GSEs Offer Mortgage Docs in Spanish

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced the joint availability of 83 non-executable Spanish translations of the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Uniform Instruments to help lenders better serve consumers whose dominant language is Spanish.The jointly-owned translations are meant to complement the English-language documents a mortgage borrower would sign, the government-sponsored enterprises said. "We encourage the distribution of these complementary translations to Spanish-language-dominant consumers early in the homebuying process, so that potential borrowers can read the mortgage documents written in English with a side-by-side Spanish translation and better understand what they will sign at closing," said Fannie senior vice president Mercy Jiménez. The translations, which are provided for 54 security instruments, 20 promissory notes, and nine related documents, are available for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Anyone can download the translations for free starting Oct. 2 at http://www.efanniemae.com and http://www.freddiemac.com\uniform.