Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Compact Cottages designs and builds small-footprint homes, cottages, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in Western North Carolina and the Durham area. We are a licensed North Carolina general contractor and a licensed North Carolina real estate brokerage, and we provide related services including land search assistance, financing referrals, site feasibility studies, and home design tools.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us and information collected automatically when you use our Sites.

Information you provide

• Contact and inquiry details you submit through our web forms, including your name, email address, phone number, and message.
• Project information you choose to share, such as whether you have land or need land, property address or location, desired home size, budget range, and financing plans.
• Subcontractor and vendor details submitted through our registration form, including name, company, contact information, and trade or service category.
• Transaction information if you purchase a product such as a site feasibility study, including payment details processed by our payment provider.
• Communications you send us by text message, email, web chat, or phone, and our responses.

Information collected automatically

• Device and usage data, such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed, referring pages, and timestamps.
• Cookies and similar technologies used to operate the Sites, remember preferences, protect against spam, and understand how the Sites are used.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your inquiries and provide the information, quotes, and services you request;
• Communicate with you about your project, scheduling, and coordination, including by text message where you have provided your number;
• Coordinate construction, subcontractor, and vendor activities;
• Process transactions for products you purchase;
• Operate, maintain, secure, and improve our Sites and services;
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.

4. SMS / Text Messaging

Compact Cottages uses two-way SMS text messaging to communicate with customers, prospective customers, subcontractors, and vendors about inquiries, scheduling, project coordination, and related operational matters.

How you consent

You opt in to receive text messages from Compact Cottages by providing your mobile number to us directly — for example, by submitting one of our web forms with the optional SMS-consent checkbox selected, by texting us first, or by giving us your number knowing we will text you. Consent to receive text messages is never required as a condition of purchasing any good or service.

Your authorization

By providing a mobile number, you represent that you are the subscriber or customary user of that number and are authorized to receive messages at it.

Message content and frequency

Messages are conversational and relate to your inquiry, your project, scheduling, and coordination. Message frequency varies depending on your interaction with us.

Rates

Message and data rates may apply, depending on your mobile carrier and plan.

Opting out

You can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message. After you reply STOP, we will send one confirmation message and will not send further texts unless you opt back in. For help, reply HELP or call us at (828) 254-5450.

No sharing of mobile data for marketing

Mobile information, text-messaging originator opt-in data, and consent are not shared with or sold to any third parties, affiliates, or lead generators for marketing or promotional purposes under any circumstances. This category of information is excluded from any sharing described elsewhere in this policy. Information may be shared only with service providers that help us operate our text-messaging program (such as our messaging platform provider), solely to deliver the messaging service and subject to confidentiality obligations.

Carrier liability

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing. We share information only in the limited circumstances below:

• Service providers. We use trusted vendors that process information on our behalf to operate our business and deliver the services you request — for example, website hosting, customer-relationship and forms management, telephony and text messaging, payment processing, file storage, and spam protection. These providers may use your information only to perform services for us and are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Between our companies. We may share information between Compact Cottages, LLC and Dirt and Sticks, Inc. as needed to provide the services you request.
• Professional and financing referrals you request. If you ask us to connect you with a lending partner or other professional, we share only the information needed to make that introduction, with your knowledge.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information where required by law, to respond to legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Compact Cottages, our customers, or others.
• Business transfers. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

Some U.S. state privacy laws define "sale" or "sharing" broadly enough to include certain uses of cookies, analytics, or advertising technologies. To the extent any such activity occurs through our Sites, you may opt out by adjusting your browser settings, using a recognized opt-out preference signal, or contacting us using the details below.

As stated in Section 4, mobile opt-in and SMS consent data are never included in any sharing and are never sold or shared with third parties for marketing.

6. Cookies and Analytics

Our Sites use cookies and similar technologies to function properly, remember your preferences, guard against spam (including reCAPTCHA), and help us understand site usage. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect how the Sites work.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal information for as long as needed to provide our services, communicate with you, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it.

8. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot and do not guarantee absolute security. You transmit information to us at your own risk, and you are responsible for information you send over unsecured channels.

9. Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide and for ensuring you are authorized to provide any phone number, email address, or other contact details you submit. Submitting an inquiry, form, or message does not create any contractual, agency, fiduciary, or professional-services relationship between you and Compact Cottages; any such relationship arises only under a separate written agreement.

10. Your Choices and Rights

You may:

• Request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information we hold about you;
• Opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP;
• Unsubscribe from emails using the link in those emails or by contacting us.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under applicable privacy laws. To exercise any right, contact us using the details below. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Sites and services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, please contact us so we can remove it.

12. Third-Party Links

Our Sites may link to third-party tools and websites, such as our home-design configurator, land-listing portals, and financing partners. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third parties, and we encourage you to review their policies.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will be reflected on this page, and your continued use of our Sites or services after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

14. Contact Us