I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8252 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2024 

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 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Language 

5 Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Housing is the largest portion of most 

2 household budgets in the United States and there3 fore a foundational component of financial access 

4 and opportunity. 

5 (2) Due in part to a legacy of discrimination in 

6 the United States, people of color are disproportion7 ately experiencing homelessness, are disproportion8 ately renting, and disproportionately paying 

9 unaffordable rents, which acts as a barrier to home 

10 ownership. 

11 (3) Access to fair and affordable housing, both 

12 rental and home ownership opportunities, is critical 

13 to upward economic mobility. This includes address14 ing language barriers in mortgage servicing to en15 sure borrowers have culturally sensitive, in-language 

16 access to critical lending information, can enter into 

17 fair and sustainable home ownership, and preserve 

18 their home equity. 

19 SEC. 3. LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS AND RE20 SOURCES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title I of the Truth 

22 in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by 

23 inserting after section 129H the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 129I. Language access requirements. 

2 ‘‘(a) STANDARD LANGUAGE PREFERENCE FORM.— 

3 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

4 of this section, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

5 Financial Protection shall, after consulting with the Sec6 retary of Agriculture, the Director of the Federal Housing 

7 Finance Agency, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 

8 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, by 

9 rule, establish a standard language preference form which 

10 includes a standard language preference question asked in 

11 each of the 8 languages most commonly spoken by individ12 uals with limited English proficiency, as determined by the 

13 Director of the Bureau using information published by the 

14 Director of the Bureau of the Census. 

15 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AND TRANSLATION OF VITAL

16 DOCUMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this sec20 tion, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

21 Financial Protection shall, after consulting with 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the 

23 Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Secretary 

24 of Veterans Affairs, and the Secretary of Hous25 ing and Urban Development, by rule, establish 

26 a list of vital documents associated with the 


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1 origination and servicing of residential mort2 gage loans. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

4 which documents are vital documents pursuant 

5 to paragraph (1), the Director shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(i) whether the document conveys in7 formation about credit terms and condi8 tions; 

9 ‘‘(ii) whether the document conveys 

10 information relating to borrower rights and 

11 obligations under applicable laws; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) whether the document conveys 

13 information relating to a change in bor14 rower rights, obligations, or entitlements 

15 under the terms of the loan or applicable 

16 laws. 

17 ‘‘(2) TRANSLATION.—The Director of the Bu18 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Director 

19 of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Sec20 retary of the Department of Housing and Urban De21 velopment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 

22 the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall 

23 jointly— 

24 ‘‘(A) not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this section, publish model 


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1 translations of each document designated as a 

2 vital document under this subsection in the 

3 eight languages most commonly spoken by indi4 viduals with limited English proficiency, as de5 termined by the Director of the Bureau of Con6 sumer Financial Protection using information 

7 published by the Director of the Bureau of the 

8 Census; and 

9 ‘‘(B) not later than 3 years after the date 

10 of the enactment of this section, publish 

11 versions of such vital documents translated into 

12 at least 4 additional languages spoken by indi13 viduals with limited English proficiency that are 

14 regionally prevalent in the United States, as de15 termined by the Director of the Bureau of Con16 sumer Financial Protection using information 

17 published by the Director of the Bureau of the 

18 Census. 

19 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDITORS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) USE OF STANDARD LANGUAGE PREF21 ERENCE FORM BY CREDITORS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN APPLICATION.—Each 

23 creditor shall include, in any written application 

24 used in connection with a residential mortgage 

25 loan, the standard language preference form esVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 01, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8252.IH H8252

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1 tablished by the Director of the Bureau under 

2 subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF DISCLOSURE.—Each 

4 creditor may include with such standard lan5 guage preference form a disclosure stating that 

6 documents and services may not be available in 

7 the preferred language indicated by the con8 sumer on the standard language preference 

9 form. 

