Real Mortgage Associates Inc. does not carry on any business outside of the mortgage brokerage
Email Usage Policy
Introduction
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the proper use of the overall Real Mortgage Associates Inc. email system and make users aware of what Real Mortgage Associates Inc. deems as acceptable and unacceptable use of its email system. Real Mortgage Associates Inc. reserves the right to amend this policy at its discretion. In case of amendments, users will be informed appropriately.
Legal and Reputational Risks
Email is a business communication tool and users are obliged to use this tool in a responsible, effective and lawful manner. Although by its nature email seems to be less formal than other written communication, the same laws apply. Therefore, it is important that users are aware of the legal and reputational risks of email:
If you forward emails with any libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks, you and Real Mortgage Associates Inc. can be held liable;
If you unlawfully forward confidential information, you and Real Mortgage Associates Inc. can be held liable;
If you unlawfully forward or copy messages without permission, you and Real Mortgage Associates Inc. can be held liable for copyright infringement;
If you send an attachment that contains a virus, you and Real Mortgage Associates Inc. can be held liable.
In addition, any of the above could lead to negative media coverage, which would damage your personal reputation, the reputation of Real Mortgage Associates Inc., and the reputation of Real Mortgage Associates Inc. in general.
By following the guidelines in this policy, you can minimize the legal and reputational risks involved in the use of email.
If you disregard the rules set out in this Email Policy, you will be fully liable for your actions, and Real Mortgage Associates Inc. will disassociate itself from you as far as legally possible should there be any litigation or criminal action as a result. Failure to follow this policy may result in disciplinary action up to, and including, dismissal from Real Mortgage Associates Inc. or termination of your contract.
Legal Requirements
The following rules are required by law and are to be strictly adhered to. It is prohibited to:
Send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks;
Send unsolicited email messages;
Forge or attempt to forge email messages;
Disguise or attempt to disguise your identity when sending mail;
Send email messages using another person’s email account;
Copy a message or attachment belonging to another user without permission of the originator.
Best Practices
Real Mortgage Associates Inc. considers email an important means of communication and recognizes the importance of proper email content and speedy replies in conveying a professional image and delivering good customer service. Users should take the same care in drafting an email as they would for any other communication. Therefore Real Mortgage Associates Inc. wishes users to adhere to the following guidelines:
Replying to emails
Emails should be answered within at least 8 Working hours, but users should endeavour to answer priority emails as soon as possible;
Priority emails are emails from existing customers and business partners.
Maintenance
Delete any email messages that you do not need to have a copy of, and set your email client to not leave a copy of the email message on the server.
Confidential Information
Email is not a secure medium, meaning it can be easily compromised or read by third parties in transport. As a general rule, sensitive or confidential information should not be sent by email. However, if there are circumstances where you must, please follow this procedure:
Place the information in the form of a document using your word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) or in Portable Document Format (PDF). Both of these formats have the option to protect the document with passwords.
If the information is in the form of scanned documents, use a program such as WinZip or WinRar to compress (.zip or .rar) your files, and add a security password to the compressed file.
Contact the other party and give them the password. Passwords should never be sent to the recipient via email; instead, they should be sent via other means (preferably verbally over the telephone). This ensures the locked document and the password can only be combined by the intended recipient.
Encryption
Users may not encrypt any emails without obtaining written permission from Real Mortgage Associates Inc. If approved, the encryption key(s) must be made known to the company.
Email Accounts
All email accounts maintained on our email systems are the property of Real Mortgage Associates Inc. Passwords should not be given to other people and should be changed once a month. Email accounts not used for 60 days will be deactivated, and could face deletion from the Real Mortgage Associates Inc. email system.
Tied Selling
Brokers and agents of Real Mortgage Associates Inc. are prohibited from engaging in tied selling. Borrowers cannot be required to obtain a product or service as a condition for obtaining another product or service from the Mortgage Brokerage (O. Reg. 188/08, s15)
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