Privacy Policy

Who we are

This website is run by Jennifer Sessoms Law, PLLC, a Virginia law firm that represents sellers in residential real estate sales. In this policy, "we," "us" and "our" mean the firm. Our office is at 2101 Libbie Lake East, Suite 145, Richmond, Virginia 23230. You can reach us at jennifer@sessomslawva.com or (804) 845-5962.

What we collect

Seller Information Portal (client.html)

If you are a seller, the form may ask for:

• Your name, phone, email, mailing address and forwarding address.
• Marital status, whether you are going through a divorce, U.S. citizenship, Virginia residency, and the name on your government ID.
• Your Social Security number, or for an entity seller, its EIN and the person signing for it.
• The same details for a second seller or co-owner, if there is one.
• The property address and type, and whether it is your primary residence.
• Your mortgage and HELOC lenders, loan numbers and lender phone numbers.
• HOA or condo association details.
• Whether there are known defects, liens, judgments, unpaid taxes, tenants, an estate or trust, or a past bankruptcy, plus any comments you add.

Realtor Submission Portal (realtor.html)

If you are a real estate agent, the form asks for:

• Your name, email, phone and brokerage.
• The seller's name, email and phone.
• The property address, sales price, ratification date and target closing date.
• The buyer's agent and the settlement agent.
• The commissions and broker or transaction fee the seller agreed to pay.
• Any notes you add.

Seller Net Sheet calculator (net-sheet.html)

Nothing you type into the calculator is sent to us or stored by us. It runs entirely in your browser and is gone when you close the page. If you pick a locality, its name appears at the end of the page's web address (for example, #henrico), which only your browser sees.

Information collected automatically

Like any website, our web host, Netlify, receives basic technical information when you visit. That includes your IP address, browser type, the pages you request and the time. We do not use advertising cookies or tracking cookies.

How the forms protect your information

When you press submit on either intake form, your browser encrypts your answers using OpenPGP and our firm's public key, before anything leaves your device. Only our office holds the private key that can unlock it. The encrypted message is then sent to Netlify, which stores it and forwards a copy to our office email.

Three things are sent without encryption:

• The name of the form you used.
• A random submission number, so we can match your submission to any documents you email us.
• For the seller form only, the property address, so we can tell submissions apart. The seller's name and everything else stay encrypted.

Netlify and our email provider can see those three items. They cannot read anything else you submitted.

Documents you email to us

After you submit a form, you may get a button that opens your own email program so you can send us documents. Those emails are regular email. They are not encrypted by this website, and they pass through your email provider and ours. If you would rather not email a sensitive document, call us and we will arrange another way to get it.

How we use your information

We use what you submit to:

• Open your file and represent you in your sale.
• Prepare the deed and other closing documents.
• Order loan payoffs and HOA or condo account information.
• Check for title, tax and other issues that could affect closing.
• Review the settlement statement and coordinate with the settlement agent.
• Meet tax reporting and withholding rules, such as IRS Form 1099-S reporting and FIRPTA withholding for foreign sellers.
• Contact you and the other professionals working on the sale.

Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent or trade your information. We share it only with:

• People needed to close your sale. These include the settlement agent or title company, your mortgage and HELOC lenders, your HOA or condo association and its management company, the real estate agents involved, and title insurers. We share only what each one needs.
• Government offices. Your deed and any lien releases are recorded with the circuit court clerk, and recorded documents are public records. Sale information, including taxpayer ID numbers, goes to the IRS and tax authorities as the law requires.
• Service providers who host our website and email, such as Netlify and our email provider. They handle the encrypted submissions described above.
• Anyone else the law requires, such as in response to a court order, or as Virginia's Rules of Professional Conduct permit or require.

Confidentiality and the attorney-client relationship

Sending information through this website does not by itself make you our client. We represent you only after we agree to do so in writing. Even before then, we treat what you send as confidential, as Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct 1.6 and 1.18 require for clients and prospective clients. Please do not send information about a dispute or a matter we have not agreed to handle.

How long we keep it

• Once we have moved a submission into your client file, we delete it from Netlify.
• We keep client files, including your Social Security number, for as long as Virginia law and our professional duties require. In general, that is at least five years after the matter closes.
• After that, we securely destroy them.

Security

Besides the encryption described above, we limit access to client information to people at our firm who need it, and we use secure, password-protected systems. No method of sending or storing data is completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.

If there is a breach involving your personal information, we will notify you and any required authorities as Virginia law requires (Va. Code § 18.2-186.6).

Your choices

• You do not have to use the online forms. You can give us your information by phone or in person instead.
• You can ask to see or correct the information we hold about you.
• You can ask us to delete information we are not required to keep.

To make a request, contact us using the details below.

Children

This website is not meant for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Outside services this site uses

This site loads typefaces from Google Fonts, and its encryption code from public content networks (cdnjs and unpkg). Your browser contacts those services when a page loads, so they receive your IP address. They do not receive anything you type into our forms. Links to other websites, such as the Virginia Code, are covered by those websites' own privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and the effective date at the top.

Contact us

Jennifer Sessoms Law, PLLC
Jennifer Sessoms, Esq.
2101 Libbie Lake East, Suite 145, Richmond, Virginia 23230
2314 W Main St, Richmond, Virginia 23220
jennifer@sessomslawva.com · (804) 845-5962