Nerd Wallet Publishes Important Collection of Stories About Rent-to-Own

by Jeff Sovern

The landing page is here.  Here is an excerpt from one story, Kicking in Doors and Crushing Credit: How Rent-A-Center Torments Customers, though other stories on the web site merit attention, and there is more to this one than we can include here:

Virginia real estate investor Olivia Quinn says she lost her mortgage because Rent-A-Center, the nation’s largest rent-to-own merchandise company, failed to remove a black mark on her credit report. She had paid what she owed for the bedroom furniture — twice.

Leroy Walton of Georgia settled his rental account with Rent-A-Center in 2013, his records show. But for years after, he says debt collectors pursued him, even threatening him with arrest.

Jessica Gonzalez’s federal lawsuit says she huddled with her two boys in a closet of her Florida home while a Rent-A-Center employee pounded on her house to collect rent on her household goods.

And Andrea Gorman told authorities that Rent-A-Center workers kicked in the front door of her Ohio home after she fell behind on payments for a laptop.

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