You negotiated the lease in Spanish. California says you owe your tenant a written translation

Published July 26, 2026

Civil Code Section 1632(b) requires a full written translation of the lease, every term, before signing, if you negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean.

If you walked a prospective tenant through the lease mostly in Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Chinese, California Civil Code section 1632(b) requires you to hand over a full written translation of the entire lease, every term, in that language, before they sign. It covers leases, subleases, and rental agreements over one month on a residence. Skip it and the lease may not hold up.

What the statute actually says

Civil Code Section 1632(b) lists the exact languages the law covers. The statute names "Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean" as the five covered languages, and it applies when a party "negotiates primarily" in one of them, "orally or in writing," during the negotiation of certain contracts. Residential leases are their own numbered category in the statute, described as covering "a lease, sublease, rental contract or agreement, or other term of tenancy contract or agreement, for a period of longer than one month, covering a dwelling, an apartment, or mobilehome, or other dwelling unit normally occupied as a residence." Subleases are named explicitly, so this is not limited to a first lease signing.

The delivery requirement is specific too. The person who negotiated in one of those languages "shall deliver to the other party to the contract or agreement... a translation of the contract or agreement in the language in which the contract or agreement was negotiated, that includes a translation of every term and condition." That is not a summary or a cover letter explaining the gist. It is every term, translated, and it has to happen before the execution of the lease, not after.

Full text is here if you want to read it yourself: California Civil Code Section 1632, Leginfo.

Why this shows up constantly in the South Bay

This part of Los Angeles is not a hypothetical case for this statute. Torrance, Gardena, Lomita, Carson, and the harbor area have real, long standing Spanish speaking and Korean speaking populations, and Gardena in particular has a long history as a center of Japanese and Filipino community life, with plenty of Tagalog spoken day to day. If you own a unit in one of those cities and you are the kind of owner who shows the property yourself, answers questions yourself, and walks a prospective tenant through the lease yourself, there is a real chance that conversation happens primarily in a language other than English, because that is the most natural, most respectful way to make sure the tenant actually understands what they are agreeing to.

That instinct, to explain the lease in the tenant's own language rather than hand them an English document and hope, is a good one. It is also exactly the situation Section 1632 was written for. The law is not punishing you for being considerate. It is saying that if the negotiation happened primarily in that language, the paperwork has to match.

The step self managing owners skip

Most lease templates available online are English only. An owner who negotiates the lease terms in Spanish or Korean, then hands the tenant an English signature copy, has usually done nothing wrong in spirit. They walked the tenant through every clause, answered every question, made sure the tenant understood the rent, the deposit, the pet policy, the notice terms. But the statute is not asking whether the tenant understood the lease. It is asking whether they received a written translation of it, in the language the negotiation happened in, before they signed.

That is the step that gets skipped almost every time, because it does not feel like a missing disclosure. It feels like a formality on top of a conversation that already worked. A property manager who runs this kind of leasing regularly has the translation step built into the workflow before a signature ever happens. An owner doing this once or twice a year, self managing a unit or two, usually has no idea the requirement exists until something goes wrong and a tenant, or an attorney, raises it.

What this means for your building

If you have negotiated or plan to negotiate a lease primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, get a full written translation of the lease terms into that language and deliver it to the tenant before they sign, not after. This applies to a first lease, a renewal that changes terms, and a sublease. A partial translation, a verbal walkthrough, or an English lease with a translated cover note does not satisfy the statute. The requirement is a translation of every term and condition.

If you already have a signed lease where the negotiation happened in one of these languages and no written translation was delivered first, do not try to fix that yourself by translating it after the fact and calling it resolved. Get a licensed attorney's read on where that leaves you before you act.

Common questions

Does this apply if I only used a few Spanish or Korean phrases during the showing? The statute's threshold is negotiating "primarily" in the language. A handful of phrases during a walkthrough is a different situation than conducting the substantive lease discussion mostly in that language. Where exactly that line falls in your specific case is a legal judgment call, not one to make on your own.

Does this apply to a lease renewal, not just a new tenant? The statute's language covers "a lease, sublease, rental contract or agreement, or other term of tenancy contract or agreement" longer than one month on a residential dwelling, without carving out renewals. If you negotiate a renewal's terms primarily in a covered language, treat it the same way as a new lease.

What if the tenant tells me they don't need a translation, they understand English fine? The statute requires delivery of the translation based on the language the negotiation happened in, not on the tenant's own assessment of their English fluency. Do not treat a tenant's verbal waiver as a substitute for the written requirement without confirming that with an attorney first.

Last verified: July 25, 2026, against the current text of California Civil Code Section 1632. This is general information for property owners, not legal advice. Confirm your specific lease and language situation with a licensed attorney before you sign anything.

Kellie

Schofield Properties

323 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245

Topics: self-management, legal, south-bay

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Schofield Properties is a family run property management company at 323 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245. We have managed the South Bay since 1972 and personally oversee about 186 doors today. Book a call to talk about your property.