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POPIA for the Estate Agents

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POPIA – the new law that gives force to everyone’s constitutional right to privacy – outlines that everyone has a right to find out which parties have their Personal Information, and various information linked to that. This is Lightstone’s service for facilitating Data Subject requests (Section 23 & 24 of POPIA).

What does Lightstone Property do exactly?

We understand that buying and selling a home can be very scary. For most people it’s the most money they’ll spend on something in their lifetime, and there are many things that can go wrong and have big consequences.

That’s why Lightstone Property plays a valuable role in the smooth functioning of many aspects of the homeownership transaction process.

In practical terms, we support the companies that support you in the smooth running of this process by enabling them to help make this process easier, less scary (more clear), faster and cheaper for you.

To fulfill this role, we typically work with the Deeds Registry, a public registry of home ownership, as well as a few other types of information (eg information from the Surveyor General, municipalities, CIPC, etc).

POPIA Property

How does Lightstone Property process information?

Lightstone Property takes its responsibility of working with homeowners’ and property information for the fulfilment of its critical support functions, very seriously. We supply information to various third parties, and always with the intention of making buying or selling a home (and other processes relating to your home) easier, less risky, and smoother for you.

Podcast Series

POPIA is going to impact the way Estate Agents do business in many ways. We have produced an industry-specific podcast series in preparation for the new ways of working, to aid our real estate clients. The series provides an overview of the impact of the Act, what this means for the future of the client contact book and other practical guidelines.

Latest Podcast
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Episode 8
Answers to your POPIA questions relating to Lightstone products
Previous Podcasts

Data Subject Request

Lightstone Property plays a valuable role in the purchase and sale of property, by supporting the companies that support you in the smooth running of this process by enabling them to help make this process easier, faster and cheaper for you.

Which types of third parties does Lightstone Property work with and how?

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Working with the banks:

If you apply for a bond, the banks need to verify the price you have agreed to vs the predicted / expected value of the home to make sure you’re not over-spending and will end up over-capitalizing your home. Using our smart system, Lightstone Property helps make this process smoother and faster so you can get the answer to your bond application sooner. Banks also use our services for checking the full value of the properties they’ve loaned money for, which is a legal requirement.

Working with Estate Agents:

To offer the best advice and information to clients, an Estate Agent needs to know their area inside out, including all the dynamics around what types of properties there are, what type of properties are selling (and for what price), what amenities are in the area, etc.

Lightstone Property reports provide access to key information on properties, complexes, suburbs, etc. This information enables Estate Agents to guide you better when buying or selling your home, bringing clarity and transparency into the process through the accurate information we supply.

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Working with Insurers:

When you own a home you should have home insurance, and if you have a bond it’s a requirement of that bond. This is so that if a catastrophic event happens – like a fire – the bank can recoup the money they’ve loaned you and you can recover from the disaster. Insurers need to know certain information in order to offer you an appropriate premium and identify the required coverage.

How Lightstone Property assists: Some insurers use our information in order to build models that help them to evaluate area risk (eg: how prone is that area to hail, lighting, etc). Some use our information to verify the location and /or the specific risk-related features of a property in order to guide premium setting.

POPIA guides for Estate Agents

Estate Agents need to be careful in how they deal with Personal Information when conducting business. Below is useful POPIA information specifically for the real estate industry.

POPIA Handbook
POPIA Estate Agent Handbook

In response we have prepared this handbook on important and relevant POPIA information and its potential impact on the way you conduct business

Open Guide
Unpacking POPIA
Summary for the 8 conditions of lawful processing

UNPACKING POPIA Responsible Party vs Operator The 8 Conditions for Lawful Processing.

Open Guide

Previous Podcasts

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Episode 7
Answers to Estate Agent questions related to specific aspects of POPIA
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Episode 6
Deep dive into Direct Marketing
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Episode 5
The impact of ECTA and CPA on Direct Marketing once POPIA comes into effect
Property Podcast Image
Episode 4
Remaining 5 of the 8 Conditions for lawful processing
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Episode 3
The Responsible Party and the Operator, 3 of the 8 Conditions for lawful processing
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Episode 1
What does POPIA mean for the future of the client contact book?

POPIA Documents

For ease of use, here are some of the documents referred to in the information prepared to support our Estate Agent and Automotive Industry clients. Please click on the links below.

We welcome your feedback

You are invited to send through your POPIA-related questions or comments to POPIA@lightstone.co.za.

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