TAKE ACTION!
TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS TO REMOVE RENT-TO-OWN EXEMPTION
BACKGROUND
Rent-to-own stores offer consumers appliances, furniture, computers, and other goods, on self-renewing regular installments. Without credit checks or down payments, rent-to-own agreements are especially attractive to customers with poor or no credit. However, the interest rates charged on these transactions can be as high as 200 to 400 percent. An appliance costing $600 retail can end up costing a customer $2400. Currently, Wisconsin treats rent-to-own transactions like credit transactions and requires certain consumer protections, including the disclosure of interest rates. The state budget would remove these protections by exempting rent-to-own agreements from the Wisconsin Consumer Act.
WCC POSITION
The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin strongly oppose giving special treatment to an industry that practices usury. Respect for human dignity, preferential concern for the poor and vulnerable, and pursuit of the common good necessitate resisting any efforts to exempt rent-to-own companies from the Wisconsin Consumer Act.
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ACTION REQUESTED
Please call your State Senator and Representative before Thursday, May 23, and urge them to vote to remove the rent-to-own provision from the state budget.
- Catholic Charities and Society of St. Vincent de Paul agencies spend millions of dollars helping people living in poverty. These agencies see firsthand the ill effects of predatory businesses like rent-to-own.
- Rent-to-own businesses target the poor and thrive on their perpetual indebtedness.
- If we want Wisconsin to prosper, we need laws, such as the Wisconsin Consumer Act, that encourage transparent, responsible, and constructive business practices, not laws that facilitate deceptive, irresponsible, and destructive transactions.
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To call your State Senator and Representative, visit the Wisconsin State Legislature website at http://legis.wisconsin.gov and click on "Who Represents Me," or call the State Legislative Hotline, 1-800-362-9472. |
