Lease Agreament In Spanish?
I am preparing a new lease to use with duplex's. Most of the tenants are Spanish speakers. I do not speak any spanish.
I am considering paying somebody to rewrite my lease in Spanish so that my tenants will be better able to understand it. I would still have them sign the English version, and I would only sign the English version. But this would give them a copy of it in there language.
Is this a good idea or not? Why
I'd advise against it because the two versions, the English and the Spanish might possibly vary, and with your non-ability to read Spanish, you wouldn't know how close or far apart they were.
Stick with English and make them go get their own translator/interpreter.
If you ever get into court you'll want the signed and witnessed English version because that's the one the court can understand.
Make sure they have witness, who also signs, saying he's explained it to them, in Spanish and they clearly understood what the English version said.
Hey,
Contracts in more than one language is extremely common all over the world. Generally, the contract is written in both languages, with a specific clause stating that in the event of conflict the "X" language is the correct one.
For Spanish speaking tenants providing a Spanish lease is a really good idea; it makes everyone feel more comfortable. I also provide the flyers in Spanish.
Both John and Bruce are correct.
Having two versions is messy. The room for confusion increases as does the room for a lawyer to make a case.
At the same time the reader of the Spanish version will likely feel they understand better and that they are more able to make a decision.
As Bruce notes it is done and it has been known to work. Be very careful if you go this route to always make sure that any changes in the English version triggers changes in the Spanish version or just stop using the Spanish version that is now stale.
You take your risks and need to be prepared to defend your position.
John
[addsig]
Every landlord's legal guide has a english and spanish version of a lease and a month to month rental agreement.
Brenda
You can always have them sign the english version of the lease, but provide a informal spanish version.
Go to www.freetranslation.com and you can copy paragraph by paragraph into there. OR pay them to do the whole thing.
We also print out our Rules and Regs in Spanish this way.