MBA Rallies Against FHFA Preferred Language Proposal

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is calling on industry professionals to voice their concern over a proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to accommodate borrowers with limited English proficiency by putting the borrower’s “preferred language” on the Universal Residential Loan Application.

 

In an e-mail sent by the MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance to its members, the trade group noted that the FHFA’s decision too risky. “We believe that inclusion of such a question would be premature and potentially harmful to a lender or servicer’s relationship with their customer,” said the trade group in its e-mail. “The borrower might have expectations about service in another language that a lender or servicer cannot provide, or a borrower might erroneously believe the lender intended to discriminate against them or otherwise treat them differently.  Neither outcome is consistent with the type of customer service we know MBA members strive to provide.”

 

The MBA added that it would submit its own response to the FHFA, but urged its members to speak up in order to make “our collective voice louder.”

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