Effective date: January, 2024

 

Short version

​We collect information reasonably necessary to respond to your enquiry, understand your restaurant or buyer requirements, prepare a business analysis or valuation, and perform restaurant-brokerage services.

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We do not sell the contact, business, financial, buyer, seller, or transaction information you provide to us. Information may be stored in the OC Restaurant Realty website back office and Restaurant Realty Company’s broker CRM and handled by service providers that help us operate the website, communicate with you, prepare documents, and administer brokerage activities.

 

If you are a restaurant owner considering a sale, the fact that you contacted us is treated as confidential business information.

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Who we are

This notice describes the privacy practices of:

OC Restaurant Realty
Michael Pauwels, DRE 02006864
Broker’s Agent with Restaurant Realty Company
Restaurant Realty Company, DRE 01210250

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Michael Pauwels/OC Restaurant Realty operates OCRestaurantRealty.com and is responsible for initial website enquiries.

Restaurant Realty Company is the responsible real estate broker and may receive, process, and retain information through its CRM, confidentiality, listing, transaction, and document-management systems.

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Scope of this notice

This notice applies to personal information collected through:

• OCRestaurantRealty.com;

• Buyer, seller, valuation, consultation, and listing-enquiry forms;

• Telephone calls and text messages;

• Email and email-marketing communications;

• Social-media enquiries and campaigns;

• Meetings and consultations;

• Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements;

• Buyer-qualification materials;

• Official brokerage and transaction documents; and

• Related restaurant-brokerage, valuation, analysis, and consulting activities.

This notice does not govern an external website or service merely because this site links or redirects to it. When you leave OCRestaurantRealty.com, the privacy practices of the other website or service may also apply.

Information we collect

Contact and enquiry information

Depending on why you contact us, we may collect:

• Your name;

• Email address;

• Telephone number;

• Preferred contact method;

• The contents of your enquiry;

• The restaurant, bar, hospitality business, geographic area, or listing in which you are interested;

• Buyer search requirements, operating experience, available capital, financing plans, and anticipated timing;

• Seller information such as business type, city and county, franchise status, annual-sales range, Seller’s Discretionary Earnings range, lease term, anticipated sale timing, and concerns about selling;

• Information provided for a restaurant analysis, consultation, valuation, or Broker Opinion of Value;

• Your email, telephone, and marketing preferences; and

• Other information you voluntarily provide.

You do not need to create a public account to submit an enquiry through OCRestaurantRealty.com.

Buyer and transaction information

If you request confidential listing information or proceed beyond an initial enquiry, we may also collect or receive:

• Listing numbers and acquisition preferences;

• Restaurant ownership or management experience;

• Buyer-screening and qualification information;

• Proof of funds or financing information;

• Signed confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements;

• Identification and signature information;

• Offers, counteroffers, listing agreements, disclosures, and escrow communications;

• Information needed for landlord, lender, franchisor, licensing, or other transaction approvals; and

• Communications and records relating to a proposed or completed transaction.

Seller, valuation, and business information

If you request a business analysis or valuation or engage us regarding a possible sale, we may collect:

• Business identity and location;

• Ownership and contact information;

• Sales, expenses, Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, and other financial information;

• Tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, POS reports, payroll information, bank or merchant-processing statements, and related supporting records;

• Lease terms, rent information, options, assignment provisions, and landlord information;

• Liquor-license, permit, franchise, equipment, and operational information;

• Proposed sale timing and reasons for seeking an analysis;

• Listing, marketing, offer, due-diligence, and escrow information; and

• Other information reasonably necessary to evaluate, market, or complete a restaurant-business transaction.

Please do not submit Social Security numbers, bank-account passwords, payment-card security codes, or other unnecessary sensitive information through a general website form. Sensitive documents should be transmitted only through the secure method provided by the broker.

