(Photo: Reuters)

The National Fair Housing Alliance, along with the other 33 advocates, is calling the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) to translate mortgage notices into different languages to help those who speak limited English and who are struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

COVID-19 hits hard the immigrants in the country. Many of them are now furloughed and are still waiting for the resumption of their work. With the expenses they needed every day, including their monthly mortgage, housing, and more, it is not a surprise anymore if any of the immigrants will be living on the streets days from now. 

This is what the National Fair Housing Alliance and other advocates fear the most today. To address this problem, FHFA is offering home-saving options. However, since many immigrants have limited knowledge in English, it is believed that many also will not have access to this program.

Sarah Mancini, a lawyer from National Consumer Law Center, said: "Unless FHFA translates its forbearance applications into languages other than English, many who need it most - but are not proficient in English - will not get the help they need. Limited English proficient (LEP) borrowers will face foreclosure at higher rates if they are not able to obtain information about home-saving options in their preferred language."

An example of this is Latinos and Hispanics, who are composed of nearly 60 million in the country. They are the largest minority group in the country as well, and many of them have difficulty in understanding or speaking English.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have directed mortgage servicers to give a 180-day extension to its borrowers who are suffering health and financial problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they also added that this could be extended again for another 180 days.

This is a significant relief for the borrowers, but this is not automatic, and borrowers must contact their servicers provider to ask for help and assistance on how to avail the mortgage program. The borrowers must know the inclusion of the relief and the steps that they need to do to avail it.

Linda Jun, senior policy counsel of Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, said that immigrants and families coming from different races are hit hard by COVID-19, and they also faced challenges in understanding the relief options due to the language barrier.

She suggested that FHFA must take action to help the Limited English Proficient (LEP) borrowers in understanding the mortgage relief. This means to translate into different languages the mortgage-relief options so that many will have access to it, most notably the immigrants.

The National Housing Fair Alliance and other 33 groups suggested to the FHFA to take the following actions:

  • A notice sent by the servicers should be translated into the top five languages spoken by the LEP living in the United States. It should explain the forbearance options and let the borrowers know how to get assistance through a housing counselor.
  • Consumer outreach materials, model solicitation letters, and evaluation notices that can be used by servicers should also be translated into different languages.
  • The LEP community should receive outreach through government agencies and housing counseling agencies.
  • The process of obtaining COVID-19 mortgage relief must be accessible to all borrowers.

Debby Goldberg, Vice President for housing policy at the National Fair Housing Alliance, said:

"We are already seeing big disparities in the way this virus is affecting different communities, and we must ensure fair and equitable treatment for everyone who needs help to save their homes."

She also added that during the previous mortgage crisis, many of the LEP was overlooked, and many of them lost their homes because they did not know the options available and how to access them.

Goldberg said: "In this - perhaps even bigger - crisis, there is an urgent need to make sure servicers can provide borrowers critical information in-language, so they have accurate, consistent, and timely information about their mortgages."

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