Rent To Own Company Settles Unfair Business Practices Suit

ACA International reports that Rent-A-Center, a large rent-to-own consumer goods company, has settled a lawsuit filed by the State of Massachusetts. The suit claimed that Rent-A-Center violated consumer protection laws and debt collection regulations.

Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the $8.75 million settlement, facilitated through an assurance of discontinuance, on Nov. 30.

Rent-A-Center operates more than 40 retail locations in Massachusetts, many of them in low-income communities and communities of color. It leases basic household essentials to customers who have neither the cash nor the credit to make purchases at traditional retailers.

Rent-A-Center allegedly engaged in coercive and abusive conduct towards customers who failed to make rental payments. The allegations include misuse of the state’s criminal processes.

Customers who missed payments were reportedly subject to filed applications for criminal theft and larceny complaints in Massachusetts. The AG’s office discovered that Rent-A-Center often targeted customers who had made substantial payments for years before falling behind.

As part of the settlement, the company commits to discontinue filing criminal complaints for missed payments.

The AG’s investigation also found that the company violated debt collection regulations by “excessively” calling consumers’ residences, workplaces and personal phones. It failed to notify consumers of home visits or repossession attempts, which sometimes led to physical altercations between customers and company employees.

Under the terms of the assurance of discontinuance, the company will “make significant changes to its business practices to comply with state consumer protection laws, including fair debt collection and repossession practices.”

In 2022, Rent-A-Center entered into a $15.5 Million consent order with the California Attorney General for alleged violations of the state’s consumer protection laws.