Privacy

The Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program (hereinafter “the Agency”) is committed to your right to privacy and takes your privacy seriously. We have very strict privacy policies and we strive to keep your personal and financial information secure. Please note that this Privacy Policy only applies to this Site and not to any other websites that you may access from the Site, each of which may have privacy policies that are materially distinct from this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy covers the Agency’s treatment of personally identifiable information that the Agency collects when you are on the Agency’s foreclosure mediation program intake system site, and when you use the Agency’s services. Only authorized Agency employees and designees may access your information from this Site. All employees are required to adhere to our strict privacy policies and any employee who violates the privacy policy is subject to termination and other disciplinary measures, up to being criminally prosecuted for their violation. Please note that if you choose to move forward with services through the Foreclosure Mediation Program, the Agency will provide you with more information about how your information may be shared with your lender or other Mediation Program personnel, in order to facilitate a foreclosure work-out or resolution.

Traffic Data and Information - Through the combination of both internal and third party tracking code as well as cookies, the following categories of information are tracked when a visitor enters the site: (1) IP address, (2) domain servers, (3) type of computer used to access the Site, (4) types of web browsers (collectively 'Traffic Data'). The Agency uses such data for general marketing purposes and in order to help enhance the customer experience on the website. The Agency may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads on its behalf. These companies may employ cookies and action tags also known as single pixel gifs or web beacons to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and action tags is completely anonymous.

Personal Information - In order for each applicant to access and utilize the Agency's intake system services, the Agency requires each applicant to provide it with personal information (collectively 'Personally Identifiable Information'). Personally Identifiable Information includes: (i) 'Contact Data' (such as your first and last name, physical street address, city, state, zip code, phone number and email address), (ii) 'Financial Data' (such as your income, and employer), (iii) 'Demographic Data' (such as your zip code and gender), and (iv) other 'Legal Data' (such as your mortgage information, credit information, debt information, expense information and other sensitive information necessary to generate proper documents). This Personally Identifiable Information is necessary to generate the documents created by our software program, and to enter you into the Mediation Foreclosure Program in your county. Please note that Contact Data and Traffic Data are used to gather general statistics regarding our applicants and visitors respectively, in order to enhance the experience on the website. Upon entering the Foreclosure Mediation Program, the Agency may share demographic and legal data with other Foreclosure Mediation Program personnel, in order to monitor the case throughout the mediation program. The Agency and the Mediation Program may also use demographic data in a manner that does not identify you specifically or allow you to be contacted, but does identify certain criteria about our users in general. For example, we may inform third parties about the number of registered users, number of unique visitors, and the pages most frequently browsed. The Agency may also use Contact Data such as name, physical address and email address to contact the applicant regarding eligibility for the Foreclosure Mediation Program. Any Financial Data gathered is used strictly for the purposes of evaluating eligibility for the Foreclosure Mediation Program, processing your application, and possible submission to your lender and its servicers so that all options may be discussed at mediation.

Confidentiality and Security of Personal Information - As stated above, the Agency will keep your Personally Identifiable Data private within the Foreclosure Mediation Program, but will not otherwise share it with third parties unless you specifically approve of the disclosure, or if the Agency is required by law to comply with a valid legal requirement such as law, federal regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order.

Website Areas Beyond the Agency’s Control - The Site may include interactive forums such as message boards and chat rooms. Please note that any Personally Identifiable Information disclosed in such areas is public and becomes public information. You should use caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.

Third Party Websites - The Agency may maintain links to other websites. If you choose to visit other websites, the Agency is not responsible for the Privacy Practices or content of those other websites, and it is your responsibility to review the Privacy Policies at those websites to confirm that you understand and agree with their policies.

Retention of Records – The Agency may retain Personally Identifiable Information for a period of five years. The reason for this lies in the fact that users may request their documents for revision and the Agency may need to update users of new information available.

User Ability to Update Personally Identifiable Information – The Agency’s intake system maintains a procedure to help you confirm that your Personal Information remains correct and up-to-date. At any time, you may visit your personal account profile (Collectively 'personal profile') by logging into the Member Home link. Through your personal profile, you are able to review and update your Contact Data. If at any time you wish to delete all of your Personally Identifiable Information from this site, you may contact the Agency at 815-319-4995 or FM@17thcircuit.illinoiscourts.gov.

Authorization to share information - The Agency agrees to maintain the confidentiality of user’s information; however, user authorizes the Agency and its Foreclosure Mediation Program Affiliates and/or lender and/or servicer handling user’s loan to submit user’s personal information to entities responsible for monitoring any governmental counseling or modification programs for the exclusive purposes of program evaluation and monitoring. This authorization will remain valid until revoked in writing by the user.

Security - As our commitment to data security, we strive to make certain that our servers and connections incorporate the latest encryption and security devices. To prevent unauthorized access, we have implemented physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. Financial and personal information are transmitted to us by secure servers.