Is it legal to require communication in English?

Is it legal to require communication in English? by Anonymous (GA) on June 21, 2012 @18:52

We are accidental landlords who rented to a seemingly very nice couple who do not speak English. Now, we are living a nightmare, and wondering if we can legally avoid renting to any family again which does not have at least one adult who can speak English in the house.

When the couple and their kids answered our ad and came to see the house, they brought their own interpreter, a friend from their community. They had no trouble asking questions, trying to negotiate discounts, complaining about the condition of the house, etc.

Fast forward 18 months later....

They've made a huge mess in the house requiring multiple repairs. I cannot communicate at all with the adults. I can communicate with the 15 yo and 9 yo children, but they cannot communicate needed language in their parents' language.

They can function as a family and communicate about food, etc., but when you need the kid to talk to the parent about "renter's insurance", etc. in the parent's language, the kids claim they "don't know how to translate that". Very convenient.

We are trying to schedule various workmen to fix problems and we cannot even set up simple appointments. The kids are irresponsible and keep changing things, and I'm not comfortable dealing with two kids on adult decisions in the first place. Now that the parents are in the house adn evidently don't give a crap about destroying it, they no longer attempt to communicate as they did when they first moved in.

Sorry for the rant. Is it legal for me to quietly reject any future tenant who otherwise qualifies but does not have an English speaking adult living in the home? I just don't have time for this, plus when it serves them, they seem to work the communications issue to their advantage. I feel played, and I resent it.

Can I get in trouble for just sending notices in English? Our lease says "all notices will be in writing". Can I quit trying to communicate on the phone, just start sending them written notices in English to comply, etc, and let them worry about translating and responding?

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Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by Anonymous on June 21, 2012 @19:28	[ Reply ]

You raise an interesting question. I believe you have a duty to yourself to make sure your tenants understand things. You don't say what language your tenants speak but let me guess it's mexican. If that's the case, call your local high school, which probably offers that language as part of the language requirements for graduation, and ask to speak with one of the Spanish teachers. Ask them if you could hire them to translate some notices etc for you. They may also know someone who might be interested in being hired and going with you to translate for you. Of course, it could be that this family speaks Tagalog or something, but your local h.s. is not likely to offer any classes in that language.

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by Anonymous on June 21, 2012 @19:43	[ Reply ]

Whether is is legal or not I will not rent to non-English speaking tenants. I will reject them for another known legal reason such as their FICO score or income or something else. I have interviewed some Spanish only speaking prospective tenants and for some reason they never did get to see the house in person. I wonder why?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by Jon on June 21, 2012 @19:56	[ Reply ]

I would reject them. If I cannot communicate with them, then how can we do business. The interpreter would have to live in the household with them. How did they read and sign the lease? Did the interpreter sign the lease too?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by original poster (GA) on June 21, 2012 @20:25	[ Reply ]

The family is Korean. When they contacted us about the house, and ultimately signed a lease, they brought their own interpreter who was a friend in the Korean community. We have not seen him since. We have no doubt that the family clearly understood the lease at the time they signed it. They had no problem getting their interpreter on site and communicating with us when they wanted to move in our house, get rent discounts, etc. Now that there is damage caused by neglect of tenant, communication is impossible. They are not trying now. I don't know any Korean interpreters in my area of Georgia. I shouldn't have to hire a professional translator at heaven knows what rate to simply make an appointment to have the sheetrock installers come over to fix the damage. Multiply by workers in five different trades. We have been advised to work through family's snotty niece, who sounds about twenty five. She keeps whining about how slow we are on repairs, and yet it's impossible to make appointments. Family insists on being home when we come to work. Plus, they have vicious dog in violation of lease that attacked me when I came over to let workers in and supervise work so we could simply get on with it. (I'm the "hot water heater" "dog attack" landlord in various threads) (yes, I know we rented to the wrong people) The dog is going, immediately. Renters may or may not go. They are on probation of sorts with us. They have always paid on time, and if dog leaves and no more damage, it is in our best interests to let them stay. One more wall busted, though, and they're out as far as I'm concerned. My question is for future. We greatly regret trying to work this family,a nd we want to know if we must rent to people who cannot communicate in English as a matter of law. If I chose to go to Korea and chose to sign a Korean contract with a landlord who clearly did not speak English, I would feel pretty stupid demanding after I was in the house that all communication suddenly take place in Korean, but that seems to be what is happening as a practical effect to us. I just don't want the next person screaming discrimination and suing me. I'm not sure landlording is for me. Thanks, K

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by MrDan (Georgia) on June 21, 2012 @22:49	[ Reply ]

People with limited English Proficiency or heavy accent are covered by the 'National Origin or Ancestory' protections of Fair Housing laws. An applicant can not be turned away because communication is a bit challenging. You are not expected to translate applications, rental agreements, or notices to meet the language needs of applicants or tenants. As to your problem, you can contact Korean churchs in your area for someone to act as tranlator for you or have some notices tranlated for you. I have actually had several lease signings done this way for Korean tenants. One of the Pastors who preformed services for our growing Korean community was the translator each time. The Pastor always provided someone for the tenant to contact that could explain any notices or answer questions. Has worked very well.

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by original poster (GA) on June 22, 2012 @08:37	[ Reply ]

I appreciate the good suggestions on how I can obtain translation services. To be honest, this is not what I am asking. I want to know if I can get into legal trouble if in future, I quietly reject any family that does not have at least one adult living in the home who speaks English well enough to communicate on legal matters, repairs, etc. Getting a translator at 3 am when the pipes have burst is just not reasonable for anyone. I was naive about how this would work. The kids in the home have not been competent translators as we thought they would be. I have been totally surprised that the kids can barely communicate with their own parents. I never imagined such a thing. Has anyone had any legal issues from such an unspoken policy? I have nothing against immigrants. I married one. He speaks Canadian :-). I just need to be able to communicate with at least one adult living in my rental home. Is it legal for me to begin sending written notices in English only of upcoming inspections and repairs, and leave it to them to get it translated at their leisure? Is it legal for me to require them to send repair requests to me in writing, in English? I know in California, I'd be violating the law. I'm in Georgia. Can anyone speak to federal law or Georgia law on this? Thanks, K

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by NY-LL on June 22, 2012 @09:55	[ Reply ]

The Fair Housing Act deals with issues of “Housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, or disability.” To discriminate based upon a language barrier would likely be a violation of the FHA based upon national origin. Although not certain, but because of cultural differences, there may be limited language to translate the lease issues into the Korean language. The Korean language is symbolic and the children may not know how to interpret or write the specific language to communicate to their parents. There are multiple language translators for the convenience of interpreting simple text. http://translate.google.com/ (hope that prints in Korean) lease agreement violation = 계약 위반을 임대 schedule appointment for work repair = 작업 수리 약속 일정

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English?

Re: Is it legal to require communication in English? by FL-LL on June 22, 2012 @15:33	[ Reply ]

Few years back I had a similar problem. There is a web site that we use for ESOL families at work (teacher), "Free Translation and Professional translation Services". In our situation, we were getting the "no speak english"... so I started putting everything in writing, their language and english. Funny one day I posted a letter on the door in both languages, next day they had no trouble communincating with my husband. It was a miracle!