SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rent-A-Center, one of the country’s biggest rent-to-own business, will pay $15.5 million to settle California’s accusations that it misguided and overcharged 10s of thousands of consumers, Attorney General Rob Bonta stated Tuesday.
An investigation of the business’s “kiosk” company inside conventional retail furnishings shops discovered that consideringthat 2014, it utilized what Bonta called an pumpedup “cash cost” for items that was 15% greater than the real retail cost, amongst other supposed infractions.
The practice impacted more than 100,000 agreements through the business’s Preferred Lease line, formerly understood as AcceptanceNOW, although the business likewise has more than 2,000 standalone shops.
Many customers lookfor rent-to-own alternatives without understanding that “the overall rate they pay will end up being much greater” than if they purchased straight-out, Bonta stated. And with Rent-A-Center’s 15% “illegal upcharge,” he stated, “that sofa, that refrigerator or that washer possibly expense havingahardtime households hundreds of extr