10 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF

11 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 

12 creditor, or assignee of a creditor receives infor13 mation about a language preference of a con14 sumer through the standard language pref15 erence form, orally or in writing in connection 

16 with a residential mortgage loan, as determined 

17 by the Director of the Bureau, including from 

18 another creditor or a servicer, such creditor or 

19 assignee shall document this language pref20 erence in each file or electronic file of informa21 tion associated with such consumer and shall 

22 transfer such information and the standard lan23 guage preference form to any servicer of the 

24 loan and to any creditor that may own the loan 

25 in the future. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF TRANSLATED VITAL DOCU2 MENTS.—If a Federal agency or a State or local 

3 agency in the State or locality in which the residen4 tial property subject to the residential mortgage loan 

5 is located has produced a model translation for a 

6 document designated as a vital document under sub7 section (b), in the preferred language of a consumer, 

8 as documented by a creditor pursuant to paragraph 

9 (1)(C), such creditor shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) provide such translation in addition 

11 to any English version of such vital document 

12 that would have been provided to such con13 sumer who indicated such preferred language; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) include a notice on the English and 

16 translated versions indicating that the English 

17 version is the official and operative document 

18 and the translated version is for informational 

19 purposes only. 

20 ‘‘(3) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a creditor receives 

22 information about a language preference of a 

23 consumer through the standard language pref24 erence form, orally or in writing in connection 

25 with a residential mortgage loan, as determined 


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1 by the Director of the Bureau, including from 

2 another creditor or a servicer, such creditor 

3 shall provide oral interpretation services to such 

4 consumer. 

5 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 

6 If a creditor is required under subparagraph 

7 (A) to provide oral interpretation services to a 

8 consumer, such creditor shall ensure qualified 

9 oral interpretation services, as defined by the 

10 Director of the Bureau, are made available in 

11 the preferred language of the consumer for all 

12 oral communications between the such creditor 

13 and the consumer and these oral interpretation 

14 services may be provided by qualified staff of 

15 the creditor or a qualified third party. 

16 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV17 ICES.—If a creditor receives information about a 

18 language preference of a consumer through the 

19 standard language preference form, orally or in writ20 ing in connection with a residential mortgage loan, 

21 as determined by the Director of the Bureau, includ22 ing from another creditor or a servicer, such creditor 

23 shall not later than 10 business days after receiving 

24 such information, notify such consumer in writing, 

25 in the preferred language of the consumer, of any 


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1 language services available, including the services re2 quired under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

3 ‘‘(5) TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE PREFERENCE

4 INFORMATION.—If a creditor transfers the servicing 

5 associated with a residential mortgage loan, such 

6 creditor shall notify the transferee servicer of any 

7 known language preference of the consumer associ8 ated with such residential mortgage loan. 

9 ‘‘(6) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—Each cred10 itor shall on the website of the creditor publish— 

11 ‘‘(A) links to and explanatory information 

12 about the websites maintained by the Secretary 

13 of Housing and Urban Development and the 

14 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

15 Protection that identify housing counselors ap16 proved by the Department of Housing and 

17 Urban Development; and 

18 ‘‘(B) a link to and explanatory information 

19 about the language resources website estab20 lished by the Director of the Bureau of Con21 sumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of 

22 Housing and Urban Development, the Director 

23 of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 

24 Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of 

25 Veterans Affairs under section 3(e) of the ImVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 01, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8252.IH H8252

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1 proving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing 

2 Act of 2024. 

3 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.—The Director may issue such 

4 rules as the Director determines necessary to implement 

5 this section.’’. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICERS.—Section 6 of 

7 the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(n) LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN NOTICES.—Each 

12 servicer shall include the standard language 

13 preference form with— 

14 ‘‘(i) any notice required under section 

15 1024.39(b) of title 12, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations; 

17 ‘‘(ii) any notice required under section 

18 (c); 

19 ‘‘(iii) any notice required under sec20 tion 1024.41(b)(2) of title 12, Code of 

21 Federal Regulations; 

22 ‘‘(iv) any notice required under sec23 tion 1024.41(c)(2)(iii) of title 12, Code of 

24 Federal Regulations; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) any other additional notice as the 

2 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi3 nancial Protection determines necessary. 

4 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF DISCLOSURES.—A 

5 servicer may include with the standard lan6 guage preference form a disclosure stating that 

7 documents and services may not be available in 

8 the preferred language of the borrower indi9 cated by the consumer on the standard lan10 guage preference form. 

11 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF

12 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 

13 servicer or an assignee of a servicer receives in14 formation about a language preference of a bor15 rower through the standard language preference 

16 form, orally or in writing in connection with a 

17 federally related mortgage, as determined by 

18 the Director of the Bureau, including from an19 other servicer or creditor, such servicer or as20 signee shall document this language preference 

21 in each file or electronic file of information as22 sociated with such borrower and shall transfer 

23 such information and the standard language 

24 preference form to any other servicer that may 

25 service the loan in the future. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED LANGUAGE SERVICES FOR

2 SERVICERS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PROVISION OF TRANSLATED VITAL

4 DOCUMENTS.—If a Federal agency or a State 

5 or local agency in the State or locality in which 

6 the property subject to the federally related 

7 mortgage loan is to be located has produced a 

8 model translation for a document designated as 

9 a vital document under section 129I(b) of the 

10 Truth in Lending Act in the preferred language 

11 of a borrower documented by the servicer pur12 suant to paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection, 

13 the servicer shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) provide such translation in addi15 tion to any English version of such docu16 ment that would have been provided to 

17 such 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 oper22 ative document and the translated version 

23 is for informational purposes only. 

24 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a servicer re2 ceives information about a language pref3 erence of a borrower through the standard 

4 language preference form, orally or in writ5 ing in connection with a federally related 

6 mortgage, as determined by the Director of 

7 the Bureau, including from another cred8 itor or a servicer, such servicer shall pro9 vide oral interpretation services to such 

10 borrower. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERV12 ICES.—If a servicer is required under sub13 paragraph (A) to provide oral interpreta14 tion services to a borrower, such servicer 

15 shall ensure qualified oral interpretation 

16 services, as defined by the Director of the 

17 Bureau, are made available in the pre18 ferred language of the borrower for all oral 

19 communications between the such servicer 

20 and the borrower and these oral interpreta21 tion services may be provided by qualified 

22 staff of the borrower or a qualified third 

23 party. 

24 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV25 ICES.—If a servicer receives information about a 


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1 language preference of a borrower through the 

2 standard language preference form, orally or in writ3 ing in connection with a federally related mortgage, 

4 as determined by the Director of the Bureau, includ5 ing from another creditor or a servicer, such servicer 

6 shall, not later than 10 business days after receiving 

7 such information, notify such borrower in writing, in 

8 the preferred language of the borrower, of any lan9 guage services available, including the services re10 quired under paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE PREFERENCE

12 INFORMATION.—If a servicer transfers the servicing 

13 associated with a federally related mortgage loan, 

14 such servicer shall notify the transferee servicer of 

15 any known language preference of the borrower as16 sociated with such federally related mortgage loan. 

17 ‘‘(5) STANDARD LANGUAGE PREFERENCE FORM

18 DEFINED.—The term ‘standard language preference 

19 form’ means the standard language preference form 

20 established by the Director of the Bureau under sec21 tion 129I of the Truth in Lending Act. 

22 ‘‘(6) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—Each 

23 servicer shall on the website of the servicer pub24 lish— 


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1 ‘‘(A) links to and information about the 

2 websites maintained by the Secretary of Hous3 ing and Urban Development and the Director 

4 of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec5 tion that identify housing counselors approved 

6 by the Department of Housing and Urban De7 velopment; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a link to and information about the 

9 language resources website established by the 

10 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

11 Protection, the Secretary of Housing and 

12 Urban Development, the Director of the Fed13 eral Housing Finance Agency, the Secretary of 

14 Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans Af15 fairs under section 3(e) of the Improving Lan16 guage Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 

17 2024. 

18 ‘‘(7) RULEMAKING.—The Director of the Bu19 reau of Consumer Financial Protection may issue 

20 such rules as the Director determines necessary to 

21 implement this section.’’. 

