Privacy Policy
Last updated September 11, 2026
This policy covers malcolmrealestate.com and the rental applications we take. It describes what we collect, why we collect it, who sees it, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do with it.
The short version. We collect what we need to decide on a rental application and nothing beyond it. We do not sell your information, we do not share it for advertising, and we do not use it to build a profile of you. Sensitive items — your Social Security number and the documents you provide — are seen only by the people who need them to decide on your application, and are deleted on the schedule below.
Who we are
Malcolm Real Estate is a real estate firm licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia, firm license #0226020452, with offices in Ashland and Fairfax. For the purposes of this policy, "we" and "us" mean Malcolm Real Estate.
What we collect
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email, phone | You use the contact form, or you apply | To answer you, and to identify your application |
| Current and previous address, landlord contact, rent paid | You apply | To verify your rental history |
| Employer, position, income, supervisor contact | You apply | To verify that the rent is affordable to you |
| Social Security number | You apply | To obtain a credit and background report, with your written permission |
| Photo ID, pay statements, bank statements | You apply | To confirm identity and income |
| Emergency contacts | You apply | To reach someone if we cannot reach you during your tenancy |
| Your signature on the application | You apply | To evidence that you signed the application and its certifications |
| Answers to the disclosure questions | You apply | To apply our published rental criteria consistently |
We do not ask about, and you should not tell us, anything concerning a disability, your race, your religion, your national origin, your familial status, your sexual orientation, or your gender identity. If you need a reasonable accommodation, tell us what you need — you never have to disclose a diagnosis to get one.
Information we do not collect
We do not use advertising trackers, third-party analytics, or social media pixels, and the site sets no cookies. Like any website, the services that deliver it receive the technical details every visit sends, such as your IP address: our host, Cloudflare, and Google Fonts, which supplies the typefaces. They handle that under their own policies.
How we use it
- To respond to your enquiry.
- To decide on your rental application under our published rental criteria.
- To verify what you told us, by contacting the employers, landlords, and references you listed.
- To obtain a credit and background report, only after you have given written permission.
- To prepare a lease if your application is approved.
- To keep records we are required to keep as a licensed Virginia real estate firm.
We do not use your information for any purpose you would not expect from the list above. We do not sell it. We do not rent it. We do not share it with data brokers or advertisers.
Who sees it
- The broker handling your property. Michael Hottman for Ashland, Susan Hottman for Fairfax, under our principal broker, Ann Malcolm.
- The property owner, where we present an application for their decision. They receive what is necessary to make that decision.
- A consumer reporting agency, to obtain your credit and background report with your permission. That agency is TenantReportX.com LLC, 370 Reed Road, Suite 101, Broomall, PA 19008, (855) 244-2400.
- Service providers that host this website, deliver the messages sent through it, and store application information on our behalf, and do not use any of it for their own purposes.
- Anyone we are legally required to give it to — a court order, a subpoena, or a regulator such as the Virginia Real Estate Board.
How we protect it
- The site is served only over an encrypted connection.
- Access to application information is limited to the people who need it to decide on your application.
- We keep it only for the periods set out below, and then destroy it.
No system is perfect, and we will not claim otherwise. If we ever discover a breach that affects your information, we will notify you as required by Virginia law.
How long we keep it
| If you are not offered a lease: your Social Security number, your credit and background report, and the documents you provide (ID, pay statements, bank statements) | Destroyed once the home is leased to someone else, or 90 days after our decision if it is not |
| The rest of an application that did not lead to a lease, including the reasons for our decision | 3 years from the decision |
| An application that led to a lease, with its documents | The tenancy, plus 3 years |
| Contact form messages | 7 years |
Three years matches the period Virginia requires real estate firms to keep transaction records (18VAC135-20-185), and it is longer than the time the law allows for bringing a fair housing complaint, so we can show that we applied the same standard to every applicant. We do not need your Social Security number or your financial documents to show that, so if you are not offered a lease, those are destroyed as soon as the home is let.
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 tell us.
Contact us by phone, by mail, or through the form on our home page, and we will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify who you are before we act, which protects you as much as us.
If we decline your application
If we decline your application in whole or in part because of something in a credit or background report, we will tell you so, tell you which agency supplied the report, and tell you that you have the right to obtain a free copy of that report from them and to dispute anything in it that is wrong. That agency did not make the decision and cannot explain it — we did, and we will.
Children
The site is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. Applications are completed by adults.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant and affects an application you have already submitted, we will contact you.
Questions about your information
Malcolm Real Estate
P.O. Box 231570, Centreville, VA 20120
Ashland: (804) 642-4235
Fairfax: (202) 333-8500
Or send a message through the form on our home page.