How Property Managers Are Bridging Language Gaps

Residents who speak languages other than English are a significant part of the renter population in many of multifamily’s largest markets. Apartments account for 75 percent or more of rental listings in five of the seven cities with the largest populations of non-English-speaking households, noted Daniel Waldron, a senior product manager at Trulia. Those cities are New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco; Dallas and Houston are the lone exceptions.

The stakes are huge, so the industry is adapting to better serve this key demographic, which includes as many as 15 million renter households. “Language access is not a side project,” said Adriana Montes, founder & CEO of Florida Dreams Realty Group in Orlando, Fla. “If a resident cannot understand the lease, a late notice or the status of a work order, the result can be higher turnover, legal exposure and negative reviews.”

Difficulty communicating can also limit resident trust, said Hongchao Meng, community manager of Jade Garden Apartments, a Habitat-managed 72-unit affordable community in Chicago’s Chinatown enclave. There, English is not the primary language for more than half of residents, and management speaks both English and Mandarin. “Residents who feel they cannot communicate comfortably with management may be less likely to report maintenance issues, ask questions, seek assistance or engage with community programs,” Meng said. “Over time, this can impact resident satisfaction and retention.”   

The greatest hurdle management faces is not the number of languages represented among a property’s residents. Rather, it’s an inconsistent approach, according to Montes. Machine translation is adequate when posting pool hours. But it shouldn’t be used to translate leases, legal notices or other important documents. Nor should staff depend on a resident’s children or a neighbor to interpret conversations about finances, privacy or possible eviction, she said.

Making communication work

When faced with the challenge of communicating with residents who collectively speak a number of different languages, property teams don’t need to immediately accommodate 20 different languages, Montes said. She recommends instead identifying the most prevalent languages spoken at the property, translating applications, leases, emergency procedures and rent notices from English into those languages and then using a professional interpretation service for the other languages. Staff should also be trained to avoid ever refusing a tour or application due to a language barrier, she said.

Other companies take different approaches. At Draper and Kramer, Vice President of Marketing James Love said his company prefers to hire multilingual team members and supplement their efforts with translation tools such as Google Translate.  

Meng recommends adhering to a specific roster of best practices. These include understanding the property’s resident demographics; hiring and retaining multilingual team members when possible; providing translated versions of frequently used resident communications and informational materials; ensuring residents know what language-assistance resources are available; and using culturally aware communication practices that recognize community-specific needs and preferences.

Meng also encourages in-person, direct conversations for complex topics like lease reviews, compliance mandates or resident concerns. And team up with local community organizations capable of linking residents with services and resources.

Before hiring additional staff or using a third-party service, property managers should first ask current employees if anyone has the needed language skills, according to Johana Williams, a regional manager at Utopia Management in San Diego. If so, those employees already have knowledge of company systems and processes, letting them quickly begin assisting these residents.

Williams also offers the reminder that translation and interpretation are different skills. “That difference is amplified when dealing with legalese and the precise intricacies of lease documents and rental agreements,” she said. “In sensitive cases like this, a bad translation may do more harm than good by causing confusion or misinterpretation.”

Beyond translation

Residents who speak other languages can also be made to feel more comfortable through the use of signage, décor and design, said Rachael Aziz, principal for place-based creative agency All Together in Evanston, Ill.  “You can have a ‘bike storage’ sign, or you can have a sign with a bike illustrated,” she said. “Show instead of tell.”

In attempting to create a welcoming atmosphere for a dominant multilingual population within the property, Aziz recommends meeting with community organizations representing that group that can help with language translations and offer feedback on what people from specific countries might want. In the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Ill., Aziz said, her firm works with organizations serving the Hmong community to ensure its interests are represented in the local library and school district.

Where technology falls short

Property management staffs increasingly rely on fast-evolving technological tools to bridge the gap between English and other languages. Meng reports AI-powered tools and automated messaging can make communication between management and residents easier and more effective. Staff should view technology as a complement to human interaction, rather than a replacement for it, he said.

“Housing decisions often involve sensitive or complex conversations that require empathy, cultural understanding and nuanced communication,” he noted, adding that for that reason bilingual team members remain very important, particularly in affordable communities where residents need assistance in exploring housing and social service resources.

He also believes language accessibility will grow into a more integrated and proactive property management capability over the coming few years. Instead of treating translation as an occasionally accommodated status, Men expects top firms to integrate multilingual communication into all aspects of the resident experience. He and his colleagues also foresee AI-assisted translation and communication tools enabling real-time interactions across languages. “But there will continue to be strong demand for multilingual property management professionals who can provide the trust, cultural understanding and personal connection that technology alone can’t replicate,” he said.

For his part, Love argues the most successful owners, operators and property managers will continue to evolve their communities’ communications and cultural opportunities to match changing demographics in the areas they serve. Montes stressed the importance of effective communication with non-English speakers. “Occupancy follows trust, and trust follows comprehension,” she said. “Language-accessible operations are how owners lease faster, retain residents longer and reduce preventable disputes.”