Rent A Center

What does a person do if he/she is short of money and can not get a loan at a bank because of a bad credit history? However, he/she needs to buy furniture, for example? In such cases people apply to rent to own companies.

Rent to own industry. Rent to own is a term for a business which rents items, typically furniture or appliances, with the condition that the item will belong to the renter if the term of rent runs out. As long as rent to own stores do not require payment up front, so they are popular with poor people. However, they offer high interest rates and higher cash prices than other stores; thus, they are more expensive than buying the same item right away. This has led to the situation when the rent to own industry is accused of predatory lending. The industry representatives argue that their business is a lease, opposed to a credit sale, and claim that no interest is charged. The companies assure that they provide an easy, affordable way for people to furnish their homes without incurring a continuing obligation and without needing access to credit. 75% of all the industry transactions are weekly. The consumers agree to pay a weekly amount for leasing property. The other 25% of agreements are paid once or twice a month. As a rule, the agreements are concluded for a 12, 18, or 24 month term. If the consumers rent the merchandise for the full term, ownership is acquired. A consumer has the right to return a rented item at any time without penalty. One of the representatives of the industry is Rent-A-Center Company.

Rent-A-Center.

Rent A Center is rent to own company. It was founded in 1986. At the present time, the company operates 3,500 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The Rent-A-Center stores offer name-brand furniture, appliances, electronics, and computers. The clients get the merchandise through flexible rental purchase agreements. Rent A Center offers same-day delivery, 90 days same as cash and an early purchase option. If the merchandise need repair while it is on rent, the company repairs it at no additional cost. Rent-A-Center also offers a product substitute for their clients to use while theirs is in service. The company is rapidly growing due to acquisitions and new store openings. Rent-A-Center's operations include: Get It Now! (merchandise on an installment sales basis); Cash AdvantEdge (short-term loans, check cashing, money transfers, and other convenient financial services); Rent-A-Center Corporate Leasing (provides furnishings for businesses that need short-term living arrangements for employees); National Product Service (provides merchandise warranty and repair service to our stores and third parties from 30 service centers located across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico).