I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3009 

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 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 

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 to as the ‘‘Improving Lan5 guage Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS AND RE2 SOURCES. 

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

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

5 inserting after section 129H the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 129I. Language access requirements. 

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

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

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

10 Financial Protection shall, after consulting with the Sec11 retary of Agriculture, the Director of the Federal Housing 

12 Finance Agency, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 

13 the Commissioner of the Federal Housing Authority, by 

14 rule, establish a standard language preference form which 

15 includes a standard language preference question asked in 

16 each of the 8 languages most commonly spoken by individ17 uals with limited English proficiency, as determined by the 

18 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

19 using information published by the Director of the Bureau 

20 of the Census. 

21 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDITORS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) USE OF STANDARD LANGUAGE PREF23 ERENCE FORM BY CREDITORS.— 

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

25 creditor shall include, in any written application 

26 used in connection with a residential mortgage 


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1 loan, the standard language preference form es2 tablished by the Director of the Bureau under 

3 subsection (a). 

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

5 creditor may include with such standard lan6 guage preference form a disclosure stating that 

7 documents and services may not be available in 

8 the preferred language indicated by the con9 sumer on the standard language preference 

10 form. 

11 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF

12 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 

13 creditor, or assignee of a creditor receives infor14 mation about a language preference of a con15 sumer through the standard language pref16 erence form, orally, or otherwise, including from 

17 another creditor or a servicer, such creditor or 

18 assignee shall document this language pref19 erence in each file or electronic file of informa20 tion associated with such consumer and shall 

21 transfer such information and the standard lan22 guage preference form to any servicer of the 

23 loan and to any creditor that may own the loan 

24 in the future. 


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

3 agency in the State or locality in which the residen4 tial property is located has produced a translation of 

5 a document used in association with a residential 

6 mortgage loan in the preferred language of a con7 sumer documented by a creditor pursuant to para8 graph (1)(C), such creditor shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) provide such translation in addition 

10 to any English version of such document that 

11 would have been provided to such consumer 

12 who indicated such preferred language; and 

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

14 translated versions indicating that the English 

15 version is the official and operative document 

16 and the translated version is for informational 

17 purposes only. 

18 ‘‘(3) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 

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

20 information about a language preference of a 

21 consumer through the standard language pref22 erence form, orally, or otherwise, including from 

23 another creditor or a servicer such creditor shall 

24 provide oral interpretation services to such con25 sumer. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 

2 If a creditor is required under subparagraph 

3 (A) to provide oral interpretation services to a 

4 consumer, such creditor shall provide oral inter5 pretation services in the preferred language of 

6 the consumer for all oral communications be7 tween the such creditor and the consumer and 

8 these oral interpretation services may be pro9 vided by qualified staff of the creditor or a 

10 third party. 

11 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV12 ICES.—If a creditor receives information about a 

13 language preference of a consumer through the 

14 standard language preference form, orally, or other15 wise, including from another creditor or a servicer 

16 such creditor shall, not later than 10 business days 

17 after receiving such information, notify such con18 sumer in writing, in the preferred language of the 

19 consumer, of any language services available, includ20 ing the services required under paragraphs (2) and 

21 (3). 

22 ‘‘(5) TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE PREFERENCE

23 INFORMATION.—If a creditor transfers the servicing 

24 associated with a residential mortgage loan, such 

25 creditor shall notify the transferee servicer of any 


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1 known language preference of the consumer associ2 ated with such residential mortgage loan. 

3 ‘‘(6) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—Each cred4 itor shall on the website of the creditor publish— 

5 ‘‘(A) all documents translated by Federal 

6 Housing Finance Agency and the Bureau of 

7 Consumer Financial Protection under sub8 section (c); 

9 ‘‘(B) links to the websites maintained by 

10 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop11 ment and the Director of the Bureau of Con12 sumer Financial Protection that identify hous13 ing counselors approved by the Department of 

14 Housing and Urban Development; and 

15 ‘‘(C) a link to the language resources 

16 website established by the Director of the Bu17 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

18 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

19 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance 

20 Agency, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

21 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 1(e) 

22 of the Improving Language Access in Mortgage 

23 Servicing Act of 2021. 

24 ‘‘(c) TRANSLATION OF MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS.— 

25 With respect to each document published by the Federal 


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1 Housing Finance Agency, the Bureau of Consumer Finan2 cial Protection, the Department of Housing and Urban 

3 Development, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 

4 the Department of Agriculture and used in association 

5 with a residential mortgage loan transaction, including 

6 origination and servicing documents, the Director of the 

7 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection and the Direc8 tor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency shall jointly— 

9 ‘‘(1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

10 the enactment of this section, publish versions of 

11 such documents translated into each of the 8 lan12 guages most commonly spoken by individuals with 

13 limited English proficiency, as determined by the Di14 rector of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec15 tion using information published by the Director of 

16 the Bureau of the Census; and 

17 ‘‘(2) not later than 3 years after the date of the 

18 enactment of this section, publish versions of such 

19 documents translated into at least 4 additional lan20 guages spoken by individuals with limited English 

21 proficiency that are regionally prevalent in the 

22 United States, as determined by the Director of the 

23 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection using in24 formation published by the Director of the Bureau 

25 of the Census. 


