Barrie: Nothing inappropriate should be occurring with non-English speaking consumers

There is no federal law requiring deal paperwork, other than the Spanish Used Car Buyers Guide, be in any other language other than English.  However, under federal law, (Prohibiting Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP)), it is unlawful for dealerships to take unreasonable advantage of a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer regarding the material risks, costs, or conditions of the vehicles they are being sold.  This federal law also protects consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, such as the scenario described above, since it would be likely to cause substantial injury to consumers and is not reasonably avoidable by consumers because they cannot understand the English contracts they are being presented with.

The act of providing vehicle sales contracts, signed by consumers, which materially differentiate from the terms of the prior negotiations is unlawful.  Consumers paying for products and services that they did not agree to, know were added, or told they had to purchase to get the price of the vehicle is deceptive under federal law.  There is no reasonable excuse for the deceptive practice of tricking consumers into signing contracts in a language they do not understand containing terms differing from negotiations held prior to the signing.

Like federal law, most states do not have statutes pertaining to contract disclosures needing to be translated into the native language of the prospective purchaser or require contracts be written in languages other than English.  Nonetheless, states have enacted general Consumer Protection Acts that aim to mitigate deceptive and manipulative practices such as deception of consumers executing an agreement to terms that were never agreed to.  These laws generally have broad coverage of unfair, deceptive, and/or unconscionable acts that occur in trade and commerce.  Therefore, dealers must refrain from deceptive and manipulative practices that result in purchasers paying more than they bargained for in negotiations made in a different language than the contract they signed.  Purchasers are broadly protected under state laws.

Some states such as California, Nevada, Illinois and Texas have enacted laws specific to non-English speaking consumers.  In California, businesses that negotiate in languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean within the course of entering into a contract/agreement must deliver a translation of the contact/agreement in the purchaser’s native language of every term and condition before the contract/agreement is executed (Cal Civ Code § 1632).  This requirement protects consumers who are not proficient in English from entering into contracts that do not match the terms of the negotiations.

To give clarity on the protections provided by state law, in 2006, the Court of Appeals of California determined, in the matter of Graciano v. Robinson Ford Sales, Inc., that the contract contained different terms than what was negotiated in Spanish originally.  In that case, the automobile transaction was negotiated in Spanish, but the contract was signed by the purchaser in English.  Due to the deceptive act of raising the purchase price in the English contract and by failing to provide a Spanish translation of the contract, Robinson Ford Sales, Inc. was held to be in violation of California law.

Nevada has more comprehensive laws requiring translations related to contracts that are negotiated in a foreign language. Pursuant to Nevada law (Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann § 598.9733), dealerships advertising in foreign languages and negotiating orally or in writing in a foreign language must deliver a translation of the contract/agreement to the purchaser that materializes as a result of the advertising and/or negotiations.  Similar to California, the translation must include every term and condition of the agreement.  Nevada law further requires that motor vehicle dealers advertising and/or communicating in Spanish with prospective purchasers regarding the purchase of a motor vehicle must provide a version of the forms for the application of credit and contracts to be used in the sale of the vehicle translated into Spanish if requested by the prospective consumer.

Bottom line is that federal and state laws protect purchasers who are not proficient in English from deceptive practices committed by dealerships that cause these purchasers to be bound to terms they did not agree to in negotiations.  Dealerships must ensure that their personnel do not take advantage of a purchaser’s inability to understand English.  A best practice could be to have the dealership require the consumer to have his or her own translator, such as a relative of the consumer who is proficient in English, present, rather than a dealership employee translating the transaction to the consumer.  If the consumer brings his or her own translator, it could avoid legal issues and claims of deception by the consumer down the road.  The deal file should note who the consumer brought with them to assist in understanding the transaction.  In summation, it is important that dealers provide form translations in the states that require it, remain transparent concerning the terms of the vehicle sales contract, and sale contracts should match the terms of the vehicle sales negotiations to avoid violations of both federal and state laws.  With any consumer, dealerships should never engage in deceptive acts, such as adding products not agreed to.