A new bilingual learning management system was introduced Tuesday, providing training and certification for loan officers to serve Spanish-speaking borrowers.
The service aims to advance bilingual access, particularly after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced an “English-only” initiative on Aug. 18, eliminating translated documents long used by Hispanic families.
Rogelio Goertzen is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit group Hispanic Organization of Mortgage Experts (HOME). He announced the launch of the learning management system (LMS), called HOME Certified, and another tool called Wholesale Search. Built on ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence platform, the Wholesale Search tool matches borrowers with 150 wholesale lenders, offering products filtered by loan type, rate, speed and system compatibility.
Goertzen told Scotsman Guide he hopes HOME Certified will help increase the number of Spanish-speaking loan officers and mortgage professionals who can help fill the gap being left by HUD.
“Only 1% of loan officers are Hispanic because they don’t know that this career exists,” Goertzen said. “So by giving them the ability to learn about mortgages and have a career in mortgage, from their home, we’re empowering them to make a career change and really make an impact in their community.”
HOME Certified offers self-paced modules on income and credit analysis, program selection, compensation rules, intercultural fluency and compliance. Both HOME Certified and Wholesale Search are live and available to HOME members who register through the company’s website.
The service comes through a collaboration with Twiz.io, whose partner Cubie Hernandez also serves as HOME’s chief technology and learning officer. In a statement introducing the new services, Hernandez said that “education is the gateway to opportunity and the antidote to fear.”
“Our team decided to lead by example, investing time and money to build a bilingual platform and a search tool that delivers practical, business-building lessons, shows loan officers how to grow and enables families to approach the mortgage process with confidence,” Hernandez commented. “We hope this move inspires our industry to take note of the power of blending education and technology — and to join us in expanding access for every family.”
The move by HUD will have a huge impact on the industry, Goertzen said, describing it as a gridlock where nobody knows how to access information.
“A lot of Hispanics have been frustrated with their own community because it takes so long to translate documents. Spanish mortgage documents are not readily available,” he said, adding that many of the documents that had been on HUD’s website hadn’t been touched since 2010.
“There’s a video from the 1980s in there. This stuff was so outdated; we can make it better anyways,” Goertzen said. “HOME is going to be that beacon of light, so even if resources get cut or different things go away, HOME will be that place where we can always give those resources completely for free to consumers to help bridge everything together.”
The issue is personal to Goertzen, who says he sometimes feels at war with himself, having Mexican roots, and also a very German side.
“It’s sad. Even if you look at Latin throughout U.S. history. It’s on statues. It’s on our dollar bill. If you’re thinking of an English-only initiative, you’re trying to erase American history,” he said.
“My bigger message is it’s not about Spanish versus English. It’s about everybody. And the United States has been a home for everyone for 250 years,” Goertzen said. “We need to celebrate everybody and give them that dream of homeownership, and make it easier for people. Especially when they come from immigrant families.”
