Improving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2021

IB Calendar No. 281 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3009 [Report No. 117–370, Part I] To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Proce- dures Act of 1974 to establish language access requirements for creditors and servicers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Ms. GARCIA of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned JUNE 15, 2022 Additional sponsor: Mr. GREEN of Texas JUNE 15, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with an amendment JUNE 15, 2022 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 7, 2021] VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3009 RH A BILL To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to establish language access requirements for creditors and servicers, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3009 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Language 4 Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS AND RE- 6 SOURCES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title I of the Truth 8 in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by in- 9 serting after section 129H the following: 10 ‘‘§ 129I. Language access requirements. 11 ‘‘(a) STANDARD LANGUAGE PREFERENCE FORM.—Not 12 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 13 section, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 14 Protection shall, after consulting with the Secretary of Agri- 15 culture, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agen- 16 cy, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Commissioner 17 of the Federal Housing Authority, by rule, establish a 18 standard language preference form which includes a stand- 19 ard language preference question asked in each of the 8 lan- 20 guages most commonly spoken by individuals with limited 21 English proficiency, as determined by the Director of the 22 Bureau using information published by the Director of the 23 Bureau of the Census. 24 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDITORS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3009 RH ‘‘(1) USE OF STANDARD LANGUAGE PREFERENCE 1 FORM BY CREDITORS.— 2 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN APPLICATION.—Each 3 creditor shall include, in any written applica- 4 tion used in connection with a residential mort- 5 gage loan, the standard language preference form 6 established by the Director of the Bureau under 7 subsection (a). 8 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF DISCLOSURE.—Each 9 creditor may include with such standard lan- 10 guage preference form a disclosure stating that 11 documents and services may not be available in 12 the preferred language indicated by the consumer 13 on the standard language preference form. 14 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF 15 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 16 creditor, or assignee of a creditor receives infor- 17 mation about a language preference of a con- 18 sumer through the standard language preference 19 form, orally or in writing in connection with a 20 residential mortgage loan, as determined by the 21 Director of the Bureau, including from another 22 creditor or a servicer, such creditor or assignee 23 shall document this language preference in each 24 file or electronic file of information associated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3009 RH with such consumer and shall transfer such in- 1 formation and the standard language preference 2 form to any servicer of the loan and to any cred- 3 itor that may own the loan in the future. 4 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS.— 5 If a Federal agency or a State or local agency in the 6 State or locality in which the residential property is 7 located has produced a translation of a document 8 used in association with a residential mortgage loan 9 in the preferred language of a consumer documented 10 by a creditor pursuant to paragraph (1)(C), such 11 creditor shall— 12 ‘‘(A) provide such translation in addition to 13 any English version of such document that 14 would have been provided to such consumer who 15 indicated such preferred language; and 16 ‘‘(B) include a notice on the English and 17 translated versions indicating that the English 18 version is the official and operative document 19 and the translated version is for informational 20 purposes only. 21 ‘‘(3) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a creditor receives 23 information about a language preference of a 24 consumer through the standard language pref- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3009 RH erence form, orally or in writing in connection 1 with a residential mortgage loan, as determined 2 by the Director of the Bureau, including from 3 another creditor or a servicer, such creditor shall 4 provide oral interpretation services to such con- 5 sumer. 6 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.—If 7 a creditor is required under subparagraph (A) to 8 provide oral interpretation services to a con- 9 sumer, such creditor shall ensure qualified oral 10 interpretation services, as defined by the Director 11 of the Bureau, are made available in the pre- 12 ferred language of the consumer for all oral com- 13 munications between the such creditor and the 14 consumer and these oral interpretation services 15 may be provided by qualified staff of the creditor 16 or a qualified third party. 17 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV- 18 ICES.—If a creditor receives information about a lan- 19 guage preference of a consumer through the standard 20 language preference form, orally or in writing in con- 21 nection with a residential mortgage loan, as deter- 22 mined by the Director of the Bureau, including from 23 another creditor or a servicer, such creditor shall not 24 later than 10 business days after receiving such infor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3009 RH mation, notify such consumer in writing, in the pre- 1 ferred language of the consumer, of any language 2 services available, including the services required 3 under paragraphs (2) and (3). 4 ‘‘(5) TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE PREFERENCE IN- 5 FORMATION.