--- title: "Data Retention Policy for Real Estate Website Leads" description: "Build a reviewed retention schedule for website inquiries, permission evidence, records, analytics, and legal holds. Define triggers and deletion proof." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/website-lead-retention-schedule-agent" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Services - Services - [AI systems](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-systems) - [Site build](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#site-build) - [Whole website fix](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#whole-website-fix) - [Content library with SEO](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#content-library) - [Working session](https://scalewithsearch.com/audit) - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Example scope](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#review-the-example-scope) - [Prices and terms](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prices-and-terms) - Industries - Real estate - [Real estate agents and teams](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - [Platforms, ownership, and IDX](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-platforms-ownership-idx) - [Search, content, and AI](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-search-content-ai) - [Inquiries, campaigns, and handoffs](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-inquiries-campaigns-handoffs) - [Buyer, seller, and local pages](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-buyer-seller-local-resources) - [Rules, privacy, and trust](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-rules-privacy-trust) - Browse by business - [Trades and home services](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-trades) - [Health, wellness, and animal care](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-practices) - [Law, finance, and IT](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-professional) - [Marketing and SEO agencies](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-agencies) - [Shops and manufacturers](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-manufacturing) - [Restaurants, shops, studios, and nonprofits](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-local-services) - Chiropractic practices - [Chiropractic and wellness practices](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-wellness-practices) - [Chiropractic and physical therapy clinics](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-physical-therapy-clinics) - [All industries](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/) - Resources - Free tools - [AI readiness check](https://scalewithsearch.com/check) - [Free tools](https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/) - [Free Starter Kit](https://scalewithsearch.com/kit/business-memory-starter-kit.zip) - Guides - [AI-native library](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-native) - [Industry intelligence](https://scalewithsearch.com/intelligence) - [Office job guides](https://scalewithsearch.com/guides/) - [Business memory](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) - [Agent governance](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-agent-governance-guide-small-business) - [Migration and ownership](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/leaving-vendor-ai-memory-guide) - Articles - [All articles](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/) - [What changed](https://scalewithsearch.com/changes/) - About - Evidence - [Proof](https://scalewithsearch.com/proof) - Scale With Search - [About](https://scalewithsearch.com/about) - [How it works](https://scalewithsearch.com/how-it-works) # Data retention policy: set a schedule for your website inquiries Separate unanswered inquiries, contact permissions, brokerage transaction records, and legal holds in your website's data retention policy. Give each record class a purpose, owner, clock-start event, approved period, and disposal procedure. Have your broker and attorney approve the schedule before anyone deletes records. The FTC recommends a written policy identifying what information to keep, how to protect it, its retention period, and secure disposal. Use that framework to organize your website's buyer and seller records. [FTC business guidance, checked 2026.10.14](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/protecting-personal-information-guide-business). This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm applicable laws, retention periods, exceptions, and preservation requirements with counsel. Scale With Search builds websites and AI systems. It does not provide compliance, consent, or legal services. The worksheets below are proposed operating records. Blank periods require approval; they are not permission to erase records or keep them indefinitely. ## Classify the inquiry before choosing its retention period Start with a seller valuation request and a buyer property question. Trace each through the systems your business uses. Ask the website contractor to identify any form database, delivery inbox, CRM, embedded listing service, export, and backup containing a copy. For each location, record the account owner, access permissions, deletion capability, and provider's documented limits. Mark an unverified location unresolved. Do not accept