Privacy Policy

1. Who we are & what this policy covers

Coastal Real Estate & Auction Group (“Coastal,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is responsible for the information it handles as described in this policy. We are based in Chesapeake, Virginia, and provide real estate, auction, estate liquidation, downsizing, business liquidation, and appraisal or valuation services.

This policy covers this Coastal informational website, its service inquiry forms, newsletter and interest-specific email signup forms, My State MLS property listings and inquiries, and related communications with our team. It explains how information may be handled when you explore buying or selling property, request a consultation, or discuss an estate or downsizing project. A service engagement or transaction may involve additional information, agreements, or notices explaining those activities.

This website is currently separate from online bidding and payment services. It does not collect bidder credentials or payment-card information. This policy does not replace the notices of independent real estate websites, transaction services, or other providers you choose to use.

2. Information we collect

Information you choose to provide

• Email signup information: the email address you submit, the update interests you choose, subscription and confirmation records, communication preferences, and unsubscribe or suppression records.
• Contact and inquiry information: your name, email address, phone number, city or area, project description, messages, and other details you provide through an inquiry form or when calling, emailing, or corresponding with us.
• Property and service details: if relevant to your inquiry, a property address, general location, property type, item descriptions, photographs you choose to send, ownership or representative information, your preferred timing, and the kind of help you need.
• Follow-up records: correspondence, consultation or appointment details, instructions, authorizations, and records needed to respond to your request.
• Privacy choices: requests to access, correct or delete information, opt-out instructions, and information reasonably needed to verify and document our response.

The newsletter signup form requests your email address and agreement to receive Coastal updates. Dedicated email update forms also identify your chosen interest: personal property auctions, real estate auctions or traditional real estate listings. Coastal’s Brevo service inquiry forms require your name and email address; phone number, city or area, and project description are optional. Other information listed above is collected only if you provide it during an inquiry or service discussion. Providing information is voluntary, although we may need certain details to respond or assist you.

Property listings and inquiries

Property search and listing features are provided through My State MLS and its IDX technology provider. Your browser requests listing information directly from those services. If you submit an inquiry through the property widget, the information entered—including your name, phone number, email address, message and the relevant property identifier—is sent to the IDX provider. These forms are separate from Coastal’s Brevo inquiry and email signup forms. Google reCAPTCHA is used for inquiry verification, and listing maps may load Google Maps services. Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service describe its services. Submitting a listing inquiry does not subscribe you to Coastal’s marketing updates.

Technical and delivery information

Website hosting, access and security services may process your IP address, browser and device details, requested pages, referring pages, request times, and error or security events to deliver and protect the site. Our email provider may process subscription timestamps, confirmation activity, delivery results, bounces, and other technical information associated with its services. Email engagement information is described in section 6.

Form spam protection

Coastal’s service inquiry, newsletter and email update forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to help prevent automated spam. Turnstile checks security signals, including your IP address and information about your browser and connection, to distinguish people from bots. Cloudflare also uses these signals to improve bot detection. See Cloudflare’s Turnstile Privacy Addendum and Privacy Policy. Completing this security check does not subscribe you to marketing; newsletter and email update subscriptions require your separate agreement.

Information from other sources

If you ask an authorized representative to contact us, or contact us through a social platform, we may receive the details that person or platform provides for your inquiry. If we later offer an advertising-platform lead form, its collection notice will identify the requested fields and purpose. Such a form is not currently part of this website.

3. How we use information

We use information relevant to the activity to:

• Respond to questions and discuss real estate, auction, appraisal, liquidation, or downsizing options.
• Arrange consultations, understand your goals, assess the scope of a requested service, and coordinate agreed next steps.
• Send Coastal news, auction announcements and real estate updates when you subscribe, and administer your preferences.
• Maintain appropriate correspondence, authorization, subscription, service, and privacy-request records.
• Operate and secure the website and communications, diagnose problems, and prevent spam, fraud or misuse.
• Use future analytics or advertising features only as disclosed when introduced and subject to applicable choices.
• Meet applicable legal duties, address disputes, and protect legitimate rights, property and safety.

An inquiry does not create a brokerage relationship, auction consignment, appraisal engagement or other service agreement. Submitting an inquiry does not enroll you in email or text marketing. It also does not authorize automated promotional calls or texts, or unrelated uses of your information.

4. When we disclose information

We do not sell or rent customer contact information, and we do not provide customer lists to other businesses for their own direct marketing. This does not prevent the limited disclosures needed to operate our services or follow your instructions:

• Service providers: website hosting and security, inquiry form processing, email delivery and subscription management through Brevo, and other providers supporting requested services. Providers receive information needed for their role. A future text-message delivery provider would process information to deliver and administer the Coastal program, not to market its own offers to our subscribers.
• At your direction: when you authorize a specific disclosure or ask us to coordinate with your representative or a professional involved in your matter. We will explain the recipient and purpose when needed.
• Professional or legal needs: advisers, authorities or other recipients when necessary to comply with applicable law or valid legal process, obtain advice, investigate misuse, or protect rights and safety.
• Business transfers: where information is part of a merger, acquisition, reorganization or transfer of relevant business assets, subject to applicable law, confidentiality protections and any required notice.

