Roland Scanlan is no stranger to the buying or selling process. A third-generation deaf homeowner, he has bought and sold three homes over the past two decades, and he’s currently in the process of selling his fourth home in Florida. Over the years, he’s come to understand contracts and financing, and he knows the power of homeownership.
But one major frustration has come up in most of these transactions: He’s had to serve as his own—and his wife’s—interpreter. His experience not only violates legal and formal guidance for providing public accommodation, but it also goes against recommended best practices for brokerages and real estate professionals.
Though he has always asked for an interpreter, Scanlan said that accommodation has rarely been granted. For the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, an interpreter serves as liaison between the service provider and the client. The interpreter evens the playing field and ensures equal access so that the deaf party can participate fully in the service at hand.
“I wanted to be a buyer,” he says, “not a buyer and my wife’s interpreter.”
For brokers focused on compliance and clients’ experience, Scanlan’s story should be an eye-opener. It highlights both a missed market opportunity and an area of legal responsibility that many in the industry have not fully examined or even considered.
One Transaction, Three Different Experiences
In his first two real estate transactions, Scanlan worked with hearing real estate agents who did not know sign language. Scanlan, who speaks verbally and uses hearing aids, translated conversations, contract language and complex terminology for his wife, who is considered profoundly deaf.
At a closing in 2004, stacks of paperwork required him to explain line by line what was being signed. During negotiations and inspections, he had to ask the agent to pause while he relayed information. He then translated his wife’s questions back to the agent.
“It was sticky,” he says. “I had to make sure the agent understood me, and then I had to change that information into something my wife could understand. It was double work.”
Buying a home is already stressful. Adding the role of interpreter onto a deaf client increases cognitive load and risk of misunderstanding. It also changes the dynamics between spouses.
“With an interpreter, my wife could jump into the conversation herself,” Scanlan explains. “Without one, everything had to go through me.”
His third experience in the housing market was different, because this time, his real estate agent was deaf.
“It was just smooth,” Scanlan says. “We were on the same level. There were no barriers. It was a wow experience.”
For the first time, he and his wife participated in the transaction equally. There was no bottleneck. No filtering. No concern about missed nuances in inspection reports or contract language.
Today, as he works to sell his fourth home, communication challenges have resurfaced, and brokers have the opportunity to make sure Scanlan’s next home purchase is smooth and equitable.
What the Law Requires
Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), real estate brokerages are places of public accommodation. That means they are required to provide effective communication and equal access to services.
Importantly:
- Clients cannot be required to supply their own interpreters.
- Family members should not be relied upon in place of qualified professionals unless the client has requested this, the accompanying adult agrees and reliance on the accompanying adult is appropriate under the circumstances.
- Cost alone does not exempt a business from compliance unless it rises to the level of “undue burden,” a high threshold relative to the organization’s overall resources.
Still, confusion persists when it comes to who is responsible for providing these accommodations.
“We hear this all the time,” says interpreter Emily Flemer, owner of Flemer Linguistics, noting that brokers might claim: “‘It’s not our responsibility. Agents are independent contractors.’”
That misunderstanding can leave agents unsupported and brokerages exposed.
“At the end of the day, it’s the brokerage that is the public-facing business,” Flemer says. “That’s who carries the compliance responsibility.”
To help connect the dots, Sarah Pharo, a nationally certified ASL interpreter and licensed real estate agent in Charlotte, N.C., often compares it to physical accommodations.
“You don’t ask agents to pay for a wheelchair ramp or accessible signage,” she says. “An interpreter is an accessibility accommodation in the same way.”
A Gap at the Closing Table
Pharo first noticed the issue not as an agent, but as an interpreter.
“For years, I was only called to the closing table,” Pharo says. At those closings, deaf buyers often asked fundamental questions about HOA fees, monthly payments and contract terms.
“These were major questions, and I kept thinking: Why is this being asked now?”
Pharo started to realize that many clients were navigating inspections, negotiations and paperwork without consistent access to qualified language interpretation. They weren’t asking questions during the process, because they felt like they couldn’t, and they were missing out on vital information until they got to the closing table.
“There was this sense of relief when we arrived,” she says, "like, finally, someone could explain it.”
But, Pharo says, at the closing table, it’s often too late for those questions. Deaf buyers need answers well before they’re ready to close on a home.
Pharo and Flemer co-founded a referral initiative to connect deaf clients with trained agents and qualified interpreters. Their goal was to remove barriers before they reached the closing table. What they quickly learned, however, was that many brokerages had not developed clear policies around accessibility.
“We expected this to be a service gap,” Flemer says. “We didn’t expect it to become an advocacy issue.”
Beyond Compliance: A Growth Opportunity
While the legal requirements are clear, the broader business implications are equally compelling.
“Some people buy one house and say, ‘I’m never doing that again,’” Scanlan says. Others choose to rent indefinitely rather than repeat a stressful experience.
For brokers navigating today’s competitive landscape, the deaf and hard-of-hearing community represent an underserved client base.
“You can’t say, ‘I’ve never had a deaf client,’” Flemer says. “If clients don’t see a safe, supportive space, they’re not going to come to you.”
Scanlan notes that technology has improved communication options. Texting, email and captioning tools have helped bridge gaps, but technology alone does not replace qualified interpretation during inspections, negotiations and closings.
“It’s about equal communication,” Pharo says. “Not partial communication.”
How Brokers Can Lead
The good news is that addressing this issue is practical and manageable. There are clear steps brokerages can take to make sure they’re in compliance and fostering a welcoming space for deaf clients.
1. Establish interpreter partnerships.
Just as medical offices maintain contracts with interpretation agencies, brokerages can form relationships with qualified interpreting services in advance. Pre-negotiated agreements streamline scheduling and remove uncertainty for agents.
2. Educate agents.
Brokers need to provide education to their agents on ADA regulations and what’s available to them when serving deaf and hard of hearing clients.
- They should know that qualified interpreters may be necessary at initial consultations, contract review, inspections and closing, or whenever a client requests one.
- Accommodation requests should be escalated promptly.
- Education empowers agents to respond confidently rather than defensively.
3. Budget proactively.
Interpreting services typically operate on hourly minimums. Compared to marketing expenses, office overhead and commission revenue, the cost per transaction is typically modest.
“This isn’t a $50,000 line item,” Flemer says. “It’s a business expense.” In most cases, federal tax credits and deductions may apply to accessibility accommodations, further reducing impact.
4. Normalize the conversation.
When brokers openly state that accessibility is part of their service model, they build trust, not only with deaf clients but also with agents who want to serve them responsibly.
Pharo notes that the shift starts with leadership.
“If the broker understands it and clearly communicates it, then agents don’t have to guess,” she says. “They know what to do.”
An Opportunity to Lead
For Scanlan, the outcome is simple.
“With an interpreter, my stress level would be so much lower,” he says. “My confidence would be higher. My wife would feel equal in the process.”
Brokers have an obligation to make that experience standard rather than exceptional.
By taking proactive steps now, brokers can reduce risk, strengthen agent support and unlock an underserved segment of the housing market.
More importantly, they can ensure that every deaf and hard-of-hearing client has full and equal access during one of life’s most significant transactions. And as Scanlan puts it, when that support is visible, the response will follow.
