Question and Answer Regarding Translation of Documents and Reports

Question and Answer Regarding Translation of Documents and Reports

Question: If an agent reads and writes a foreign language, can that agent translate documents and reports in that language for their client?

Answer: No. If an agent translates documents and reports, it leaves open the possibility of a client claiming that the agent misinterpreted or misread the report. For example, we had a case where an agent and the buyer spoke Spanish. The agent read the inspection report to the client in Spanish. The inspection report contained warnings regarding drainage issues. The agent read those warnings to the buyer and the buyer accepted them. The buyer later had drainage problems and sued the agent claiming that the agent failed to properly translate the warnings in the inspection report for the buyer. If the agent had not translated that information, the agent could have used the defense that the buyer received and inspected the inspection report. However, because there was a question about what was interpreted, we no longer had that defense available.

It is recommended that parties who speak a foreign language hire a translator, use an adult child or friend to assist them in the transaction and translate the documents.

-Shannon B. Jones, Partner, sbj@sbj-law.com

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