ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES $183.5 MILLION MULTISTATE SETTLEMENT WITH RENT-TO-OWN FINANCE COMPANY ACIMA DIGITAL LLC

Illinois to Receive More Than $1.4 Million in Restitution; $3.4 Million in Lease Forgiveness 

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 43 attorneys general, today announced a $183.5 million multistate settlement with Acima Digital LLC and its direct parent company, Acima Holdings LLC (Acima). 

Acima is a rent-to-own finance company that partners with retailers across the country, including in Illinois, to offer financing to consumers via rental-purchase agreements. The settlement, which was filed in conjunction with the coalition’s complaint, resolves allegations that Acima deceptively advertised its rental-purchase agreements, which misled consumers about the nature and cost of rental-purchase agreements and marked up the cash price of rented merchandise. 

“Acima has targeted vulnerable consumers in Illinois and across the country with deceptive advertising for its rent-to-own financing program, which ends up accruing higher out-of-pocket costs,” Raoul said. “I will continue to defend Illinois consumers’ rights and peace of mind by ensuring finance companies uphold Illinois laws that protect consumers from deceptive and fraudulent business practices.” 

Raoul and the coalition allege 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, which would actually cost twice as much money. Acima also advertised its rental-purchase product using terms like “credit,” which often misled consumers into believing they were obtaining traditional financing.  

Raoul and the coalition allege other deceptive acts and practices included the consummation and servicing of its rental-purchase agreements, as well as its debt collection and credit reporting practices. For example, Acima’s process for electronically executing rental-purchase agreements obscured the terms of the transaction, which confused consumers. Acima also obstructed consumers’ ability to terminate their rental-purchase agreements without penalty by returning their merchandise to Acima.  

Under the settlement, Acima has agreed to: 

• Conduct robust training of its retail partners for a period of 10 years.
• Refrain from making certain representations in its advertising unless other material information is clearly and conspicuously 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.
• Properly handle late deliveries, merchandise damaged at the time of delivery and repairs to merchandise during the course of the lease, if state law or the rental-purchase agreement requires Acima to maintain the merchandise during the course of the lease. 

Consumers who are eligible to obtain restitution or lease forgiveness pursuant to this settlement do not need to take any action. Eligible consumers for restitution will be contacted by the settlement administrator, and eligible consumers for lease forgiveness will be contacted by Acima. 

The settlement consists of $43 million in restitution for consumers, $10.5 million to the states and lease balance reductions totaling $130 million. Illinois will receive $1.4 million in restitution; $3.4 million in lease forgiveness; and more than $387,000 as a payment to the state. 

Joining Raoul in the settlement are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, 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, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.