Website and device information

When you visit the site, our website platform and analytics or advertising providers may automatically collect:

• Internet Protocol address;

• Approximate location derived from an IP address;

• Browser, device, and operating-system information;

• Cookie and similar online identifiers;

• Referring pages or websites;

• Pages viewed;

• Links selected and other site interactions;

• Advertising or campaign interaction information; and

• Date, time, and approximate duration of a visit.

How information enters our systems

Information submitted through an OCRestaurantRealty.com form is automatically stored in the OC Restaurant Realty website back office and added to Restaurant Realty Company’s Vertica CRM.

When a buyer requests confidential listing information, the buyer may be redirected to RestaurantRealty.com to complete the required confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement.

Official brokerage and transaction documents are generally administered through DocuSign or another secure method specifically provided for the transaction.

Information provided on RestaurantRealty.com or directly to another provider is also subject to that organization’s privacy practices and terms.

Why we use information

We may use personal information to:

• Respond to your enquiry;

• Contact you by telephone, text message, or email about the enquiry you submitted;

• Understand a buyer’s search requirements;

• Identify potentially relevant listings;

• Evaluate buyer experience and financial qualifications;

• Administer confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements;

• Prepare a restaurant analysis, valuation, or Broker Opinion of Value;

• Evaluate a possible restaurant sale, acquisition, lease, or related transaction;

• Prepare listings and confidential marketing materials;

• Coordinate broker-controlled meetings, inspections, and tours;

• Prepare, transmit, and administer official documents;

• Communicate with authorized transaction participants;

• Provide restaurant-brokerage, valuation, analysis, and consulting services;

• Send requested listing updates, newsletters, or restaurant-market information;

• Operate, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the website;

• Measure website use and marketing performance;

• Prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents;

• Maintain professional and transaction records; and

• Comply with licensing, regulatory, legal, and contractual obligations.

We will not use personal information for a materially different purpose without providing any notice or consent required by applicable law.

Contact consent and marketing communications

Submitting an enquiry authorizes us to respond through the contact methods you provide.

When a form includes a consent choice, selecting that choice authorizes the telephone, text, or email communications described next to it.

You may withdraw consent to optional marketing communications at any time by:

• Selecting the unsubscribe link in an email;

• Replying STOP to a text message when that functionality is available;

• Replying to a message and asking us to stop; or

• Emailing michael@restaurantrealty.com.

Withdrawing optional marketing consent does not prevent communications reasonably necessary to:

• Answer an active enquiry;

• Provide requested listing or valuation information;

• Perform a signed agreement;

• Administer a proposed or active transaction;

• Protect legal rights; or

• Comply with licensing and record-retention requirements.

Withdrawing consent does not alter anything already agreed to in a signed engagement, listing, confidentiality, purchase, or other transaction document.

When information may be disclosed

We do not sell the contact, business, financial, buyer, seller, or transaction information you intentionally provide to us.

We also do not provide that information to unrelated third parties for their independent direct-marketing purposes.

We may disclose information to the following categories of recipients when reasonably necessary:

Restaurant Realty Company

Restaurant Realty Company may receive information as the responsible broker and as a provider of:

• Brokerage supervision;

• Vertica CRM services;

• Listings and buyer resources;

• Confidentiality and qualification processes;

• Transaction support;

• Broker record keeping; and

• Other systems used to administer brokerage activities.

Technology and operational providers

Information may be processed by providers that help us operate the practice, including:

• Wix, for website hosting, forms, the website back office, social-media publishing, and email campaigns;

• Google, for professional domain and business-email services and website analytics;

• Vertica CRM, for broker lead and customer-relationship management;

• DocuSign, for official electronic signatures and documents;

• United States telephone and wireless carriers, for calls and text messages;

• Meta, for social-media services, advertising measurement, and the Meta Pixel;

• Statcounter, for website analytics and visitor statistics; and

• Other security, storage, communications, or professional-service providers reasonably necessary to operate the practice.

These providers may process information according to their service agreements, configurations, and privacy terms.

