We are cognizant that in the state of Washington, we are not legally obliged to engage a third-party service for managing Spanish-speaking residents, despite not having any Spanish-speaking staff, which occasionally presents challenges. Nevertheless, we are considering the possibility of outsourcing this function and billing it directly to the residents.
@Archer40
I have an all hispanic park in Washington State also. There are all kinds of translation apps that we use for our written communications and for our more formal letters we use Fiverr to translate the docs. Phone calls are tougher but there is usually always someone available in the home to translate. As for billing back translation services I don’t know if I would be comfortable billing residents for my inability to communicate and failing spanish in high school 
And if you had a english speaking resident would you not charge them- that could open up a whole can of worms being we operate in Washington State.
I suppose if your ‘operational costs’ increase then you could just raise the rents slightly to cover the additional administrative costs.
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I’m considering using a third-party for translations to avoid potential legal issues. I wouldn’t want a situation where a child or someone underage translates important documents and it leads to legal complications. I’m just trying to ensure we’re covered legally and don’t encounter any trouble. Also, I’d prefer not to directly bill them for translations, but rather incorporate it into the overall costs somehow.
Hi @Archer40… My business partner and I have an all Hispanic in Oregon and when we first acquired the community we flew our landscaper from CA to OR to meet and talk with the residents to try a determine who would make a good manager. That trip resulted in us finding a great manager that is bi-lingual. Initially, we had all our documentation converted at Fiverr, but then we were advised that if you end up in court in the United States, only the English version will be used, AND if there is any discrepancy in the translation, the only person that discrepancy will come back on is you - so don’t translate. All our documentation is in English with the following disclaimer on the signature page:
Best of luck!
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