The policy announced Monday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it will solely use English for all services has been met with vocal opposition by housing groups and industry experts.
Addressed to “HUD Leadership and Colleagues,” the memo from HUD Deputy Secretary Andrew Hughes referenced President Donald Trump’s Executive Order No. 14224 from March and subsequent guidance from the Department of Justice designating English as the official language of the United States.
While a labor union representing HUD employees has stated it would challenge the action in courts, the department is moving forward with removing non-English content from its website.
Gary Acosta, CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) told Scotsman Guide that with 70% of net new homeowners expected to be Hispanic over the next 20 years, “HUD’s memo to staff ordering English exclusivity could create another speed bump for an already weakened market, especially for first-time homebuyers.”
“NAHREP estimates that 25% of Hispanic buyers conduct the transaction entirely in Spanish,” Acosta stated in an email. “Notwithstanding HUD’s announcement, the demand for real estate and loan agents with strong cultural skill sets will be intensified in the coming years.”
The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) believes the decision “falls short of HUD’s new mission statement to unlock homeownership opportunities and further the promise of self-sufficiency for every American.”
“While we support English as the primary language for real estate transactions and agree with HUD Deputy Secretary Hughes that we are one people united, we believe that providing language accessibility to first-time [homebuyers] and limited English proficient buyers is essential so they fully understand their rights and obligations when purchasing what may be their largest asset,” AREAA wrote in a statement.
Ethan Handelman spent four years as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs at HUD, a position he was appointed to by President Joe Biden in 2021. He told Scotsman Guide that the decision was “pretty egregious on its face.”
“There’s an underlying assumption that by sharing only in English, it will motivate people to learn English faster,” Handleman said, adding that it was flawed logic. “It helps them to learn when they can see the material in their native language side by side with English as part of the learning process.”
Previously, he had posted publicly about the move on LinkedIn, stating that “HUD refusing to serve people in languages other than English is such an abdication of the care that other human beings deserve. In many instances, the translation work has been done, so refusing to use it is also wasteful.”
Jim Parrott, a nonresident fellow at The Urban Institute, co-wrote a piece for the Washington Post in 2019 with Acosta and Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics headlined “Changing face of America will test housing market.” It addressed how the housing system wasn’t set up to support the nation’s underserved communities of color, and non-English speakers in particular.
“I assume it’s about politics,” Parrott told Scotsman Guide about the new HUD directive, “because it makes no sense whatsoever as a matter of policy.”
Parrott added: “Native Spanish speakers are going to drive new demand in the housing market for decades to come, so if we turn our back on them we are all but asking for a declining housing market. I’m not sure why anyone would consciously choose that path.”