Transaction participants

Once you are engaged with us or authorize a transaction-related disclosure, information may be provided to:

• Buyers and sellers;

• Escrow holders;

• Landlords and property managers;

• Lenders and financing sources;

• Franchisors;

• Attorneys and accountants;

• Inspectors and contractors;

• Cooperating brokers and agents;

• Government and licensing authorities;

• Health departments;

• Liquor-license authorities; and

• Other parties reasonably necessary to evaluate or complete a proposed transaction.

Only information reasonably relevant to the recipient’s role should be disclosed.

Legal and regulatory recipients

Information may be disclosed to government agencies, regulators, courts, law enforcement, insurers, or professional advisers when reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation;

• Respond to a subpoena or lawful request;

• Protect legal rights;

• Investigate suspected fraud or misuse;

• Enforce an agreement; or

• Address a safety or security issue.

Confidentiality of a possible restaurant sale

If you are a restaurant owner considering a sale, the fact that you contacted us is itself treated as confidential business information.

We do not notify your employees, customers, suppliers, or landlord merely because you requested information, a consultation, or an analysis. We do not publicly identify your restaurant as being for sale without authorization.

If you engage us to market or sell the business:

• Public advertising may be structured as a blind or confidential listing;

• The business name, exact address, and identifying details may be withheld from public marketing;

• Prospective buyers are directed to RestaurantRealty.com to complete the required confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement;

• Identifying information is ordinarily provided only after completion of the required agreement and buyer screening;

• Proof of funds or other qualification information may be required before a complete buyer package or confidential walkthrough is provided;

• Tours and communications are coordinated through the broker; and

• Information may be disclosed to landlords, lenders, escrow, franchisors, licensing authorities, cooperating brokers, or other transaction participants when authorized or reasonably necessary to pursue the transaction.

Confidentiality remains subject to signed agreements, lawful client instructions, required disclosures, subpoenas, regulatory obligations, and other applicable law.

How long we retain information

Enquiries that do not become transactions

Contact information and records relating to an enquiry that does not result in an engagement or transaction are generally retained for up to 24 months after the last substantive communication.

Information may be deleted or deidentified earlier when it is clearly no longer relevant. It may be retained longer when reasonably necessary to:

• Honor an ongoing request for listing updates;

• Document consent or an unsubscribe request;

• Address a complaint or dispute;

• Prevent fraud or misuse; or

• Comply with another legal obligation.

Brokerage and transaction records

When an enquiry results in a listing, offer, escrow, lease, sale, or other activity for which a California real estate license is required, covered brokerage and transaction records are retained for at least the period required by California law.

California real estate brokers generally must retain covered transaction records for at least:

• Three years from the closing date, when a transaction closes; or

• Three years from the applicable listing date, when a listed transaction is not completed.

Records may be retained longer when required for an active dispute, legal hold, tax or accounting obligation, insurance matter, regulatory request, contract, or another legitimate legal need.

Marketing and unsubscribe records

Marketing information may be retained while you remain subscribed.

After you unsubscribe, we may retain limited suppression information—such as your email address, telephone number, and opt-out date—to prevent you from being added back to a marketing list unintentionally.

Cookies, analytics, and advertising technologies

OCRestaurantRealty.com uses technologies needed to operate the site as well as analytics and advertising-measurement technologies.

These may include:

• Wix website and form technologies;

• Google Analytics;

• Meta Pixel;

• Statcounter; and

• Related cookies, tags, pixels, and online identifiers.

These technologies may collect or receive:

• IP address;

• Cookie or device identifiers;

• Browser and device information;

• Referring website or campaign information;

• Pages viewed;

• Links selected; and

• Other interactions with the website.

We use this information to operate the site, understand general visitor activity, improve content, and measure marketing effectiveness.

Some analytics or advertising providers may recognize a browser or device across different websites or services according to their own technologies and privacy practices. This is separate from the contact, restaurant, financial, or transaction information you intentionally submit through a form.

You can usually block or delete cookies through your browser settings, although blocking necessary technologies may affect site functionality.

