At one of our sister banks, which has a significant population of hispanic people, both English speaking and not, they are recieving pressure to provide both loan documentation and new account documentation in Spanish. This would put a tremendous burden on the bank, as there is only one or two Spanish speaking employees. Who knows what these documents really say?

I'm basically looking for a discussion here, but is there ever a point, at which time, providing documents in Spanish would be required?

At the risk of starting a political debate, my thoughts are, this is America and we speak English. Love us or leave us. To my knowledge, my state has never passed an "English as the official language" law. The bank does want to meet the needs of their community, however. Thus this post. Anyone have any thoughts?

Thank you,

Deb

From my knowledge there isn't a law or Reg that requires such documentation to be written in any other language other than Enligsh....

"This is America love us or leave us"....what a statement...

Where is your "MARKETING" and "CUSTOMER RETENTION" mentality?

If you are saying that the majority of your clientele at a particular branch is spanish speaking...that means that you need to reevaluate your customer service approach...


If I as a customer feel more comfortable in making a business decision with documents drafted on Spanish and your bank does not offer me that service.. I would go to the bank accross the street in order for me to get the service I deserve....

I know that initially this will create more work, but, bottom line this additional service will promote more new customers and add more $$$$$ to your bottom line....

This is simply my own opinion...

I think the key is that you've got to have expertise on your staff to be able to support having disclosure and other documents in Spanish. If you don't have someone on staff who is fluent in speaking, reading and writing Spanish, then you can get in some real messes.

Thanks guys, appreciate you getting involved and expressing your personal opinions. Just to clarify, its not a branch, just a sister bank, and a very, small minority is asking. In fact in may have only been one person, I'm not sure.

This morning, when this loan officer asked me this question, my knee jerk reaction to him was, "anything that better helps us meet the financial needs of the community, is required." We were pretty sure there was no law, thus not legally required, but it was an interesting conversation topic, none the less.

Its not so much the extra 'work', its the extra liability for error, because as Leslie says, you need someone who is fluent in speaking, reading and writing the language. And it would take more than just one person who is fluent. Someone has to verify and proof docs, not to mention compliance review.

I totally agree that if I lived in Wyoming, USA, and I didn't speak English and a bank across the street offered docs in Spanish, I'd check it out. That's called free enterprise. But is it economically feasible, considering what it would take to hire at least 2 competent interpreters? I don't know. Probably not in the community we are talking about. It might be here in Laramie.

I'm sorry about spouting my personal beliefs regarding the English language. I AM of the opinion that we need such a law, for which I don't apologize, but that's a whole other thread topic. What I said does sound better when quoted in its entirety though!

Thanks again and any other opinions and/or experiences would be helpful.

Deb

I think while Customer Service and Marketing are important, the critical thing is the precedent you set - Are you going to provide some documents in SPanish, or all? If not all, why not? Will you have employees who can review these Spanish documents with the customer and thoroughly explain them? Who will approve these Spanish documents?
What happens when a customer requests documents in German, etc - I know that might be farfetched, but some things to think about.

Just to expand on TexTrainer's comments. If your institution begins providing some documents in Spanish, I would think that there is almost an obligation to offer all documents in that same language. If you originate a loan and offer the loan documents in Spanish, I would think that all your loan servicing documentation (monthly billing statements, escrow notices, legal notices, late notices, delinquency & foreclosure notices, etc.) must be offered in that language. Is it ethical to provide a borrower loan documents in a language they understand but then send them a billing statement or foreclosure notice in a different language that they cannot understand? If this same borrower sends you correspondence in Spanish, do you have qualified employees who can read and respond to the correspondence in Spanish?

This is one reason the business I work for has hesitated from offering loans negotiated/originated in Spanish. We do not currently have the resources to have all loan servicing, notices, correspondence, etc. converted to in Spanish and to totally "service" that loan in Spanish.

I believe that California has passed a law that requires lenders who negotiate a loan in any one of 5 languages (spanish, mandarin, vietnamese, tagalog & one other language I cannot remember) to offer all loan origination documents in that same language.

If you originate loans or offer products in non-English languages, are you prepared to service those products in those same languages?

I'm not certain of all the legal requirements, however, an institution that is not prepared to provide a-z servicing in that same language may be opening themselves up to litigation risk.