Language law largely ignored by auto dealers

Timothy Pratt, Las Vegas Sun

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

Attorney Judith Oakes thought she had found new business for her client, a printing company. Nevada had passed a law requiring car dealers to carry contracts and credit applications in Spanish as well as English.

Oakes was certain that Nevada car dealers would need thousands of the Spanish versions each year. But nearly a year after the law went into effect, the phone hasn't exactly been ringing off the hook over at the print shop.

"They're hardly selling any - because they're told by the dealers they don't need them," Oakes says.

Although it's hard to tell how many of the translations are being used, two things are certain about the law that took effect last year: You won't get copies of the sales contract and credit application in Spanish unless you ask for them; and the state told only new-car dealers about the translations, leaving used-car dealers in the dark.

The idea behind the law is to make it easier for Las Vegas Valley Hispanics who don't speak or read English very well to buy a car, said Gary Ackerman, a board member of the Southern Nevada Franchised New Car and Truck Dealers Association. The state sent the new translation to the group of 63 dealers in May 2005.

Nearly 29 percent of the valley's population, most of them Hispanic, speak a language other than English at home, according to 2004 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

But many of those people buying a car may not be completely clear about what they're getting into.

"It may not be common knowledge that purchasers can ask for the documents in Spanish," says Tom Jacobs, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman.

His agency is charged with enforcing the law, but a car dealer would be subject to fines of up to $2,500 only if it failed to produce the translated documents when asked by a customer after advertising or conducting business in Spanish.

Jacobs says that he knew of no violations in the nine months or so that the law has been in effect.

New-car dealers may have the documents, but it is hard to know how often they are asked for them.

At Findlay Toyota, says salesman Alfredo Hernandez, "if you ask for them, I'd be glad give (them) to you."

At the same time, he says, "nobody asks for them." So he and his colleagues explain to Spanish-speaking customers what's in the sales contract and credit application, Hernandez says. Customers then sign a form that says staff explained the documents to them.

Frank Perez, who owns Fiesta Motors, which sells used cars, says he doesn't have the documents in Spanish.

"Everybody here speaks Spanish and when somebody asks something, we answer them (in Spanish)," he says. Most people want to know "what's the interest, what's the monthly payments, things like that." Findlay Toyota and Fiesta Motors both advertise in local Spanish-language newspapers.

Deputy Attorney General Ned Reed says that he "tried to send it (the translation) to everyone who we could think of it in terms of who might be able to use it."

Ackerman said that used car dealers are "a more fragmented group" - they're not all represented by one organization, like new-car dealers.

Still, he says, many lower-income Hispanics are more likely to look for used cars, and not having the documents available at those dealerships could mean "the ones that need it the most probably aren't benefiting from it."

Oakes says California's laws are more proactive: All dealers have the documents available in Spanish, and must produce them if any of the transaction is done in Spanish. In addition, California buyers may sign the Spanish-language contract.

In Nevada, car dealers oppose signing a Spanish-language contract, saying the document is simply for customers to better understand what they're signing in English.

"It's still America - it's in English," says Wayne Frediani, president of the Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association.

John Sande, attorney for the group, says signing documents in English makes legal rights and responsibilities clearer in court.

In any case, the attempt to make sure that Nevada car dealers and their Spanish-speaking customers are truly on the same page may look best - so far - on paper.

Especially from where Oakes sits.

"We were anticipating a stricter law," she says.

"People don't even know to ask."