The Bear Group
Privacy Policy
Bear Company, LLC, doing business as The Bear Group ("The Bear Group," "we," "us," or "our"), provides commercial financing and capital-advisory services. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information through the website on which this Policy appears (the "Site"), inquiries initiated from the Site, and related business communications.
1. Scope
This Policy applies to personal information about identifiable individuals, including website visitors and the representatives, owners, sponsors, guarantors, referral sources, and other individuals connected with a prospective or actual business transaction. It does not govern the independent privacy practices of lenders, investors, capital providers, telecommunications carriers, or other third parties that we do not control.
A separate engagement agreement, nondisclosure agreement, lender notice, consumer-financial privacy notice, or other transaction document may apply to particular information. Subject to applicable law, if a separate notice or agreement conflicts with this Policy, that document controls for the information and relationship within its stated scope.
2. Information we collect or receive
Depending on how you interact with us and the services you request, we may collect or receive the following categories of information:
| Category | Examples | Typical sources |
|---|---|---|
| Contact and identity information | Name, company, title, business email, telephone number, mailing address, and other identifiers you provide. | You, your authorized representatives, referral sources, transaction participants, and lawful business or public sources. |
| Financing and transaction information | Financing purpose and amount, property or business details, location, timing, existing debt, ownership, sources and uses, proposed structure, and transaction correspondence. | You, your authorized representatives, referral sources, professional advisers, capital sources, and public records. |
| Diligence and financial information | When reasonably necessary after an initial inquiry: financial statements, tax and banking information, assets, liabilities, income, insurance, credit-related information, ownership records, and identity-verification documents. | You, an authorized person, transaction professionals, capital sources, and—only with appropriate authorization or another lawful basis—consumer-reporting or verification services. |
| Communications | Emails, texts, call or meeting notes, attachments, requests, preferences, and records of our responses. | You, other communication participants, and the providers used to deliver or store communications. |
| Professional and relationship information | Business role, professional affiliations, referral relationship, areas of interest, and public business or property information. | You, referral partners, professional-networking or business-information sources, public records, and other lawful sources. |
| Device and website information | Internet Protocol address, browser and device type, requested pages, referring page, date and time, general location derived from an IP address, and security or diagnostic logs. | Your device and our website hosting, access-control, and security providers. |
Please provide personal information about another person only when you are authorized to do so and have given any notice or obtained any consent required by law.
3. How the financing-brief form works
When you select “Send my financing brief,” the contact and transaction information entered in the form is transmitted to HubSpot, our third-party form and customer-relationship-management provider. HubSpot processes the submission under its own terms and privacy practices and makes it available to The Bear Group for follow-up.
The submitted information may include your name, company, email address, telephone number, financing type, approximate amount, and the details you choose to provide. We may retain the submission in HubSpot and in related notification emails or business records under this Policy. The Site does not ask you to upload documents through this form.
Sending an inquiry authorizes us to respond about that inquiry. It does not enroll you in automated or recurring marketing messages or provide consent to a credit inquiry, call recording, lender submission, or any other activity that requires separate authorization.
4. How we use information
We may use personal information to:
- respond to inquiries and communicate about requested services;
- evaluate whether an opportunity fits our services and request additional information;
- analyze, structure, package, and help pursue a financing or capital request;
- identify and communicate with appropriate lenders, investors, capital providers, and transaction participants when authorized or reasonably necessary to perform requested services;
- manage contacts, opportunities, follow-up, and records in our business and customer-relationship-management systems;
- operate, maintain, troubleshoot, protect, and improve the Site and our communications;
- prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, and unlawful activity;
- comply with legal, regulatory, contractual, audit, and recordkeeping obligations;
- establish, exercise, or defend legal claims and enforce our agreements; and
- conduct lawful business development using business contact information, subject to applicable communication preferences and opt-out rights.
We do not make a lender’s credit decision or initiate a hard credit inquiry solely because you visit the Site or send an inquiry. Lenders and capital providers make their own credit or investment decisions. Any authorization required to obtain or use a consumer report will be obtained separately; this Policy is not authorization to obtain a consumer report. Any lender-submission authorization, engagement, or other required consent will also be obtained separately.
5. When we disclose information
We may disclose relevant personal information to the following categories of recipients for the purposes described in this Policy:
- Financing and transaction parties. At your direction or as reasonably necessary to pursue services you request, prospective or actual lenders, investors, capital providers, brokers, servicers, insurers, appraisers, title or escrow providers, attorneys, accountants, consultants, and other transaction participants.
- Service providers. Providers that support website hosting, form delivery, email and other communications, customer-relationship management, cloud storage, secure file exchange, information technology, cybersecurity, document management, and recordkeeping.
- Professional advisers. Attorneys, accountants, auditors, insurers, and other advisers when reasonably necessary to operate, protect, or evaluate our business.
- Legal and safety recipients. Courts, regulators, law enforcement, government agencies, counterparties, or others when we reasonably believe disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, safety, systems, property, or the integrity of a transaction.
- Business-transition recipients. Parties involved in evaluating or completing a merger, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, acquisition, or similar transaction, subject to appropriate safeguards.
- Other recipients you direct or authorize. A person or entity you ask us to contact or to whom you authorize disclosure.
We do not submit information to a capital source merely because you visit the Site or prepare a draft message. Capital sources and other transaction participants may independently determine how they process information and may provide their own privacy notices.
6. Sale, advertising, cookies, and tracking
We do not sell contact lists or personal information to data brokers, and we do not intentionally provide personal information to unaffiliated third parties for their independent marketing or for cross-context behavioral advertising. Disclosures made to evaluate or pursue financing are made in connection with services requested by a client and may occur in a transaction for which The Bear Group receives compensation under a separate agreement or disclosure.