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

2 rules as the Director determines necessary to implement 

3 this section.’’. 

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

5 the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(n) LANGUAGE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN NOTICES.—Each 

10 servicer shall include the standard language 

11 preference form with— 

12 ‘‘(i) any notice required under section 

13 1024.39(b) of title 12, Code of Federal 

14 Regulations; 

15 ‘‘(ii) any notice required under section 

16 (c); 

17 ‘‘(iii) any notice required under sec18 tion 1024.41(b)(2) of title 12, Code of 

19 Federal Regulations; 

20 ‘‘(iv) any notice required under sec21 tion 1024.41(c)(2)(iii) of title 12, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations; and 

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

24 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi25 nancial Protection determines necessary. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF DISCLOSURES.—A 

2 servicer may include with the standard lan3 guage preference form a disclosure stating that 

4 documents and services may not be available in 

5 the preferred language of the borrower indi6 cated by the consumer on the standard lan7 guage preference form. 

8 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION AND TRANSFER OF

9 PREFERRED LANGUAGE INFORMATION.—If a 

10 servicer or an assignee of a servicer receives in11 formation about a language preference of a bor12 rower through the standard language preference 

13 form, orally, or otherwise, including from an14 other servicer or creditor, such servicer or as15 signee shall document this language preference 

16 in each file or electronic file of information as17 sociated with such borrower and shall transfer 

18 such information and the standard language 

19 preference form to any other servicer that may 

20 service the loan in the future. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED LANGUAGE SERVICES FOR

22 SERVICERS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PROVISION OF TRANSLATED DOCU24 MENTS.—If a Federal agency, or a State or 

25 local agency in the State or locality in which 


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1 the property subject to the federally related 

2 mortgage loan is to be located has produced a 

3 translation of a document used in associated 

4 with a federally related mortgage loan in the 

5 preferred language of a borrower as docu6 mented by the servicer pursuant to paragraph 

7 (1)(C), the servicer shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) provide such translation in addi9 tion to any English version of such docu10 ment that would have been provided to 

11 such borrower; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) include a notice on the English 

13 and translated versions, in the preferred 

14 language of the borrower, indicating that 

15 the English version is the official and oper16 ative document and the translated version 

17 is for informational purposes only. 

18 ‘‘(B) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERVICES.— 

19 ‘‘(v) IN GENERAL.—If a servicer re20 ceives information about a language pref21 erence of a borrower through the standard 

22 language preference form, orally, or other23 wise, including from another servicer or 

24 creditor such servicer shall provide oral in25 terpretation services to such borrower. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) ORAL INTERPRETATION SERV2 ICES.—If a servicer is required under sub3 paragraph (A) to provide oral interpreta4 tion services to a borrower, such servicer 

5 shall provide oral interpretation services in 

6 the preferred language of the borrower for 

7 all oral communications between the such 

8 servicer and the borrower and these oral 

9 interpretation services may be provided by 

10 qualified staff of the borrower or a third 

11 party. 

12 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE LANGUAGE SERV13 ICES.—If a servicer receives information about a 

14 language preference of a borrower through the 

15 standard language preference form, orally, or other16 wise, including from another creditor such servicer 

17 shall, not later than 10 business days after receiving 

18 such information, notify such borrower in writing, in 

19 the preferred language of the borrower, of any lan20 guage services available, including the services re21 quired under paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER OF LANGUAGE PREFERENCE

23 INFORMATION.—If a servicer transfers the servicing 

24 associated with a federally related mortgage loan, 

25 such servicer shall notify the transferee servicer of 


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1 any known language preference of the borrower as2 sociated with such federally related mortgage loan. 

3 ‘‘(5) STANDARD LANGUAGE PREFERENCE FORM

4 DEFINED.—The term ‘standard language preference 

5 form’ means the standard language preference form 

6 established by the Director of the Bureau under sec7 tion 129I of the Truth in Lending Act. 

