Vermont AG: Acima Rent-to-Own Settlement Secures $50K Restitution

Attorney General Charity Clark today announced a multistate settlement with Acima Digital, LLC and its direct parent company, Acima Holdings, LLC, a national rent-to-own finance company. The settlement resolves allegations that Acima deceptively advertised its rent-to-own financing agreements, known as “rental-purchase agreements.” Under the settlement agreement, Acima will pay $43 million nationally in consumer restitution, $10.5 million to the participating states, and reduce $130 million in lease balances. In Vermont, the State will receive $54,806 in civil penalties, and eligible consumers will receive $50,452 for consumer restitution and lease forgiveness. The bipartisan coalition of 43 states alleged that Acima marketed its rental-purchase agreements as 90-day pay-off programs without disclosing that consumers were automatically defaulted into the maximum 12-month term whereby consumers could pay approximately two times the cash price advertised by Acima’s retail partner. Acima also misled consumers into believing that they were obtaining traditional financing, and obstructed consumers’ ability to terminate their rental-purchase agreements without penalty by returning their merchandise to Acima. Acima has agreed to injunctive terms to address these practices, including to: Conduct robust training of its retail partners; Refrain from making certain representations in its advertising unless other material information is clearly disclosed; Refrain from obscuring the material terms and conditions of its rental-purchase agreements during Acima’s electronic signature process; Refrain from marking up the cash price from that of Acima’s retail partners; Refrain from obstructing consumers’ ability to terminate their rental-purchase agreements by returning the merchandise to Acima; Refrain from reporting rental-purchase agreements to the big three credit reporting agencies for a period of five years; and 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. The state attorneys general that joined Attorney General Clark in today’s settlement are 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, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Consumers who are eligible to obtain restitution or lease forgiveness under this settlement do not need to take any action and will be contacted by the settlement administrator. Consumers who are eligible to receive lease forgiveness will be contacted by Acima.

Lawyers advising rent-to-own or consumer finance companies should review their clients' advertising practices and rental-purchase agreement disclosures, particularly regarding 90-day pay-off programs and termination clauses, to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws and avoid similar deceptive practices that led to this multistate settlement. Compliance officers in this sector should update internal policies and training for sales partners to align with the injunctive terms agreed to by Acima, focusing on clear disclosure, electronic signature processes, and merchandise return policies.

Source: Original reporting via Vermont Attorney General