Privacy Policy

Your Privacy

The opportunities you deserve, the privacy you expect

For more than 25 years, Somerset Investors Corp. (“Somerset”) has been a trusted leader in home loans. Our primary focus is on empowering you to meet your homeownership goals by offering a wide range of financial products and services. This section explains how we protect and use your information in a safe, secure and responsible manner.

We offer you products and services at a lower cost or with greater convenience by sharing limited information within our Somerset family of companies and with carefully selected business partners.

Your protection is our priority

We strive to safeguard your data. We do this by:

       setting policies and procedures for carefully handling your information;

       we have designated our CTO to coordinate, review, update and maintain our privacy policy;

       identify and assess risks to customer data and information systems;

       limiting employee access to sensitive information;

       protecting against unauthorized access to customer data using data encryption, authentication, and virus detection technology;

       requiring service providers who do business with Somerset to comply with privacy laws;

       auditing company security practices;

       conducting background checks on all employees and providing privacy training.

About our websites

Our systems automatically switch to "secure" mode when you are asked to enter personal information on a Somerset website (such as your name, address or Social Security Number). To keep your data safe, we use:

       Encryption and authentication technology

       Website design that blocks or limits online display of customer information when not necessary for the transaction

       IDs and passwords to protect customer information

Benefits to sharing within the Somerset family

To offer and recommend valuable products and services, we may share customer and former customer information within our Somerset family.

       New Home Loans – Somerset offers new home loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and many refinancing options.

Benefits to sharing outside the Somerset family

To make products and services available, often at a savings to you, we may prudently share some customer and former customer non-public personal information with business partners under an agreement requiring the partner to keep the information confidential and only use it for those offers.

How we obtain and use information

To fund and service your loan, comply with government regulations, improve our products and services, and better understand your financial needs, we collect and maintain customer and former customer data. We collect information:

       you provide us on applications and other forms (such as your name, address, phone, Social Security and account numbers, assets, income and employment history);

       about your transactions with us (such as your loan balance, payment history and other account information);

       about your credit history from a credit reporting agency; and

       about you or your property from business partners and service providers (such as a property appraisal, purchase contract or membership number).

We disclose some of this data to third parties (such as credit reporting agencies, regulators and loan investors). We may share some of this information with companies performing services on our behalf (such as the vendor who prepares our monthly statements). These service providers have all agreed to abide by our service requirements and policies as well as been reviewed by our technology department to ensure they are providing adequate controls to safeguard customer information and agree to keep the information confidential and not use it for any other purpose.

Additionally, to provide you with valuable product and service offerings, we share limited information (such as a list of customers in a certain income range) within our Somerset family of companies and with business partners who are obligated to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

You have choices

You may limit how we share your personal information. This is called a right to "opt out." You have three options to consider.

Companies not covered under this section

Some companies in the Somerset family have different information sharing practices. Please review their websites for more information.

Somerset websites may contain links to other companies not in the Somerset family for your convenience and information. If you access those links, you will leave the Somerset website. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any company before submitting your personal information.

How to confirm accuracy of your information

We commit to maintain accurate and up-to-date information on all of our customers. We provide access to account information in many ways – over the phone, in online and paper statements, and other communications. If you believe any of your information is incorrect, please notify us immediately using the customer service number provided on your account statement. We will respond timely to your request to correct inaccurate account or transaction information. However, in order to protect your information, we may ask to verify your identity and for other details to respond to your request.

Notification of changes

The policies and practices in this section replace all previous notices or statements about your privacy rights at Somerset. If we make any significant changes, we will notify you and only apply those new changes to future use of your information. If we make such changes, we will also revise the policy effective date, so that you can keep track of when those changes occur.

How Does Browser Security Work?

Recent versions of most internet browsers support the encrypted transmission of on-line documents and the data you enter on a web page. This means that instead of sending readable text, both your browser and the website's secure server encode all text using a security key. That way, personal data sent to your browser or data you send back would be extremely difficult to decode in the unlikely event it was intercepted by an unauthorized party. The key used for encoding is a random number that is unique to your session at the secure website.

