Rent-to-own finance company to pay WA consumers $645K in multistate settlement

Rent-to-own finance company Acima Digital LLC will pay Washington consumers $645,000 in restitution and forgive $1.7 million in consumer debt to resolve allegations the company misled shoppers into unfair and deceptive rent-to-own agreements that left them on the hook for much more than the original price of the goods.

About 2,300 Washington consumers will receive restitution payments, about $280 on average. More than 1,300 Washington consumers will receive debt forgiveness at an average of $1,290 through the settlement with Acima and its parent, Acima Holdings LLC. Overall, the settlement between the companies and 43 states, including Washington, totals $183.5 million.

Acima partners with retailers to offer consumers rent-to-own financing for items including furniture, appliances, electronics, and jewelry. When a shopper uses a rental-purchase plan from Acima, Acima buys the item from the retailer and signs the consumer up for automatic monthly payments to Acima to eventually take ownership. According to the states' complaint, Acima deceptively advertised its plans as 90-day "same as cash" agreements, without disclosing the company defaulted consumers into 12-month plans that effectively charged shoppers more than double the original price advertised by the retailer. Acima also made it very difficult to return an item and cancel a rental-purchase agreement, consumers reported.

"We heard from Washington consumers who were infuriated to find out Acima's payment plans charged them more than twice the advertised price at the store," Attorney General Nick Brown said. "I'm grateful our consumer protection team secured this financial relief for Washingtonians and forced Acima to change its operations to no longer mislead consumers."

In the complaint, Washington alleges Acima violated the state's Lease Purchase Agreements Act, for, among other things, failing to clearly disclose terms of the agreements, charging more than the cash price of the product, and requiring consumers to pay fees to terminate a rental-purchase plan. Washington also alleges the company violated the Washington State Consumer Protection Act for deceptively advertising 12-month rental-purchase agreements as 90-day cash or interest-free agreements, unfairly blocking consumers' ability to cancel the agreements, and other actions.

Consumers eligible for restitution or lease forgiveness through this settlement do not need to take any action. The settlement administrator will contact consumers who qualify for restitution. Acima will contact consumers eligible to receive lease forgiveness.

Reforms to Acima's business practices

Under the settlement, Acima has agreed to make the following changes:

• Conduct robust training of its retail partners.
• Stop making certain advertising claims unless other material information is clearly and conspicuously disclosed.
• Stop obscuring the material terms and conditions of its rental-purchase agreements during Acima's electronic signature process.
• Stop marking up the cash price from that of Acima's retail partners.
• Make it easier for consumers to terminate their rental-purchase agreements by returning the merchandise to Acima.
• Stop reporting rental-purchase agreements to the big three credit reporting agencies for a period of five years.
• Properly handle late deliveries, merchandise damaged at the time of delivery, and adhere to legal obligations to make repairs to merchandise during the course of the lease.

Joining Brown in the settlement are the state attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The team handling the case for Washington includes Assistant Attorneys General Scott Kinkley, Ashley Gomez, Lynda Atkins, and Matt Geyman, and Paralegals Grace Monastrial, Mo Braithwaite, and Rosa Hernandez.

Read the complaint.

Read the settlement.

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