Zero English skills - Landlord Forum thread 324485

Zero English skills by J (FL) on September 15, 2014 @19:57

Applicants are very interested in the house but speak maybe 100 words of English. Just trying to explain the application process to them was absolute torture.

If they qualify and I must rent to them, how do I survive? Who has been through this? Any tips? The children are only toddlers so their is no built in translator for the adults. Thanks.

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Re: Zero English skills by Bill on September 15, 2014 @20:40	[ Reply ]

This could work out or it likely would not. Many landlords will not rent to tenants that do not speak English because they can not understand the lease, notices or other communication. How will they call you and report serious maintenance problems? Do they even have a Social Security number or a Green Card? How will you know for sure what their real name is? These people could get behind in the rent, trash the place and then evaporate. I have found too, that applicants with poor English skills do not understand the concept of occupancy limits. You rent to 2 people and next thing you know there are 8 who are "just visiting." And, cars are parked all over the yard.

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Re: Zero English skills by Anonymous on September 15, 2014 @20:56	[ Reply ]

What are their FICO scores? You can eliminate them right away if they don't know their scores, or they don't know how to get them, or they don't have a score, say goodbye. This is the first thing I pre-screen any tenant with and if they don't meet my established standards I say goodbye.

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above post is me^

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Re: Zero English skills by CA/OR on September 15, 2014 @21:14	[ Reply ]

What language do they speak and is there a supportive community of like-speakers in the area? Your investment in time and trouble, coupled with their rent-ability, will factor into your decision of how far to take this. Being on the other side of the coin (world), I spoke but a poor tidbit of Korean and my korean LL spoke even less English (his oldest son was of some, but minimal, help in our dialogue) but a good Korean/Engrish dictionary helped tremendously and it turned out to be a great (sometimes comical - sometimes irritating) experience. If you can spare it -- have some faith & patients, provided the requisite "rentability" factors are in place.

Re: Zero English skills by MrDan (Georgia) on September 15, 2014 @22:09	[ Reply ]

As to the lease. If you belong to a Landlord Association, you can get your lease translated into different languages. Another source is if you have a nearby colledge. A language Teacher could do it for a fee, as so could an attorney. A friend or even a church could provide sources for communication with applicants. The local churchs in your area may be more than willing to help. I have not tried this, but one landlord I know has used the website www.babylon.com to translate are her notices into Spainish and Korean.

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Re: Zero English skills by Anonymous on September 15, 2014 @22:47	[ Reply ]

What language they speak is not your concern. English is not the official language here. This is America.

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Re: Zero English skills by Anonymous on September 15, 2014 @23:51	[ Reply ]

What is this "I must rent to them?" You don't have to rent to anyone you don't want to. If you are uncomfortable renting to them, THEN DON'T.

Re: Zero English skills by Shaun (FL) on September 16, 2014 @09:26	[ Reply ]

Hi J, Yep been there. There is a free translation site. Put everything in writing (cut and paste) click and there it is in their language. I even would post notices in both English and in my case Spanish, in case I needed the posted note as proof for court. They must supply a translator at lease signing. Give them a copy of the lease in their language. I even have a Spanish version of my application cover letter....so there NO misunderstandings. In my situation, I got the no speak "English" from Grandma about a situation. I posted a notice in both languages...A miracle, the next day Grandma could speak a little English.

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Re: Zero English skills by Katiekate (New York) on September 16, 2014 @10:34	[ Reply ]

Non English speakers are not a protected class. I do not rent to non English speakers. The confusion is just too much Also...should it come to a court case...a strong argument can be made that the agreements were not valid because they didnt understand them. (No contract can be enforced if the person signing it couldn't understand it). I had this come up with an English speaker!!! He never finished even middle school and therefore was to be judged incapable of understanding what he signed. Geez...it took an attorney more than and hour to drag out of him that he didnt finish 8th grade because he went directly to Cornell University. But..I learned this lesson well, if they are poorly educated they could get out of your lease too. Lots of communication between landlord and tenant is verbal or written in a non formal manner..are you going to hire someone to read over all your messages to be sure they say what you want? PS...I used one of those programs to translate a document (English to German) then had a German national read the result. He couldn't stop laughing at some of the nonsense it created.

Re: Zero English skills by Kim (WV) on September 16, 2014 @14:23	[ Reply ]

KatieKate is absolutely right. About all of it. You don't have to rent to them, and I wouldn't if I were in your shoes. If you have ever used those translation programs you know how flawed they are. If you want to find out about them, go find some text in another language and use those translating programs to translate it into English if you want a good laugh!

no show

Re: no show

Re: Zero English skills by Anonymous on September 17, 2014 @15:14	[ Reply ]

After a couple of expteriences like yours devolving to the point where I'm dealing with 9-year olds translating for their parents, I quit renting to folks who don't speak English. When it comes time to correct a lease violation or pay rent on time, it'll be "no habla" or whatever the language equivalent is for your prospects.

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