22 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

23 in chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 

24 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

25 to section 129H the following: 

‘‘129I. Language access requirements.’’. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of the enactment of this section, and each year thereafter, 

3 the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec4 tion, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

5 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 

6 Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans 

7 Affairs shall submit a report to the Congress that con8 tains— 

9 (1) regulatory recommendations to enhance 

10 mortgage origination and servicing processes for per11 sons with a preferred language that is not English; 

12 (2) a description of any legislative changes 

13 needed to provide authority necessary to implement 

14 the regulatory recommendations; and 

15 (3) a description of any progress on the imple16 mentation of any legislative or regulatory rec17 ommendation made in a previous report. 

18 (e) LANGUAGE RESOURCE WEBSITE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau 

20 of Consumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of 

21 Housing and Urban Development, the Director of 

22 the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Secretary 

23 of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

24 shall jointly not later than 1 year after the date of 

25 the enactment of this section establish and maintain 


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1 a website that provides language resources for credi2 tors, servicers, and consumers. 

3 (2) WEBSITE REQUIREMENTS.—The website de4 veloped pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) the translations of documents pub6 lished pursuant to section 129I(c) of the Truth 

7 in Lending Act; 

8 (B) a glossary of terms relating to residen9 tial mortgage loans and federally related mort10 gage loans, provided in each commonly spoken 

11 language; 

12 (C) guidance for creditors and servicers 

13 working with persons who have a preferred lan14 guage that is not English; and 

15 (D) examples of notices that may be used 

16 by creditors and servicers to inform persons of 

17 available language services, provided in accord18 ance with section 6(n)(2) of the Real Estate 

19 Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 and section 

20 129I of the Truth in Lending Act. 

21 (f) ADVISORY GROUP.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau 

23 of Consumer Financial Protection shall establish an 

24 advisory group consisting of stakeholders, including 

25 industry groups, consumer groups, civil rights 


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1 groups, and groups that have experience improving 

2 language access in housing finance transactions, to 

3 provide advice to the Director about— 

4 (A) issues that arise relating to mortgage 

5 origination and servicing processes for persons 

6 with a preferred language that is not English; 

7 (B) the development of the standard lan8 guage preference form by the Director under 

9 section 129I(a) of the Truth in Lending Act; 

10 and 

11 (C) updates to the language resource 

12 website established by the Director of the Bu13 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

14 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

15 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance 

16 Agency, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under subsection 

18 (e). 

19 (2) REQUIRED CONSULTING.—The Director of 

20 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall 

21 consult with the advisory group established pursuant 

22 to paragraph (1) with respect to any issues that 

23 arise relating to mortgage origination and servicing 

24 processes for persons with a preferred language that 

25 is not English. 


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1 (g) HOUSING COUNSELING AGENCY LANGUAGE RE2 SOURCES.— 

3 (1) ENHANCED SEARCH CAPABILITIES.— 

4 (A) HUD.—The Secretary of Housing and 

5 Urban Development shall not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this section 

7 update the website maintained by the Secretary 

8 that identifies housing counselors approved by 

9 the Department of Housing and Urban Devel10 opment, to allow for searching for housing 

11 counseling agencies based on the language serv12 ices they provide. 

13 (B) BUREAU.—The Director of the Bureau 

14 of Consumer Financial protection shall not later 

15 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

16 this section update the website maintained by 

17 the Director that identifies housing counselors 

18 approved by the Department of Housing and 

19 Urban Development, to allow for searching for 

20 housing counseling agencies based on the lan21 guage services they provide. 

22 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec24 retary of the Department of Housing and Urban De25 velopment, such sums as are necessary to support 


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1 language training for HUD-approved housing coun2 selors, counseling agencies, and their staff. 

3 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 (1) The term ‘‘creditor’’ has the meaning given 

5 the term in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act 

6 and shall include any assignee of a creditor. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘director’’ means the Director of 

8 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. 

9 (3) The term ‘‘servicer’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 6(i) of the Real Estate Settle11 ment Procedures Act of 1974. 

12 (4) The term ‘‘residential mortgage loan’’ has 

13 the meaning given the term in section 103 of the 

14 Truth in Lending Act. 

15 (5) The term ‘‘federally related mortgage loan’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 

17 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. 

Æ 


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