—If a creditor transfers the servicing as- 6 sociated with a residential mortgage loan, such cred- 7 itor shall notify the transferee servicer of any known 8 language preference of the consumer associated with 9 such residential mortgage loan. 10 ‘‘(6) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—Each creditor 11 shall on the website of the creditor publish— 12 ‘‘(A) links to and explanatory information 13 about the websites maintained by the Secretary 14 of Housing and Urban Development and the Di- 15 rector of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro- 16 tection that identify housing counselors approved 17 by the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- 18 opment; and 19 ‘‘(B) a link to and explanatory information 20 about the language resources website established 21 by the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi- 22 nancial Protection, the Secretary of Housing and 23 Urban Development, the Director of the Federal 24 Housing Finance Agency, the Secretary of Agri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3009 RH culture, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 1 under section 1(e) of the Improving Language 2 Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2021. 3 ‘‘(c) TRANSLATION OF MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS.—With 4 respect to each document published by the Federal Housing 5 Finance Agency, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec- 6 tion, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 7 the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department 8 of Agriculture and used in association with a residential 9 mortgage loan transaction, including origination and serv- 10 icing documents, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 11 Financial Protection and the Director of the Federal Hous- 12 ing Finance Agency shall jointly— 13 ‘‘(1) not later than 180 days after the date of the 14 enactment of this section, publish versions of such 15 documents translated into each of the 8 languages 16 most commonly spoken by individuals with limited 17 English proficiency, as determined by the Director of 18 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection using 19 information published by the Director of the Bureau 20 of the Census; and 21 ‘‘(2) not later than 3 years after the date of the 22 enactment of this section, publish versions of such 23 documents translated into at least 4 additional lan- 24 guages spoken by individuals with limited English 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3009 RH proficiency that are regionally prevalent in the 1 United States, as determined by the Director of the 2 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection using in- 3 formation published by the Director of the Bureau of 4 the Census. 5 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.—The Director may issue such 6 rules as the Director determines necessary to implement this 7 section.’’. 8 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICERS.—Section 6 of the 9 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 is amended 10 by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(n) LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 13 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN NOTICES.—Each 14 servicer shall include the standard language pref- 15 erence form with— 16 ‘‘(i) any notice required under section 17 1024.39(b) of title 12, Code of Federal Reg- 18 ulations; 19 ‘‘(ii) any notice required under section 20 (c); 21 ‘‘(iii) any notice required under sec- 22 tion 1024.41(b)(2) of title 12, Code of Fed- 23 eral Regulations; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3009 RH ‘‘(iv) any notice required under section 1 1024.41(c)(2)(iii) of title 12, Code of Fed- 2 eral Regulations; and 3 ‘‘(v) any other additional notice as the 4 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan- 5 cial Protection determines necessary. 6 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF DISCLOSURES.—A 7 servicer may include with the standard language 8 preference form a disclosure stating that docu- 9 ments and services may not be available in the 10 preferred language of the borrower indicated by 11 the consumer on the standard language pref- 12 erence form. 13 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF 14 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 15 servicer or an assignee of a servicer receives in- 16 formation about a language preference of a bor- 17 rower through the standard language preference 18 form, orally or in writing in connection with a 19 federally related mortgage, as determined by the 20 Director of the Bureau, including from another 21 servicer or creditor, such servicer or assignee 22 shall document this language preference in each 23 file or electronic file of information associated 24 with such borrower and shall transfer such infor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3009 RH mation and the standard language preference 1 form to any other servicer that may service the 2 loan in the future. 3 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED LANGUAGE SERVICES FOR 4 SERVICERS.— 5 ‘‘(A) PROVISION OF TRANSLATED DOCU- 6 MENTS.—If a Federal agency, or a State or local 7 agency in the State or locality in which the 8 property subject to the federally related mortgage 9 loan is to be located has produced a translation 10 of a document used in associated with a federally 11 related mortgage loan in the preferred language 12 of a borrower as documented by the servicer pur- 13 suant to paragraph (1)(C), the servicer shall— 14 ‘‘(i) provide such translation in addi- 15 tion to any English version of such docu- 16 ment that would have been provided to such 17 borrower; and 18 ‘‘(ii) include a notice on the English 19 and translated versions, in the preferred 20 language of the borrower, indicating that 21 the English version is the official and oper- 22 ative document and the translated version 23 is for informational purposes only. 24 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3009.RH H3009 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3009 RH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a servicer re- 1 ceives information about a language pref- 2 erence of a borrower through the standard 3 language preference form, orally or in writ- 4 ing in connection with a federally related 5 mortgage, as determined by the Director of 6 the Bureau, including from another creditor 7 or a servicer, such servicer shall provide 8 oral interpretation services to such bor- 9 rower. 10 ‘‘(ii) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERV- 11 ICES.—If a servicer is required under sub- 12 paragraph (A) to provide oral interpreta- 13 tion services to a borrower, such servicer 14 shall ensure qualified oral interpretation 15 services, as defined by the Director of the 16 Bureau, are made available in the preferred 17 language of the borrower for all oral com- 18 munications between the such servicer and 19 the borrower and these oral interpretation 20 services may be provided by qualified staff 21 of the borrower or a qualified third party. 22 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV- 23 ICES.—If a servicer receives information about a lan- 24 guage preference of a borrower through the standard 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 0000 [Text truncated for display. 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