a dashboard label as proof that every copy has been identified. Use the following proposed classes. Add or remove rows to match your actual website. | Record class | What to identify | Retention decision to obtain | | --- | --- | --- | | Unconverted inquiry | Original question, reply details, page, submission time, and inquiry history | Approved purpose, closure event, retention period, and deletion method | | Active buyer or seller conversation | Current service request and relevant correspondence | Event that closes the request or transfers material into the brokerage record | | Contact-permission evidence | Approved disclosure version, recorded choice, timestamp, channel, and later changes | Evidence period and access rules approved by counsel | | Suppression record | Minimum identifier and restriction needed to prevent prohibited recontact | Approved fields, permitted use, review trigger, and disposition rule | | Brokerage transaction record | Documents classified by the responsible broker and counsel | Governing rule, required custodian, retention trigger, and period | | Privacy-request record | Request, response, decision, and supporting record | Applicable recordkeeping duty and restricted use | | Analytics and technical logs | Actual identifiers, events, storage locations, and configured expiry | Measurement purpose and each provider's separate retention controls | | Record under legal hold | Specifically identified material and affected copies | Counsel's preservation instruction, review owner, and written release process | Keep a reference between related classes. Avoid duplicating an entire buyer's history into every row. Ask the responsible reviewer which material belongs in each class. - [Colorado Privacy Act: check your real estate agent website](/articles/colorado-privacy-act-agent-website-check) ## Give every rule a clock and an authority Complete a schedule row for each class and storage location. Include these fields in the working document: | Schedule field | Decision to record | | --- | --- | | Purpose | The specific service, evidence, or legal reason for keeping these fields | | Authority | Dated legal source, approved business rationale, or counsel instruction | | Clock-start event | The defined event from which the approved period runs | | Period or criteria | Approved duration or a precise method for determining it | | Exceptions | Applicable hold, dispute, statutory duty, or unresolved classification | | Owner and access | Person approving disposition and people permitted to use the record | | Copies and vendors | Every identified destination, export, backup, and responsible provider | | End action and proof | Deletion, approved de-identification, or restricted preservation, with completion evidence | For an unused seller inquiry, propose a clear closure event for review. For example, use the documented end of the requested conversation. Ask counsel to approve the actual period that follows it. Specify which event can restart a clock. As a design recommendation, do not let an automated CRM edit count as a new buyer request. Preserve the original submission time separately from import and update times. For a record subject to multiple requirements, ask counsel to resolve the permitted treatment. Do not automatically apply the longest period to the entire contact profile. ## Use legal periods only for the records they cover California illustrates why separate classes matter. Its primary CCPA business definition concerns qualifying for-profit entities doing business in California and determining personal-information processing. The thresholds concern revenue, buying/selling/sharing information, or revenue from selling/sharing information. Related-entity provisions also need review. [CPPA applicability FAQ, checked 2026.10.14](https://cppa.ca.gov/faq.html). For the primary definition, the statute uses preceding-calendar-year revenue **in excess of** the adjusted amount. The current amount is **$26,625,000**, effective 2025.01.01. Another threshold concerns annually buying, selling, or sharing information of **100,000 or more** consumers or households. A third concerns deriving **50% or more** of annual revenue from selling or sharing consumers' information. [Civil Code § 1798.140(d)(1), CPRA-amended text operative 2023.01.01, printed page 54](https://cppa.ca.gov/regulations/pdf/prop24_text.pdf#page=13); [CPPA monetary adjustment, checked 2026.10.14](https://cppa.ca.gov/regulations/cpi_adjustment.html). Ask counsel to assess California resident coverage, entity relationships, exemptions, and your actual processing. Keep that finding separate from other states' requirements. For a covered business, California's Notice at Collection must state retention length by information category, or the criteria when a length cannot be specified. [11 CCR § 7012(e)(4), effective 2026.01.01; checked 2026.10.14](https://cppa.ca.gov/regulations/pdf/ccpa_statute_eff_20260101.pdf#page=26). Ask the builder to align counsel-approved public wording with the approved schedule. CCPA request-and-response records have their own rule: retain them for **at least 24 months**, with restricted uses. [11 CCR § 7101(a)–(e), effective 2026.01.01; checked 2026.10.14](https://cppa.ca.gov/regulations/pdf/ccpa_statute_eff_20260101.pdf#page=73). Do not copy that period into the ordinary seller-inquiry row. California's broker rule requires **three years** for specified transaction documents, including listings and trust records. It runs from closing, or the listing date if the transaction is not consummated. [Business and Professions Code § 10148(a), DRE's 2026 Real Estate Law, page 25; checked 2026.10.14](https://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/relaw/2026/relaw.pdf#page=25). Ask the broker to classify the material and counsel to review exceptions and other duties. Treat this as a California transaction-record example. Do not adopt it as the retention period for every website lead nationwide. ## Preserve permission and restriction evidence separately Before retiring an unconverted inquiry, have the reviewer decide what permission or suppression evidence remains necessary. Record the approved fields, reason, period, allowed use, and storage location. Propose a separate restriction record for preventing recontact. Have counsel approve its scope. Keep that record outside ordinary marketing selections and exports unless the approved purpose requires them. Consider a hypothetical buyer who requests property details but declines optional marketing. Specify separate expected results for the requested reply and the declined choice. Later, review the inquiry and restriction record against their own approved rules. If that buyer becomes a client, ask the broker which documents belong in the transaction file. Preserve the connection between records without treating every earlier tracking event as a transaction document. ## Check analytics retention and consent as separate settings Google Analytics says its retention setting affects explorations and funnel reports, while standard aggregated reports are unaffected. Its user-level reset option can restart retention with new activity. [Google Analytics retention documentation, checked 2026.10.14](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196?hl=en). Record the property, configured retention, reset setting, and any separate exports. Require each setting to match its approved purpose. Do not treat a GA4 setting as the deletion rule for your form database or CRM. Google's basic consent mode blocks Google tags until consent and sends no data when consent is denied. Advanced mode can send consent state and measurements without cookies while consent is denied. [Google consent mode documentation, checked 2026.10.14](https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/security/concepts/consent-mode). Have counsel approve the intended behavior. Ask the contractor to document the actual configuration and observed requests. Record retention and collection behavior separately; keep any uninspected vendor processing unresolved. ## Test disposition without risking a real inquiry Use synthetic buyer and seller records in an agreed test environment. Have the record owner approve the test cases. Simulate the approved timing rather than changing real customer records. | Test case | Evidence to request | | --- | --- | | Closed inquiry reaches its approved end date | Matching disposition result in every identified eligible location | | Active conversation remains in progress | Record retained under its approved rule | | Permission evidence has a different period | Evidence retained or removed according to its own approved schedule | | Suppressed contact appears in an import | Approved restriction survives and prevents selection for recontact | | Transaction record is linked to an inquiry | Broker-designated record remains available under the applicable rule | | Counsel has placed a hold | Routine disposition pauses for the identified material and copies | | Backup is restored | Approved procedure prevents disposed records from returning to ordinary use | | Vendor cannot confirm deletion | Result stays unresolved, with an owner and next action | As a proposed hold procedure, record its scope, instruction date, custodian, review date, and release authority. Require counsel's written release before routine disposition resumes. Do not let a CRM status change release it. Require a receipt naming each store inspected, action taken, date, reviewer, and remaining exception. Distinguish completed deletion from scheduled expiry or inaccessible storage. Retest the affected inquiry route with synthetic details after website changes. ## Bring approved requirements into the website brief The retention worksheet separates record classes, approved schedules, and vendor capabilities still unknown. Bring the approved website changes to [whole website fix: record retention changes](/for/real-estate). The whole website fix leaves ongoing operations outside its scope. [Published scope, checked 2026.10.14](https://scalewithsearch.com/work). - [Test the seller inquiry path on your real estate website](/articles/seller-inquiry-path-agent-website) - [Check your real estate website in 30 minutes](/articles/real-estate-website-audit) - [Own your real estate website: domain, hosting, editing, and leads](/articles/own-your-site) ## Related: Real estate - [Test the seller inquiry path on your real estate website](/articles/seller-inquiry-path-agent-website) - [Check your real estate website in 30 minutes](/articles/real-estate-website-audit) - [Own your real estate website: domain, hosting, editing, and leads](/articles/own-your-site) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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