There are two grades of internet security: International-grade encryption uses a 40-bit random number negotiated between your browser and the web-server. This means that only one out of about 1,000,000,000,000 possible decoding keys can be used to decipher your data. Domestic-grade encryption uses a 128-bit key, so that the number of possible keys is vastly larger. The Somerset site uses the highest grade of encryption supported by your browser and your internet connection.

Most browsers can be set to give you a pop-up announcement when you enter or leave a secure web page. In Netscape, these settings are on the Security Preferences "General" tab. In IE, the setting is on the "Advanced" tab when you select "Options" on the View menu.

Secure Mode and Frame-Based Web Pages

Security may be operating without displaying any security icons (or Netscape may show the "broken key" icon) if only part of a frame-based page is employing security. You can verify the security of a page within a frame by opening it in a new browser window. Both IE and Netscape allow you to open a link in a new window by right-clicking on the link and selecting that option from the pop-up context menu. When a secure page is open in its own window, instead of being viewed within a frame, you can then see the security icons provided by your browser as well as the "https://" secure protocol prefix in the URL string.

Regular Security Testing & Maintenance

Somerset updates and tests all computer systems on a regular basis.  This includes all software and operating systems updates and/or patches, firewall penetration, malicious code and intrusion detection.

Cookies

When you visit a website, a small file called a "cookie" may be saved to your computer’s hard drive during your visit. When you revisit the site, the website’s server may open the cookie file and access the stored information. You can usually set your browser to limit or let you know about cookies that a website places on your computer.

What are Shared Secrets?
Shared secrets are the most common security method for accessing confidential information. A shared secret is something known to both the user and the holder of the confidential information. The most common shared secrets are a user ID and password. These shared secrets allow the user to login to the site of the holder of confidential information such as a financial institution or online merchants. Shared secrets form an integral part of user authentication in today's online environment.

Protecting Your Shared Secrets
Protecting your shared secrets ensures that information accessed via those shared secrets is protected. You should never record your shared secrets electronically such as in documents or spreadsheets. In the event of a compromise of your computer hard drive, your shared secrets can be compromised as well placing all the data protected by those shared secrets at banks and merchants at risk. Likewise you should never store credit card numbers, expiration dates, bank account number, social security numbers, driver’s license number or other personal identifying information electronically on your computer for the same reason.

Your shared secrets should never be revealed in response to unsolicited e-mails. Criminals attempt to obtain individual’s personal identifying information and use that information illegally such as to open and/or use credit cards, obtain phone or utility accounts, obtain loans, open bank accounts and/or pass fraudulent checks using a technique called "phishing". Criminals may also attempt to obtain that information over the phone posing as a survey taker, telemarketer or other unsolicited caller ("pretexting").

Common Shared Secrets
To minimize the potential compromise of your shared secrets, you should avoid commonly used secrets such as names (yours, your spouse's name, your children's, parents), common terms that appear in the dictionary (brute force attacks to crack passwords often use dictionaries in an attempt to randomly match the password), exclusively numbers (numbers range from 0 to 9 for each character where letters range from a to z creating 26 potential variations or 52 if case sensitive). The best passwords are a combination of both letters and numbers where the letters do not spell words that could be found in a dictionary and the password is of sufficient length, 6 characters or preferably more, to make brute force attacks harder.

We suggest you do not use shared secrets across multiple domains (e.g. websites). If you use the same logon and password while shopping or surfing online as you use for your bank, if one of the online merchant sites is compromised, your user ID and password could then be used to access your bank information. Not all website apply the same level of security to their database. The use of a single logon ID and password across multiple sites is only as secure as the least secure site.

What Do I Do If My Shared Secrets are Compromised?
Immediately change your shared secrets with all sites on which you have used the same shared secrets.

What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is when someone takes and uses your personal information (such as your name, social security or credit card number) without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. These criminals take the identities of others to open new credit cards; obtain phone or utility accounts, loans, or employment; open bank accounts; and/or pass fraudulent checks. According to the FBI, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America.

