Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts
Disclosing information
I have an agreement with a confidentiality clause in it. I need to send the document to a mortgage company to prove income. Would this compromise my agreement? The document is a termination of partnership agreement that includes the sale of stocks. The mortgage company would like to use it as a proof of income. Is the mortgage company bound to keep the information I send them confidential?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Disclosing information
The mortgage company has no boundaries.
What I would suggest is to ask the folks with whom the agreement was made to allow you to present it to the mortgage company. In the alternative, maybe another bare-bones agreement can be developed as a substitute for this purpose only
Re: Disclosing information
There are restrictions on the disclosure of financial information under pertinent federal laws. The mortgage company should have a privacy policy which reflects their obligations. If they propose to share information with others, they have an obligation to let you know, and to allow you to opt out (to the extent such sharing is not automatically allowed by pertinent law.)
However, I would suggest that you edit out as much of the confidential information as possible -- much of it may not be relevant to obtaining financing. You may wish to run the confidentiality provisions by an attorney before disclosing, even subject to confidentiality. Of course, any confidential information shared with others should be marked "confidential" and you should obtain a promise of confidentiality before sharing it. It is likely that a mortgage broker (as opposed to a mortgage lender) will need to further share the information with its underwriters.
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