Advertising pixels can disclose device identifiers and browsing activity to advertising providers, which may use them for their own purposes. These disclosures can be considered “sharing,” “sale,” or targeted advertising under some privacy laws even if no customer list is sold and no money is exchanged. No optional advertising pixel is currently active on this website. Before activating one, we will identify its actual data uses and provide appropriate notice and choices rather than treating all advertising providers as service providers.

We will not provide mobile opt-in information or text-message consent records to third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes. Limited processing by providers needed to operate the Coastal text program is described in section 7.

5. Cookies, visitor analytics & advertising pixels

Current website

Coastal has not activated optional visitor analytics, advertising pixels or remarketing tags on this version of the site. Hosting, access-control, form delivery and security services may use necessary cookies or similar technologies to provide their functions. We do not treat continued browsing, an email inquiry or newsletter signup as permission for advertising tracking.

Planned analytics and advertising

We plan to introduce analytics to understand website use and advertising tools to measure campaigns. Depending on the tools selected, these could process page visits, referral sources, interactions, browser or device identifiers, IP addresses, and approximate location derived from technical information. We will disclose the actual providers, events, purposes and controls before enabling them. No specific analytics or advertising vendor is activated or authorized by this policy.

Optional tracking that requires consent will remain off until that consent is obtained. Applicable opt-out controls and recognized browser signals, including Global Privacy Control where required, will be addressed before advertising tracking begins. We will not send inquiry messages, property photographs, estate documents, financial details, or text-message consent records to advertising tools.

Your browser controls

You can manage cookies through your browser, although blocking necessary storage may affect access or form functionality. Preferences can be specific to a browser or device. This version has no optional advertising tracking to activate or disable, and it does not change its current processing in response to a Do Not Track signal. A browser setting does not unsubscribe you from email or a future text program; those choices are separate.

6. Online forms, email updates & Brevo

We use Brevo to process the information submitted through our dedicated service inquiry forms, including your name, email address and any optional phone number, city or area, and project description you provide. We use these inquiry details to respond to your request. An inquiry submission is separate from a marketing subscription.

We also use Brevo to manage Coastal newsletter subscriptions and separate email update interests for personal property auctions, real estate auctions and traditional real estate listings. These signup forms send your email address and subscription choices to Brevo. Marketing signups require your agreement to receive the selected updates, followed by a confirmation email to complete the subscription. We use subscription and confirmation records to administer the lists and honor your choices.

Emails may include auction news, real estate opportunities, helpful guidance and Coastal updates. Brevo processes delivery and subscription information. Depending on campaign settings, messages may also use tracking pixels or tracked links to report opens, clicks and engagement. Email privacy features and automated scanning can affect those reports; they are not a precise record of every reader’s activity. See Brevo’s privacy policy for its own practices.

You can unsubscribe using the link in a marketing email or contact us through our general contact form. We may retain a limited suppression record to avoid sending further marketing after an opt-out. Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent a response to a new inquiry or necessary communications about an ongoing service.

7. Planned marketing text-message program

Marketing text enrollment is not currently offered on this website. We plan to offer an optional Coastal text-message program for auction announcements, real estate updates and related promotions. Enrollment will require a separate, clear opt-in identifying Coastal, the number supplied, the type of messages, and applicable program terms. Providing a phone number for a consultation or subscribing to email will not enroll you in promotional texts.

• Consent: where required, we will obtain express written consent for automated marketing texts. Consent will not be a condition of buying property, bidding, or purchasing a service.
• Program details: the enrollment notice will explain message frequency, applicable message and data rates, and whether automated technology is used. Carrier charges may apply.
• Stopping messages: once the program is available, reply STOP to a program message to opt out, or contact us using the details below. We will also honor other reasonable revocation methods as required by law. A non-promotional confirmation may follow an opt-out.
• Getting help: the program will provide HELP instructions and Coastal contact details. You may always use our general contact form or call us for assistance.
• Program records: we may retain the enrolled number, consent wording and time, enrollment source, delivery records, and opt-out history to administer the program and document your choices.

Mobile numbers and consent information will be used for the Coastal program and associated operational or legal needs. They will not be sold or supplied to other businesses for their own marketing. Delivery providers and carriers may process this information as needed to route messages, protect the service, and administer consent and opt-outs.