How Does Identity Theft Occur?
Criminals gain access to personal information in many ways, but the most common method is to take it from the victim themselves. They steal mail (such as account statements, new checks and offers of credit) left in a mailbox, discarded in the trash or stored in an easy to get to location in your home or office. They take credit card and personal identification from your purse or wallet. Without knowing it, you may give the information directly to the criminal when you enter data at an unsecured or unknown website, or in response to a fraudulent request for account information through an unverified e-mail ("phishing"). Imposters also ask for information from you in unsolicited phone calls, tricking you into thinking it is someone you know, such as your bank ("pretexting").

What Happens to the Victim?
Identity thieves can damage the credit reputations and lives of victims. Studies have shown that victims spend an average of $808 and 205 hours resolving the identity theft. Time and money is spent clearing credit reports, reporting the theft to lenders and merchants, and filing complaints with law enforcement and governmental agencies. One of the menacing problems of identity theft is that it can happen more than once. Once the initial incident is resolved, the thief may begin using the victim’s identity again after waiting 6 months to a year and the cycle begins all over again.

How Can I Prevent Becoming a Victim?
Identity theft requires someone to gain access to your personal information. You can take steps to decrease the risk of someone stealing your information.

       Destroy papers you throw out. Shred or completely destroy any documents that contain personal information before discarding them in the trash. This includes information about you, your family, your home, or your accounts such as credit card solicitations, pre-approved credit offers, convenience checks contained in your statements, bills, cancelled checks, loan offerings, ATM or credit card receipts, insurance or tax information. Just as important are receipts from ATM’s or self-service devices such as gasoline pumps. Don’t just leave them behind or throw them in the trash. Criminals only need a few pieces of information about you to get credit in your name and access your existing accounts.

       Be careful who you give your information to over the telephone. Do not give out personal information such as your social security number, credit card or bank account numbers, or loan numbers over the phone to anyone who has called you without first confirming who you are speaking to, why they need the information and that they are who they claim to be.

       Guard your PINs. Never give out your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Memorize your PINs and never write them on your cards or carry them in your wallet.

       Report lost or stolen credit cards, checks or identification immediately.

       Store your personal information securely. Keep it where it is not easily available in the event of a burglary or other unauthorized access.

       Be cautious online. Be cautious when providing information at websites or with online merchants you do not have an existing relationship with. Always confirm that you are in a secure session before entering personal information online.

       Check your credit reports. Review your credit report regularly to identify any inquiries or accounts that you are not aware of and did not apply for.

       Protect your mailbox. If your residential mailbox is not secure, don’t put outgoing mail in the box and promptly pick up incoming mail or obtain a secure postal mailbox.

       Safeguard your checks. Never print your personal information such as a Social Security Number or driver’s license number on your checks.

What Should I Do if I Become a Victim of Identity Theft?

Ask them to send you a copy of your credit report and instruct them to place a fraud alert on your record. Once you receive the report, review it carefully. Contact any creditors listed that you did not apply for credit with and inform them that you have been a victim of identity theft. Instruct them to close the account, send you copies of the application and any transactions, and to promptly clear your credit record.

Contact your local police or sheriff’s department and file an identity theft complaint.
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or via their hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).

Identity Theft Resources

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
1-877-438-4338

Social Security Administration Fraud Hotline
1-800-269-0271

Department of Justice

US Postal Inspection Service
1-800-372-8347

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
1-619-298-3396

Identity Theft Resource Center
1-858-693-7935

Identity Theft Statistics

Identity Theft Laws (by state)

What is Somerset Doing to Assist in the Battle Against Identity Theft?

Protecting the confidentiality and security of our customers’ personal information is a priority for Somerset and its family of companies.  We understand the implications identity theft can have and take very specific steps to reduce the chance that identity thieves can damage the credit reputations of our customers. As a result, Somerset has put multiple safety measures in place to combat identity theft.

Reporting Identity Theft on a Somerset Relationship

If you think your identity has been stolen, affecting any of your loans or accounts with any of the companies in the Somerset family, or resulting in the establishment of a fraudulent relationship with us, please contact us immediately. The Identity Theft Complaint provided below should be completed and then faxed or mailed back to us at the address shown below. The Complaint, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, can be obtained by clicking the link below: