Today I attended the Humboldt County Association of Realtors Equal Opportunity Committee meeting.  We discussed issues relating to how our Realtor Community works with and reacts to the public, especially to prospects and clients.  The main thing we got out of today's meeting was that we as an association, need to come up with a directory or resource to help the Realtor community when they are working with clients who are from minority groups.  This directory would be a valuable resource providing connection to  language interpreters, different ethnics groups, cultural events and other resources. 

Sometimes it is helpful for real estate agents to have interpreters with them when a client is not able to speak English,but this language interpreter should be certified so that they are able to fully interpret what is required in the contracts, inspections or any other real estate related activity.  This resource will be nice to have and will help the real estate community, at least in Humboldt County California, when dealing with clients who are not capable of speaking English and understanding the contracts. 

The first step our committee is proposing, in coming up with such a directory, is to contact local Humboldt County Real Estate Brokers and inquire them about their needs for such a directory and if so, what sort of need would they have for that resource.  We will also ask brokers if they have staff in their offices that do have those language and cultural knowledge and skills to be able to help out their fellow real estate agents in the association.  They might also have suggestions to other resources in the community as well that will be helpful.

This is a first step in helping the public, especially minority groups, in achieving the American Dream of home ownership.  If their real estate agents cannot help them or understand them, then who will?