Privacy Policy
Dear Valued Customer:
Ameritrust® Equity Services truly values the unique personal relationship it has with every customer. We help you with important choices regarding your mortgage needs, and you trust us with detailed personal information. The steps we’ve taken to keep that information secure and confidential, along with the choices you have about us sharing that information, are outlined in this Privacy Statement. Please read it carefully so that you fully understand your rights to privacy as a customer at Ameritrust® Equity Services, and our commitment to honor it.
At Ameritrust® Equity Services the security of your personal information is a priority and we have taken the obligation to safeguard your information very seriously. We continually strive to maintain appropriate security standards through stringent technological, physical and procedural controls — such as limiting Ameritrust employees’ access to your information, yet still allowing them to perform their job function. Ameritrust team members are trained to meet these standards and to treat customer information with care.
Simply stated, Ameritrust® Equity Services will not share your sensitive information with outside companies for the purpose of independently marketing non-financial products and services. We do however share information with companies that we partner with to initiate your account or investors who may purchase your account who may offer financial products and services to you in the future that we do not offer on our own. When we share information with outside companies, we require them to comply with our privacy and security standards. As a customer, you have the opportunity to tell us how you want, or do not want, to be solicited.
If you have any questions concerning our Privacy Statement, please feel free to contact us at 1-866-878-7826.
Sincerely,
John J. Owens
President & CEO
Ameritrust® Equity Services
Your Personal Information:
What is the source and type of information we collect?
Collecting and keeping customer information makes it possible for us to service your accounts and offer products or services that might interest you in the future. The information takes various forms and is gathered from several sources including:
- applications or forms you fill out (such as loan applications)
- information from a consumer credit report (such as credit history)
- your transactions and account experience with us and others (such as account balance, payment history)
- information you may enter on our website
- verification by outside sources (such as employment history, credit relationships, loan balances, etc.)
Guidelines for Sharing Information
We only share your information with outside companies in order to service your account(s) or to offer you financial products or services that we do not offer on our own. (See the "With Companies We Partner With" section for details.) Otherwise, we do not share your information with outside companies for the purpose of independently marketing non-financial products and services. When we do share information, it is to provide you with greater convenience and choice. Here are some examples:
Within the Ameritrust® Equity Services Family
Ameritrust® Equity Services, through its affiliates, provides you with the financial products and services you want and need. We may share customer information as described in the "Your Personal Information" section within the Ameritrust family in order to make your mortgage lending experience more successful. This information concerns our transaction experience with you and could include your account balance, your history with us, and your account duration. Sharing information of this type allows us to:
- respond to your requests more quickly and efficiently
- spare you duplication of paperwork
- offer you products and services that match your individual situation
- tailor new products and services to fit your financial needs
With Companies We Partner With to Serve You Better
Companies who perform vital business operations for Ameritrust® Equity Services, like administrative or account processing, or do other work for us on your behalf, must have access to your information in order to be effective. We share with these companies the kind of information described in the "Your Personal Information" section. These companies may include check-printing firms, payment processing companies, data processing companies, trust accounting system providers and others.
In addition, we may disclose that same kind of information we collect about you, as described in the "Your Personal Information" section, to companies that we hire to perform marketing services on our behalf. This enables us to offer financial products or services to you that we do not offer on our own. We select companies carefully and require them to comply with our privacy and security standards. This means they may not disclose or reuse the information we give them for any other purpose but to carry out our agreement. Your preferences about how you choose to be contacted regarding these offers are important to us. (See the next section, "Honoring Your Preferences," for details.)
As described above, information about former customers may be with companies we partner with, for as long as the customers’ information remains on Ameritrust’s computer systems; for example, generally three years after a mortgage loan is made.
Honoring Your Preferences
Marketing Preferences
When it comes to keeping you informed about new products, promotions, or services offered by Ameritrust, we may contact you through direct mail, telemarketing and e-mail. If you prefer not to be solicited by one or all of these methods, please notify us that:
- you do not wish to be solicited by direct mail
- you do not wish to be solicited by telemarketing
- you do not wish to be solicited by e-mail
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Preferences
As mentioned earlier, we may from time to time share the kind of information covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) about you within our Ameritrust family. This would be the information we receive in consumer credit reports, such as loan delinquencies with other lenders. If you prefer that we not share this kind of information, we will honor your preference. Just notify us that you do not wish Ameritrust to share your FCRA information with Amreitrust affiliates
To tell us your Marketing Preference or Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Preference:
call our toll-free number: 1-866-878-7826 and ask for Customer Service, or write to us at Ameritrust® Equity Services, 14045 Ballantyne Corporate Place, Ste. 200, Charlotte, NC. 28277, c/o Gary Edberg – VP Risk Assessment
If you have already contacted Ameritrust with your Marketing or FCRA Preferences it is not necessary to do so again, unless you wish to change your preferences. Your preference will remain in force until you change it by writing to Sovereign at the above address, or by e-mailing our online preference management system. It will be honored even if you close your account, for as long as your information remains in our computer system. Your e-mail preference will apply only to the e-mail address(es) we have on record for you. Your telephone preference will apply only to the telephone number we have on record for you. To ensure that we respond to your request accurately, you must provide us with your name, address, account number(s), phone number, e-mail address and Social Security number.
