Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-05-15

Who we are

This Privacy Policy describes how Gated Rentals ("we", "us"), through its operating brand Willis Lakes located in Willis, Texas, collects and uses your personal information when you visit our websites, submit an application, schedule a tour, or live as a resident at our property.

Information we collect

You give us

• Identity — name, date of birth, Social Security number or ITIN, government-ID image, photograph.
• Contact — phone, email, mailing address, emergency contact.
• Household — co-applicants, occupants, pets, vehicles.
• Financial — employer, income, pay-stubs, bank account/routing for ACH, card details (handled directly by our payment processor — see below).
• Tenancy — rental history, references, current address, reason for move.
• Messages — texts, emails, voicemails, and notes from your conversations with our property management.

We collect automatically

• Device and browser — IP address, browser type, OS, referrer, pages viewed, timestamps.
• Form interactions — which fields you completed, which you abandoned, on which device.
• Cookies and similar — session cookies and a privacy-friendly visit-analytics cookie. We do not use cross-site tracking cookies.

From third parties

• Identity verification (Plaid) — when you complete identity verification through our application, Plaid returns matched identity, document checks, and selfie-match results.
• Income verification (Plaid) — when you link a bank or payroll account, Plaid returns income summaries, transaction history relevant to income, and balance signals.
• Tenant screening (Kredifi) — credit report, criminal records check, eviction history, and a screening recommendation.
• Payment processing (Authorize.Net) — card and ACH transaction status, returns, chargebacks. We do not store full card numbers ourselves.

How we use your information

• Evaluate your application, including ordering screening reports and verifying identity and income.
• Communicate with you about applications, tours, lease, move-in, maintenance, and payments.
• Process payments, refunds, and deposit accounting.
• Comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") adverse-action requirements, the Texas Property Code, anti-money-laundering, and other applicable law.
• Protect the security of our property, residents, staff, and systems.
• Improve our application flow and resident experience (in aggregate, not by re-identifying you).

How we share your information

We share only with parties that need it to operate, and only for the purpose described:

• Screening vendors — Kredifi (background, credit, eviction) and Plaid (identity, income). They use your data per their own privacy policies and only as service providers to us.
• Payment processor — Authorize.Net (a Visa company) processes card and ACH transactions.
• Communication providers — Microsoft (email and Microsoft 365), Azure Communication Services (SMS and voice), Cloudflare (web infrastructure and access control).
• Public records and disclosure — when required by valid legal process (subpoena, court order, government request) or to enforce our agreements.
• Successors — to a successor entity in connection with a merger, sale, or restructuring of the property, with notice.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your information with third parties for their own marketing.

How long we keep it

• Active applicants and residents — for the duration of your relationship with us plus 7 years for tax and Texas Property Code recordkeeping.
• Declined applications — at least 5 years for FCRA dispute and adverse-action records; longer if litigation reasonably probable.
• Background and credit reports — destroyed per FCRA and applicable disposal rules at the end of the retention period.
• SMS opt-in records — for at least the duration of consent plus 4 years.

How we protect it

• TLS encryption in transit on all forms and APIs.
• Encryption at rest on databases that hold identifiers and financial information.
• Role-based access — only authorized property staff and screening operators see your data.
• Multi-factor sign-in for staff systems.
• Audit logging on access to identifiers (SSN, ID images, bank/card).

Your choices and rights

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to fix inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion — ask us to delete data we are not legally required to retain.
• Opt-out of SMS — reply STOP to any text. See our SMS Terms & Opt-In.
• FCRA dispute — if we deny your application based on a screening report, we will send you a notice with the bureau's contact information and your right to a free copy of the report and to dispute it.

To make a request, email willislakes@gatedrentals.com with the subject "Privacy request" and your name and last 4 digits of your phone number on file. We will respond within 30 days.

Children

We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 except as part of an authorized adult applicant's household disclosure. If you believe a minor has provided information directly, contact us and we will delete it.

Texas residents

This Privacy Policy is written to comply with the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act ("TDPSA"). Texas residents have the right to confirm, access, correct, and delete personal data we process about them, and to opt-out of targeted advertising and the sale of personal data. We do not sell personal data and do not engage in targeted advertising; you may exercise the other rights using the contact method above.

Changes

We update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced on this page and, where appropriate, by email or SMS opt-in re-confirmation. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version.

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