8 ‘‘(6) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—Each 

9 servicer shall on the website of the servicer pub10 lish— 

11 ‘‘(A) all documents translated by Federal 

12 Housing Finance Agency and the Bureau of 

13 Consumer Financial Protection under sub14 section (c); 

15 ‘‘(B) links to the websites maintained by 

16 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop17 ment and the Director of the Bureau of Con18 sumer Financial Protection that identify hous19 ing counselors approved by the Department of 

20 Housing and Urban Development; and 

21 ‘‘(C) a link to the language resources 

22 website established by the Director of the Bu23 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

24 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

25 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance 


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1 Agency, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

2 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 1(e) 

3 of the Improving Language Access in Mortgage 

4 Servicing Act of 2021. 

5 ‘‘(7) RULEMAKING.—The Director of the Bu6 reau of Consumer Financial Protection may issue 

7 such rules as the Director determines necessary to 

8 implement this section.’’. 

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

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

11 et seq) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

12 section 129H the following: 

‘‘129I. Preferred language requirements.’’. 

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

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

15 the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec16 tion, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

17 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 

18 Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans 

19 Affairs shall submit a report to the Congress that con20 tains— 

21 (1) regulatory recommendations to enhance 

22 mortgage origination and servicing processes for per23 sons with a preferred language that is not English; 


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1 (2) a description of any legislative changes 

2 needed to provide authority necessary to implement 

3 the regulatory recommendations; and 

4 (3) a description of any progress on the imple5 mentation of any legislative or regulatory rec6 ommendation made in a previous report. 

7 (e) LANGUAGE RESOURCE WEBSITE.— 

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

9 of Consumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of 

10 Housing and Urban Development, the Director of 

11 the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Secretary 

12 of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

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

14 the enactment of this section establish and maintain 

15 a website that provides language resources for credi16 tors and servicers. 

17 (2) WEBSITE REQUIREMENTS.—The website de18 veloped pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include— 

19 (A) the translations of documents pub20 lished pursuant to section 129I(c) of the Truth 

21 in Lending Act; 

22 (B) a glossary of terms relating to residen23 tial mortgage loans and federally related mort24 gage loans, provided in each commonly spoken 

25 language; 


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1 (C) guidance for creditors and servicers 

2 working with persons who have a preferred lan3 guage that is not English; and 

4 (D) examples of notices that may be used 

5 by creditors and servicers to inform persons of 

6 available language services, provided in accord7 ance with section 6(n)(2) of the Real Estate 

8 Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 and section 

9 129I of the Truth in Lending Act. 

10 (f) ADVISORY GROUP.— 

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

12 of Consumer Financial Protection shall establish an 

13 advisory group consisting of stakeholders, including 

14 industry groups, consumer groups, civil rights 

15 groups, and groups that have experience improving 

16 language access in housing finance transactions, to 

17 provide advice to the Director about— 

18 (A) issues that arise relating to mortgage 

19 origination and servicing processes for persons 

20 with a preferred language that is not English; 

21 (B) the development of the standard lan22 guage preference form by the Director under 

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

24 and 


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1 (C) updates to the language resource 

2 website established by the Director of the Bu3 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

4 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

5 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance 

6 Agency, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

7 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under subsection 

8 (e). 

9 (2) REQUIRED CONSULTING.—The Director of 

10 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall 

11 consult with the advisory group established pursuant 

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

13 arise relating to mortgage origination and servicing 

14 processes for persons with a preferred language that 

15 is not English. 

16 (g) HOUSING COUNSELING AGENCY LANGUAGE RE17 SOURCES.— 

18 (1) ENHANCED SEARCH CAPABILITIES.— 

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

20 Urban Development shall not later than 1 year 

21 after the date of the enactment of this section 

22 update the website maintained by the Secretary 

23 that identifies housing counselors approved by 

24 the Department of Housing and Urban Devel25 opment, to allow for searching for housing 


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1 counseling agencies based on the language serv2 ices they provide. 

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

4 of Consumer Financial protection shall not later 

5 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

6 this section update the website maintained by 

7 the Director that identifies housing counselors 

8 approved by the Department of Housing and 

9 Urban Development, to allow for searching for 

10 housing counseling agencies based on the lan11 guage services they provide. 

12 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary of the Department of Housing and Urban De15 velopment, such sums as are necessary to support 

16 language training for HUD-approved housing coun17 selors, counseling agencies, and their staff. 

18 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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

21 and shall include any assignee of a creditor. 

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

23 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. 


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

2 the term in section 6(i) of the Real Estate Settle3 ment Procedures Act of 1974. 

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

5 the meaning given the term in section 103 of the 

6 Truth in Lending Act. 

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

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

9 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. 

Æ 


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