Remember, saying "no" to information sharing means you may no longer be able to receive valuable offerings or enhancements for certain products or services. As you might expect, even if you prefer that we not solicit you about product information, we will continue to contact you as necessary to service your account(s). We may also include marketing information with regular account mailings to you (such as in your account statements) and on our web site.
Sharing Information with Outside Parties in Special Situations
We may also share certain customer information with government agencies, consumer reporting agencies, etc. as permitted or required by such laws as the Federal Right To Financial Privacy Act. These disclosures are usually made for the benefit of our customers and in specific circumstances, such as:
- verifying identities to reduce fraud and identity theft
- meeting customer service expectations
- verifying information for prompt credit approvals
- making appropriate information a matter of public record
Or in certain other cases, for example:
- when you have authorized us to share the information
- to process your transactions with us or to protect the security of your account(s)
- to verify the status of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or a merchant involved in a transaction with you
- as we continue to develop our business, we may sell or buy branches or assets — in such transactions, customer information is usually one of the transferred business assets
- when we believe disclosure is required by law, such as in response to a subpoena, court order, to respond to an inquiry, or to handle a consumer dispute
- we may make our records available to authorities in a case of national emergency
Your Privacy Online - For Internet Users
The digital age has made online banking an everyday reality. Our commitment to safeguard your privacy extends to the Internet. Here is some information regarding our online process:
Information we may collect:
If you complete an online application, you'll need to supply identification so we can process your request and correspond with you. If you bank online and want to access your account, you'll need to supply information as requested so we can verify your identity. If you allow us to send you e-mail messages, we will retain the information you provide us to deliver e-mails of specific interest to you. If you choose to send an email to Ameritrust, we may retain the contents of your e-mail message, your e-mail address and our subsequent reply. We may use cookies, which are pieces of data that help web sites recognize return visitors, to personalize and enrich your online visits with us and to collect site-visitation statistics. If you are uncomfortable with our use of cookie technology, you can set your browser to refuse cookies. Some of our services depend on cookies and you may not be able to use those services by refusing cookies. For example, we may store the geographic region where you are located in a cookie to more quickly take you to the section of our web site with information about what Sovereign is offering or sponsoring in your region. Sovereign or its service providers may also use “tracer” technology. For example, we may use tracers to determine if certain banner advertisements have been viewed or opened or if e-mail from Sovereign has been received or opened.
Information Storage
Ameritrust® Equity Services may store the information collected during your visit in an electronic database. Ameritrust® Equity Services uses security measures to protect against loss, misuse and alteration of data stored in our systems.
Third Party Web sites
Ameritrust® Equity Services web site contains links to third party web sites that you may find useful. Those sites may have their own privacy policies. Once you leave the Ameritrust® Equity Services site, our privacy policy will no longer be in effect. You should review the privacy policy of any web site before you provide personal or confidential information.
Privacy at Ameritrust® Equity Services
As you can see from this Privacy Statement, Ameritrust® Equity Services is committed to protecting your customer information, to using it or sharing it in ways that enhance the services you receive from us, and to explaining the choices you have about how your information may be shared.
This Privacy Statement is effective May 31, 2005 and takes the place of any previous privacy policies issued by Ameritrust® Equity Services. Our Privacy Statement may be revised from time to time as necessary to reflect changes in the law or our policies. As changes are made, you will receive a revised Privacy Statement. This privacy statement does not constitute a contract between you and us and only applies to retail customer relationships established in the United States. Customer relationships consist of individuals who have products or services with Ameritrust® Equity Services that are primarily for an individual personal purpose. We thank you for your trust and will work hard to maintain it.
Ameritrust® Equity Services is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and is a privately held mortgage banking company, in the business of providing financial services to customers through a network of mortgage brokers throughout the United States. Ameritrust® Equity Services subsidiaries include, but are not limited to, BocaCaro Properties, LLC, which is a property management company.
When using the terms "we," "our" and "us" in this Privacy Statement, we refer to Ameritrust® Equity Services /or its affiliates. The term "our affiliates" refers to Ameritrust® Equity Services—even those with whom you do not have an account or other relationship.