Because there is no single industry standard for responding to ordinary browser Do Not Track signals, the site does not currently respond uniformly to those signals.

Your privacy choices

You may ask us to:

• Confirm whether we maintain personal information associated with you;

• Provide access to information associated with you;

• Correct inaccurate contact information;

• Delete information that is no longer needed and is not subject to a legal retention requirement;

• Stop optional marketing emails or text messages; or

• Explain how particular information is being used or disclosed.

Send requests to:

michael@restaurantrealty.com

Use the subject line Privacy Request and describe the request clearly.

We may need to verify your identity before disclosing, correcting, or deleting information. We will use information supplied for verification only to evaluate and respond to the request.

A deletion request does not require us or Restaurant Realty Company to delete:

• Brokerage or transaction records that must be retained under California law;

• Signed agreements;

• Records needed to complete an active transaction;

• Unsubscribe or suppression records;

• Information required to investigate fraud or security incidents;

• Information subject to a legal hold; or

• Information needed to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

Although OC Restaurant Realty does not currently meet the applicability thresholds for the California Consumer Privacy Act, we offer the choices described above as part of our privacy practices. Applicability will be reevaluated if the business, data volume, or information practices materially change.

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures intended to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration.

No website, email service, telephone system, CRM, e-signature platform, or electronic-storage method is completely secure.

Do not send particularly sensitive financial or identification documents through a public website form or ordinary unencrypted email. Use the secure document or signature method provided for the particular transaction.

Information about minors

This website and its services are intended for adults seeking restaurant-brokerage, valuation, analysis, or consulting services. They are not directed to children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information through the site from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor submitted personal information, contact us so the information can be reviewed and deleted when appropriate.

Changes to this notice

We may revise this notice when our services, technologies, providers, legal obligations, or information practices change.

A revised notice will be posted on this page with a new effective or “last updated” date. If a change materially affects how previously collected personal information is used or disclosed, we will provide any additional notice or choice required by applicable law.

Contact

Questions, privacy requests, and concerns about this notice may be sent to:

OC Restaurant Realty
Michael Pauwels, DRE 02006864
Broker’s Agent with Restaurant Realty Company, DRE 01210250
Orange County, California
Email: michael@restaurantrealty.com

 

Revised form notices: September 2026

Seller valuation or analysis form

Privacy notice: The contact and restaurant information submitted through this form is stored in the OC Restaurant Realty website back office and automatically added to Restaurant Realty Company’s Vertica CRM. We use it to respond to your request, discuss or prepare a business analysis or valuation, and provide related brokerage services. We do not sell the contact, business, or financial information you submit. See our Privacy Notice for information about service providers, analytics, confidentiality, retention, and your choices.

Contact consent: By submitting this form, I request and agree that Michael Pauwels/OC Restaurant Realty and Restaurant Realty Company may contact me by phone, text, or email about my valuation, analysis, or seller enquiry. Message and data rates may apply. I may withdraw optional marketing consent at any time.

Buyer or listing-enquiry form

Privacy notice: The information submitted through this form is stored in the OC Restaurant Realty website back office and automatically added to Restaurant Realty Company’s Vertica CRM. We use it to respond to your enquiry, understand your buyer requirements, identify potentially relevant listings, and administer buyer screening and confidentiality requirements. We do not sell the contact or qualification information you submit. Confidentiality agreements are completed after redirecting to RestaurantRealty.com. See our Privacy Notice for additional information.

Contact consent: By submitting this form, I request and agree that Michael Pauwels/OC Restaurant Realty and Restaurant Realty Company may contact me by phone, text, or email about my listing enquiry or restaurant search. Message and data rates may apply. I may withdraw optional marketing consent at any time.

Separate optional email-marketing choice

☐ Send me new-listing announcements and restaurant-market emails. I understand that my information will be maintained in the applicable email and CRM systems and that I may unsubscribe at any time.This marketing choice should be separate from the consent needed to respond to a specific buyer, seller, or valuation enquiry.

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