Consumer Action Non-Profit Org. 1170 Market Street, Suite 500 U.S. Postage San Francisco, CA 94102 PAID San Francisco, CA CONSUMER Permit # 10402 ACTION Change Service Requested NEWS www.consumer-action.org • Winter 2016-2017 Language Access Report Meeting the needs of Advocates work to tear limited English speakers down language barriers By Monica Steinisch that put their homes at risk of fore- By Ruth Susswein insult to injury, their monthly closure because the borrowers didn’t mortgage payment was about to rise here are approximately 26 understand they might be eligible etting a mortgage is chal- from $1,983 a month to $3,350. It million people in the U.S. for a loan modification. During the lenging enough without turned out that their “friend,” the who speak limited Eng- recent foreclosure crisis, some LEP the language barriers that Spanish-English interpreter for the Tlish—16 million of them speak Gfurther disadvantage borrowers with borrowers paid thousands to scam- mortgage documents, did not act in Spanish as their first language. mers for foreclosure prevention help limited English skills. Most borrow- the couple’s best interest. While language barriers may not ers blanch when faced with a variety that never materialized. Unfortunately many homeown- always hinder limited English profi- of loan offerings and reams of clos- Consumer Action, as part of the ers have to rely on friends, family, cient (LEP) consumers as they carry ing paperwork, but consumers with coalition Americans for Financial sometimes even children to inter- out the routine tasks of daily life, limited English proficiency (LEP) Reform (AFR), has called on the pret important documents when a lack of English fluency can make may be more easily led into traps by Consumer Financial Protection dealing with lenders and servicers. navigating the financial services unscrupulous lenders. Bureau (CFPB) and other federal In some cases they have missed marketplace difficult and even risky. agencies to adopt strong language Advocates who assist these con- out on mortgage modifications—a sumers say that a lack of access to The problem access protection for homeowners restructuring of the loan terms to and other financial services consum- documents and assistance in the make the monthly payment more One in five U.S. residents speak ers (bit.ly/2huhZ3p). Consumer language they are most comfortable affordable for those struggling to a language other than English at Action translated the related press with has left some borrowers with save their homes from foreclosure— home, yet the financial services mar- release into five languages. predatory home loans and blocked because they couldn’t understand ket still caters primarily to fluent from the opportunity to modify The coalition’s issue brief outlines English-only instructions. English speakers. loans when they have trouble mak- the drawbacks and dangers of an Consumer advocates across the While many companies market ing payments. English-centric financial market- country have found that even when their products and services to LEP place. These include making it more After 10 years of timely payments, LEP consumers request oral or consumers in their native languages, difficult for LEP consumers to make Mr. and Mrs. A, Spanish-speaking written translation services, most subsequent documents and account well-informed decisions about the borrowers from New York, learned lenders and mortgage servicers do servicing communications usually products and services marketed that their fixed-rate mortgage was not provide them. are provided only in English. This in fact an interest-only loan, and to them, and making them more Mr. & Mrs. A’s vulnerability can pose problems, in particular for despite 10 years of payments, they vulnerable to fraud and predatory might have been avoided had their homebuyers. Advocates point to owed the same amount they had lending. mortgage documents been available cases where homeowners belatedly borrowed a decade earlier. To add discovered costly mortgage terms “Meeting needs” continues on page 4 “Barriers” continues on page 4 in the language in which they are up front that failure to do so was most fluent also matters because limiting their customer base.” As for Reaching U.S. consumers the fundamentals of sound financial government agencies, McEldowney decision-making sometimes vary de- added that language access “should who don’t speak English pending on one’s country of origin. be a requirement.” By Lauren Hall free, easy-to-read surveys, guides According to Consumer Action’s To foster language access in the and fact sheets in Chinese, Spanish, Joe Ridout, who does media and public sector, Consumer Action ultilingual consumer Korean and Vietnamese (as well as consumer complaint handling in has partnered with a multitude of education distinguishes English). By the 1990s, its multilin- Spanish as well as English, “If you government agencies to provide Consumer Action from gual staff members were able to as- come from a country with a history cost-effective translations for pub- Mmost of its peers. The organization of hyperinflation, currency devalua- lications and outreach campaigns: sist consumers with their complaints serves limited-English-proficient in Spanish, Chinese and English via tions or bank failures, keeping your the Consumer Financial Protection (LEP) communities in at least five the organization’s phone and email money out of financial institutions Bureau (CFPB) on remittances languages and via multiple channels: hotlines. may have been a wise financial deci- and mortgages, the Federal Trade sion. Frequently withdrawing your Commission on identity theft, the through its trilingual complaint “We’re filling a very critical investments in the U.S., however, is Federal Reserve on home loans, hotline, in-language media, exten- need,” said Consumer Action’s San often an unwise decision.” mortgage payments and other finan- sive multilingual financial education Francisco office director, Kathy cial matters and the U.S. Dept. of materials and direct outreach to Li, who works closely with Asian- One of Consumer Action’s goals Housing and Urban Development immigrant communities. American consumers and organi- has been to educate both corpora- (HUD) on homeownership and In the 1980s, San Francisco-based zations. “Despite the increase in tions and government agencies on housing discrimination. Consumer Consumer Action began to see an LEP populations in the U.S., few the value in prioritizing language Action also took on Spanish transla- influx of low-income immigrants, government agencies, corporations access materials for underserved tion services for the Securities Inves- changing the face of the average or community-based non-profits populations. tor Protection Corporation website. California consumer. Many of these provide language access. They argue Consumer Action Executive LEP immigrants were unfamiliar that multilingual staff and talented Director Ken McEldowney summed Consumer Action also reaches with the U.S. financial market- translators can be costly and hard to up the organization’s strategy: consumers with limited English place, making them easy prey for come by. While it is a challenge, we “While our early efforts emphasized proficiency through in-language scammers and predatory lenders. have been able to fill that informa- to companies that providing such media and community outreach. Consumer Action began to provide tion vacuum.” access was the ‘right thing to do,’ we Ridout, who is consumer services financially isolated consumers with Reaching out to LEP consumers quickly found more success stating “Reaching” continues on page 2 considered discrimination if LEP gage industry members to meet LEP Consumer Action consumers’ access to housing is borrowers’ needs. www.consumer-action.org What’s in restricted based on limited English Consumer Action has been a skills. Debt collection champion of underrepresented The Consumer Financial Protec- The CFPB is expected to issue consumers nationwide since 1971. the works? tion Bureau (CFPB) is expected to new debt collection rules in 2017. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, By Ruth Susswein It’s considering whether to mandate Consumer Action focuses on examine companies’ mortgage lend- ing and servicing practices to ensure that debt collectors provide two re- financial education that empowers n estimated 26 million low- and moderate-income that discrimination—intended or quired notices—the debt validation and limited-English-speaking people in the U.S. speak unintended—is not part of the notice and the statement of debtors’ consumers to financially prosper. limited English, and some home-loan process. rights—automatically in Spanish Aface serious challenges in managing By providing financial education The Federal Housing Finance and English, or in multiple lan- materials in multiple languages, important financial transactions in guages upon request or knowledge English. Agency (FHFA) plans to direct a free national hotline and mortgage backers Fannie Mae and of the debtor’s language preference. ongoing financial services To help address the needs of this Consumer advocates recommend research, Consumer Action helps Freddie Mac to find new ways to growing population, federal regu- help consumers with limited Eng- that the Bureau mandate both consumers assert their rights lators are beginning to turn their options when collectors communi- in the marketplace and make lish get access to mortgages. As part financially savvy choices. attention