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6.9 Foreign Language Contracts
California Civil Code Section 1632 has a specific and important requirement that applies when you negotiate a vehicle sale primarily in a language other than English. If you negotiate a deal with a customer primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean — those five specific languages — you must provide the customer with a translated copy of the contract in that language before the customer signs the English-language contract.
Notice the trigger: the obligation arises when the negotiation is conducted “primarily” in one of these five languages. If your salesperson negotiates the entire deal in Spanish — discussing the vehicle, the price, the trade-in value, the monthly payment — then a Spanish-language version of the contract must be provided to the buyer. The buyer then reviews the Spanish-language version, and when they’re ready, they sign the English-language contract (the English version remains the binding document).
This applies to all five covered languages: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean. These are the five languages specified in the statute. If your negotiation is conducted primarily in a language not on this list — say, Farsi or Armenian — Section 1632 does not technically require a translation. However, best practice is to ensure that your customer understands the contract they’re signing, regardless of the language.
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⚠ Key Compliance Point Foreign Language Contracts (Civil Code §1632): • Five covered languages: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean • If negotiation is conducted primarily in a covered language, a translated copy must be provided before signing • The English-language contract remains the binding document • Applies to vehicle sales contracts and financing agreements |
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❌ Common Mistake A dealership employs a salesperson who is fluent in Vietnamese. The salesperson conducts the entire negotiation in Vietnamese with a customer, then walks the customer into the finance office where everything switches to English. The customer signs the English-language contract without ever receiving a Vietnamese translation. This violates Civil Code §1632. The dealer must have Vietnamese-language contract translations available when employing Vietnamese-speaking salespeople who negotiate in that language. |