Letter to CFPB urging focused outreach to LEP mortgage borrowers during COVID-19 and expanding language access in mortgage origination and servicing.
Letter urging OCC to encourage banks to provide greater language access as banks use more technology in banking services.
A letter signed by 36 consumer, civil rights, community, housing, and other public interest organizations asking FHFA to prioritize providing in-language resources on COVID-19 relief options and outreach so that borrowers with limited English proficiency will be able to understand their options and access the help they need to weather this unprecedented public health crisis.
AFR Language Access Task Force and partner organizations sent up a letter in support of legislation to restore the URLA language preference question.
On September 18, 2019, 43 organizations submitted a comment letter to the CFPB about the need for greater protections for Limited English Proficient (LEP) consumers in the debt collection process.
The clearinghouse is a valuable resource that will improve the homeownership experience for Limited English Proficient (LEP) borrowers by making available all in-language resources in one centralized place, including translated loan documents, glossaries, and other educational materials. The clearinghouse will be helpful to lenders, housing counselors, attorneys, and other advocates assisting LEP borrowers.
“FHFA made a great decision,” said Amanda Jackson, AFR’s Organizing and Outreach Manager. “Knowing homeowners’ preferred language will help Fannie, Freddie, and mortgage servicers better communicate with their customers and avoid unnecessary – and sometimes devastating – confusion.”
“The burden of interpreting financial services jargon and communicating with lenders and servicers should not rest solely on borrowers. . . . Expanding access to language services throughout the mortgage process would begin to equalize a system that currently undermines the ability of LEP borrowers to understand the complexities of their future homeownership prospects and to protect their home after purchasing it.”