WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Financial Services
Association's state government affairs committee recently published a white paper
on foreign language requirements for consumer contracts.

The paper highlights three states — California, Nevada and
New Mexico — that have gone farther than the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 by
proposing or enacting legislation or regulations with foreign language
requirements for consumer contracts.

In some cases, AFSA officials said these amendments would
have required lenders to translate consumer contracts into nearly 300 different
unique languages, "imposing a significant burden on the industry."

So far this session, AFSA spotted at least 45 bills with
contract language requirements are pending in 18 states, and two bills have
been enacted in Maryland and Utah. The bills include a variety of provisions,
including prohibitions on the sale of vehicle warranties unless the document is
drafted in the borrower's preferred language and requirements that a contract
for the sale of a vehicle be provided in the language in which it was
negotiated.

"A lender's failure to comply would allow the borrower to cancel
the contract without penalty," officials said.

Beyond California, Nevada and New Mexico, AFSA indicated in
the paper that Illinois, New York and Texas are other states with multiple
measures working through their state legislatures regarding this topic.

The entire list of 18 states where lawmakers this session
are considering measures relating to contract language requirements includes:

Arizona
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Minnesota
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington

"AFSA will play a role encouraging sensible lawmaking in
this area and will continue to closely monitor and report on developments
relating to language requirements that are relevant to its members," officials
said the in the white paper.

The document can be obtained by going to this website.

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