As of the effective date, the Site code that we control does not intentionally deploy advertising pixels or advertising cookies. The embedded HubSpot form and our website hosting, access-control, and security providers may automatically receive routine technical information and may use cookies or similar technologies that are necessary to render the form, record submissions, prevent spam, deliver the Site, and protect their systems. We do not use that technical information to build profiles for behavioral advertising.
Because the Site does not currently conduct cross-site behavioral tracking or sell or share personal information for behavioral advertising, browser Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals do not change its present operation. We honor legally recognized opt-out preference signals where required. If our practices change, we will update this Policy and provide any notice, consent, or opt-out mechanism required by applicable law before using personal information in the new manner.
7. Email, telephone, and text communications
If you call, email, or initiate a text to us, we may send responsive, one-to-one communications about your inquiry, requested services, or an ongoing transaction. This interaction does not enroll you in automated or recurring promotional texts. Mobile information, including text-message opt-in data and consent if separately obtained, will not be sold or disclosed to unaffiliated third parties for their own marketing or promotional purposes. It may be disclosed to providers that help deliver communications on our behalf or as required by law.
You may ask us to stop promotional communications at any time by using an unsubscribe method provided in the message, replying STOP to a promotional text, or contacting us. We will honor requests to stop text messages as required by applicable law. After a text opt-out, we may use another appropriate channel regarding an active transaction, legal obligation, or security matter.
8. Sensitive financial information
Do not use the Site’s financing-brief tool, ordinary email, or SMS to send: Social Security numbers; passwords, PINs, or account credentials; complete bank, credit-card, or brokerage-account numbers; tax returns; government-identification documents; unredacted personal financial statements; wire instructions; or similarly sensitive information.
Contact us first so that an appropriate transmission method can be arranged or approved. We will not ask you to provide the password or PIN for a financial, email, or other online account. If sensitive information is received in connection with requested services, we may use and disclose it only as reasonably necessary for the transaction, to comply with law, to protect the parties and systems involved, or as otherwise authorized.
9. Retention and disposal
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to administer a prospective, pending, completed, declined, or withdrawn transaction; maintain business and relationship records; satisfy legal, regulatory, contractual, audit, and recordkeeping obligations; prevent fraud; resolve disputes; and establish or defend legal claims.
Retention periods vary based on the nature and sensitivity of the information, the status of the inquiry or transaction, the parties involved, and applicable requirements. When information is no longer required, we take reasonable measures to delete, de-identify, or securely dispose of it, subject to lawful backup, archival, legal-hold, and fraud-prevention practices.
10. Information security
We use administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to protect personal information, taking into account its nature and sensitivity. We also seek to limit access to people and providers that need the information for a permitted purpose. However, no website, device, transmission, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please contact us before transmitting sensitive information so that we can identify an appropriate transmission method.
11. Privacy rights and choices
Depending on where you reside and which law applies, you may have rights to request confirmation of whether we process your personal information; access or obtain a copy; correct inaccuracies; delete certain information; obtain portable data; opt out of certain sales, targeted advertising, or legally significant profiling; limit certain uses of sensitive information; withdraw consent; or appeal a denied request.
These rights are not absolute and may not apply to information handled in a commercial, employment, or other excluded context. We may need to verify your identity and authority, and we may retain or decline to disclose information when permitted or required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, contractual, recordkeeping, transaction, privilege, or claims-related reasons. Where required by law, we will provide an appeal process and will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.
To submit a request, email RJF@TheBearGroupLLC.com with “Privacy Request” in the subject line or call 727-589-5898. Describe the request and provide your state of residence. Do not include sensitive identity or financial documents in the initial request. An authorized agent may submit a request where permitted by law, but we may require proof of authority and direct identity verification.
12. Separate financial-privacy and transaction notices
This general Website Privacy Policy is not a credit authorization, lender-submission authorization, loan commitment, engagement agreement, or consent to automated marketing. Submitting an inquiry does not by itself establish an advisor-client, fiduciary, lender-borrower, or other professional relationship.
Certain consumer financial services or relationships may be subject to separate federal or state privacy notices, disclosures, consents, or information-security requirements. If a separate financial-privacy notice applies, it will be provided as required and will govern the information within its scope.
13. Children
The Site and our services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children through the Site. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, contact us so that we can review and address it as required by law.
14. Third-party services and links
Some providers, including HubSpot, which hosts and processes the financing-brief form and related customer-relationship-management records, process information on our behalf, while lenders, carriers, and other recipients may process information independently. This Policy describes our practices and does not govern an independent third party’s practices; however, we remain responsible for our own obligations concerning service providers as required by applicable law. The Site may also link to services or websites that we do not operate, and a link or business interaction does not mean that we control or endorse their practices.
15. United States operations
The Bear Group is based in Florida, and the Site and services are directed primarily to business activity in the United States. Personal information may be processed and stored in the United States by us and our providers. If you contact us from another country, its privacy laws may differ from those in your location.
16. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy to reflect changes in our practices, services, technology, or legal obligations. The “Effective and last updated” date identifies the current version. We will post the revised Policy on the Site and provide any additional notice or obtain any consent required by applicable law before applying a material change to previously collected personal information.
17. Contact us
Bear Company, LLC d/b/a The Bear Group
Attn: Privacy
Email: RJF@TheBearGroupLLC.com
Telephone: 727-589-5898
Florida, United States
This Policy describes our information practices and does not create contractual rights beyond applicable law or a separate written agreement.