8. Property, estates & information about other people

Real estate and estate or downsizing discussions can involve sensitive circumstances and information about family members, owners, beneficiaries or representatives. Please share only details relevant to the help you are requesting and provide another person’s information only when you are authorized to do so.

Do not send Social Security numbers, payment-card or bank details, passwords, identity documents, medical information, or complete estate-planning documents through newsletter forms or ordinary introductory messages. If additional documents become necessary for an agreed service, contact our team to arrange an appropriate process.

If you engage us to market property or items, information you authorize for a listing—such as descriptions, photographs or viewing details—may be made public as part of that service. An initial inquiry alone does not authorize us to publish your private correspondence, photographs or property address.

9. Retention & security

Retention depends on why information was collected. Relevant factors include whether an inquiry or service remains active, whether a subscription continues, the need to honor an opt-out, documentation of consent, applicable real estate or auction recordkeeping requirements, and the need to resolve disputes or comply with legal holds. Provider-held technical records are also subject to operational needs and provider practices.

We retain information for the period reasonably needed for these purposes, then delete or de-identify it, subject to legal requirements and ordinary backup processes. An unsubscribe request stops marketing; it does not necessarily delete service records or the suppression record needed to honor the request. You can separately request deletion.

This website uses HTTPS to protect information in transit. Safeguards must be appropriate to the information and services involved; no website, email system, transmission or storage method can guarantee complete security. Please contact us promptly if you believe information sent to Coastal has been misused or disclosed improperly.

10. Your privacy choices & requests

You may contact Coastal to ask about information we hold about you, correct inaccurate details, request deletion, stop nonessential follow-up, or ask about a disclosure. Depending on the law that applies, additional rights may include access, a portable copy, restricting or objecting to processing, withdrawing consent, or opting out of specified uses.

Use our general contact form and include “Privacy Request” in your message, call (757) 482-7192, or write to our address below. Describe the request and provide enough information to locate your record, such as the email address used to subscribe or contact us. Do not send sensitive identification documents with an initial request.

Before releasing or changing personal records, we may reasonably verify your identity or an authorized representative’s authority. We use verification information for that purpose. We will respond within the period required by applicable law, explain any permitted extension or exception, and will not discriminate against you for exercising a protected privacy right.

If we decline a request and you have an applicable appeal right, use our general contact form, include “Privacy Appeal” in your message, and explain why you disagree. We will review the decision and provide the response and further complaint information required by law.

11. Additional privacy rights

Virginia

Where the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act applies to Coastal and your information, rights may include confirmation and access, correction, deletion, portability, and opting out of targeted advertising, sale of personal data, or certain profiling. Covered requests generally require a response within 45 days, with a permitted 45-day extension explained during the initial period. Appeals require a written response within 60 days. If an appeal is denied, you may submit a complaint to the Virginia Attorney General. The law has coverage thresholds and exceptions; this notice does not assert that every Coastal activity is subject to it.

California and other U.S. states

Where applicable, state laws may provide rights to know or access information, correct or delete it, obtain a portable copy, opt out of sale, sharing or targeted advertising, limit certain sensitive-data uses, and appeal decisions. Sections 2–4 explain the categories, sources, purposes and recipients relevant to this website. We do not currently conduct optional advertising tracking on it. Any future advertising disclosures and applicable opt-out mechanisms will be explained before activation. You may also contact us about disclosures for third parties’ direct marketing. Rights depend on the applicable law, the business activity and any exceptions.

Visitors outside the United States

Our services primarily concern Virginia and other U.S. locations. Information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate, whose laws may differ from those where you live. Where applicable international data protection law governs our processing, relevant grounds may include your consent, steps you request before a contract, providing agreed services, legal obligations, and legitimate interests in responding to inquiries and protecting operations.

Where those laws apply, you may have rights to access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, withdrawal of consent and a complaint to your local data protection authority. Required transfer safeguards will depend on the provider and processing involved; contact us for information relevant to your request. Visiting the site does not waive statutory rights or constitute blanket consent to international transfers.

12. Children’s privacy

This website and our marketing subscriptions are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal information through this site or knowingly use it for targeted advertising. If you believe a child has provided information, contact us so we can review the situation and remove the information as required.

13. Other websites & independent providers

Links may take you to our separate real estate website, Google, Brevo, or other services. Their notices and settings explain the information they process. This policy does not control an independent provider’s practices. Website reviews and blog content do not themselves enroll you in a service or marketing program.

If online bidding, payment services or other transaction features are added later, their providers, data collection and applicable notices will be identified before those features are introduced. They are not part of the current website.

14. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy and the “Last updated” date when practices change. Material changes may require an additional website notice or direct communication and, where required, new consent. A policy update does not itself activate a pixel, enroll you in texts, authorize a new use of previously collected information, or override an existing opt-out.