Oregon Mortgages

Lawsuits!

So I was reviewing an article that I found very interesting. I thought I’d share the basics of the article with everyone here to get some input.

Two associations that represent owns of multi-family properties have recently sued the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over new regulations that have been put in place. They are now being required to provide all written documents, materials and services to tenants and applicants who do not speak English as their primary language.

The National Housing Council and the National Apartment Association have filed their lawsuits in federal court against HUD. They are asking them to to stop the law (Limited English Proficiency Guidance or LEP) that went into effect in March. The new guidelines require all federally funded apartment owners to translate various documents into multiple languages and to provide verbal translation for those who cannot read the documents after being translated.

Jim Arbury who is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for both associations believes that HUD should use their own resources to translate the documents. He feels that it is unfair to require the individual apartment owners nationwide to do this and to have translators on hand at a moments notice but would rather they have a hotline in place. He was also quoted in saying “Every dollar spent on this misguided policy is a dollar that could be spent serving needy families and maintaining their properties,” said Arbury. “We are calling on HUD to withdraw its Guidance, to act proactively to translate important rental documents and to create a hotline to handle inquiries from LEP persons.