GDPR Folderreal estate sector

The RGPD is imposed on all professions that collect or process personal data. Whether you are a real estate agent, property manager, syndic, surveyor, etc., you collect personal data from your customers, prospects, people interested in property, etc.

Therefore, you must not only comply with the RGPD but also be able to demonstrate this to your clients and the companies you work with. Showing that you respect privacy will increase the trust of your interlocutors and this is all the more important as you collect very personal data to advise your clients.

It is estimated that today there are more than 30,000 real estate agencies in France, 98% of which have less than 9 employees. With just over 240,000 employees, the real estate sector is an important part of the French economy. There are 3 main categories:

1. The independent agencies which are not attached to a network under sign and do not employ in general any employee. This is the majority of real estate agencies in France.
2. The networks under sign: although they represent only 25% of the real estate agencies, they carry out between 35 and 40% of the sales turnover of the real market. We can quote the most known: Orpi, Century 21, Laforêt Immobilier, Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier...
3.  The real estate agents: a segment in strong increase. These independents work from home (no physical agency) and broadcast their sales offers on real estate portals. There are 27,000 agents in France who account for about 10% of the turnover. Among them, we can mention IAD France, SAFTI and CAPIFRANCE.

The other professions in the sector are less "voluminous" but of course just as important. Property managers are the experts in rental management and this is also a regulated profession. Among the big names, we can mention Foncia, Nexity or Citya immobilier.

The treatments will obviously differ between the agency and the property manager.

In the first case, the agency manages files with potential buyers who will communicate a certain amount of sensitive information (assets, income, pay slips, taxes...), by email or on paper. This data can only be collected for a specific purpose and on a clear legal basis. The collection of prior consent is obviously necessary.

When an agency is prospecting sellers, it is also important to check what can be done to approach them. Avoid contacting individuals who have specifically said that they do not wish to be contacted by professionals or who are registered on Bloctel.

For the rental part, it is the stage of the evaluation of the files of the candidates to the rent which is the most sensitive since it is not rare to ask for a lot of documentary evidence to ensure the solvency of the tenants. The CNIL has published a reference document which specifies the possibilities in this matter (see link below).

It is important to remember at this stage the principle of data minimization: limit yourself to the data that you can collect and avoid asking for too much data when possible to limit the risks.

It is important to distinguish between the roles of each of the parties involved in order to determine who is a controller and who is a processor. For example, representatives and other commercial agents may be considered as processors in certain processing operations. This in no way exempts them from their obligations.

Again, the use of "compliant" tools does not exempt actors from doing their own compliance work. The mere fact of having access to information, even using compliant tools, must be considered.

In its guidelines, the CNIL has given indications for rental management. For example, the time limit is 3 years for data concerning people who are looking for housing. For unsuccessful applicants, this period is only 3 months. For successful applicants, the period can be extended from 3 to 5 years beyond the end of the lease in order to manage any follow-up.

For other real estate activities, you should look at whether there are legal obligations, otherwise the CNIL guide on data retention will help you to evaluate what is a good retention period. 

As you can see, the main principles of the RGPD are simple and their implementation can also be simple with the right tool. Our tool, GDPR Folder , accompanies you step by step in this process.

You will be able to answer a simple and didactic questionnaire in a few hours for an affordable budget, without expensive external help, and create a PDF file that demonstrates your compliance efforts.

GDPR Folder allows you to "keep your hand" on this subject of personal data which is at the heart of your activity. In addition, you have a badge that demonstrates your efforts that you can post on your site to reassure your customers, visitors or contacts and increase the trust they bring to you.

Respect personal data and show it with GDPR Folder ! Don't hesitate to contact us for more information or a demo.

Here are a number of useful real estate sites and resources: