rest: for stored documents in our cloud providers
• Access controls: only staff working on your project access your information
• Confidentiality obligations: all staff and contractors sign confidentiality agreements
• Secure document delivery: final reports delivered via password-protected PDFs or encrypted file transfer
• Workfile retention: kept securely for the period required by USPAP and Florida law
• Secure disposal: records are securely deleted or shredded at end of retention period

In the event of a security breach affecting your personal information, we will investigate, contain, notify you without unreasonable delay (within 30 days for Florida residents under FIPA), and notify regulators as required by applicable law.

7. How Long We Keep Your Information

You may request earlier deletion of marketing data, but we cannot delete records required to be retained by USPAP, FIRREA, IRS, or applicable law during the retention period.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

8.1 What We Use

• Strictly necessary cookies: required for the Site to function
• Analytics cookies: Google Analytics 4
• Advertising cookies: Google Ads conversion pixels
• Geolocation: Cloudflare provides approximate city/region location to personalize the landing experience

8.2 Your Cookie Choices

• Adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies
• Use the cookie banner on the Site (when active) to opt out of non-essential cookies
• Use the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal; we honor it
• Opt out of Google Analytics: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
• Opt out of personalized Google Ads: adssettings.google.com

9. Third-Party Links

The Site may contain links to third-party websites (Google Business Profile, federal or state agency sites, banks, attorneys). We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Read their privacy policies before submitting any information.

10. Marketing Communications and Phone / SMS

10.1 Email Marketing

If you subscribe to our updates or are an existing client, we may send occasional emails about our services or company news. Each email contains an unsubscribe link in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.

10.2 Phone Calls and Text Messages (TCPA)

By providing your phone number, you consent to receive calls and texts regarding your inquiry or appraisal. You may opt out of marketing texts at any time by replying STOP.

10.3 Call Recording

We may record calls for quality assurance and training. Florida is a two-party consent state; we will inform you at the start of the call if it is being recorded.

11. Confidentiality of Appraisal Reports and Client Information

Under the USPAP Confidentiality Rule (Ethics Rule), we are required to protect the confidentiality of all "confidential information" you provide, and not disclose assignment results to anyone other than the client, parties authorized by the client, state appraiser regulatory agencies, third parties as required by law, or a duly authorized professional peer review committee. This duty applies independently of, and in addition to, the protections in this Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

Questions, concerns, or requests about this Privacy Policy:

• California Privacy Requests: subject line "California Privacy Request"
• Florida FIPA Requests: subject line "FIPA Request"
• GDPR / UK GDPR Requests: subject line "EU Data Subject Request"

We will respond within the time periods required by applicable law (typically 30–45 days).

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top, posting a notice on the Site for at least 30 days, and for active clients, sending an email notification when changes affect your data. Your continued use of the Site after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Florida and applicable federal law. Any dispute shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, Florida. If any provision of this Privacy Policy is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

15. Specific Notices and Disclosures

15.1 GLBA Privacy Notice

For clients engaging us in connection with a federally-related real estate transaction, this Privacy Policy serves as our GLBA Privacy Notice under Title V, Subtitle A of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. We do not share non-public personal financial information with affiliates for marketing purposes, nor with non-affiliated third parties except as described in Section 4. Therefore, you have no right to opt out under GLBA because we do not engage in the type of sharing that triggers an opt-out.

15.2 Notice to Lender Clients

If you are a federally-regulated lender engaging us, we comply with applicable interagency appraisal and evaluation guidelines, FIRREA Title XI, and the Dodd-Frank Act. We maintain appraiser independence as required by law.

15.3 Notice for Litigation Engagements

If you engage us for divorce, probate, partnership dispute, eminent domain, or other litigation, you understand that the report and workfile may be subject to discovery, we cannot guarantee confidentiality if a court orders disclosure, we may be required to testify, and our duty as an independent expert overrides any expectation that we will advocate for your position. We follow USPAP requirements and do not act as an advocate for any party.

16. Acknowledgment

By using the Site or engaging Appraisers of America Inc. for services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.