Acima Digital, LLC and its parent, Acima Holdings, LLC, will pay restitution and cut lease balances for New Hampshire customers under a $183.5 million multistate settlement, Attorney General John M. Formella announced Nov. 13. Of the New Hampshire total, 203 consumers will receive $54,770 in restitution and 224 consumers will receive $372,763 in lease forgiveness.
The state itself will separately receive $218,029, according to the Department of Justice announcement. Nationally, the settlement consists of $43 million in restitution, a $10.5 million payment to the states and $130 million in lease balance reductions. The release says a coalition of 43 states joined the agreement, including all five other New England states.
Acima is a rent-to-own finance company that partners with New Hampshire retailers to offer rental-purchase agreements. The states alleged that it deceptively advertised those agreements and deceptively marked up the cash price of the merchandise. The release also cites deceptive practices in how the company completed and serviced agreements, collected debts and reported to credit agencies.
According to the coalition's allegations, Acima marketed the agreements as 90-day payoff programs without telling consumers they were automatically placed on the maximum 12-month term, on which they could pay about twice the cash price the retailer advertised. The states also alleged that Acima used terms such as "credit" that led consumers to believe they were getting traditional financing, that its electronic signing process obscured the terms, and that it obstructed consumers who tried to end an agreement without penalty by returning the merchandise.
The settlement requires changes going forward. Acima agreed to train its retail partners, to stop marking up the cash price above what its retail partners charge, and to stop obscuring material terms during electronic signing. It also agreed not to obstruct returns of merchandise to end an agreement, to handle late deliveries and goods damaged at delivery properly, and to meet its legal obligations to repair merchandise during a lease. Acima agreed not to report rental-purchase agreements to the three major credit reporting agencies for five years, and to avoid making certain advertising representations unless other material information is clearly disclosed.
"Importantly, this settlement includes both restitution and lease forgiveness for past practices and strong injunctive relief to address practices going forward," Formella said in the release.
Eligible consumers do not need to take any action. Those owed restitution will be contacted by the settlement administrator, and those eligible for lease forgiveness will be contacted by Acima. The release does not say how many New Hampshire accounts overlap between the two groups, how the individual amounts were set, or when payments will begin, and it includes no statement from Acima.
Consumers can file complaints with the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau online at the Department of Justice's complaint page or by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-888-468-4454.
