Rent to Own Furnishings – A Rip-Off?
Monday, November 28th, 2011Across North America, hundreds of rent to own furniture stores have been popping up over the past few years. In big and small cities alike, people can find stores such as Easy Home, Aarons, and many others. At a first glance, these stores seem great, as they help those who are unable to obtain alternative financing to furnish their homes. Best yet, theres no credit checks, and almost everyone is approved.
A quick look at Easy Home’s website reveals that you can get a computer for as low as $14 per week, a fridge for $18 per week, a new sofa set for $16 per week. This all seems pretty good doesn’t it… wrong. If you look at the total cost of the furnishings that you would purchase at these rent to home stores, its ridiculous… and I would say borders on scamming their customers.
If you have a look at an Easy Home flyer, you’re informed that the weekly rental rates are based upon an interest rate of 29.9%, which seems fair given the high risk nature of the business. However what they don’t tell you is the base rates that they’re using to calculate the 29% interest. The Flyer specifically states 29.9% interest APR based upon “product cost.” However no where are you able to find out this “Product Cost.” If you go into an Easy Home store and ask about a product cost, the employees will beat around bush without ever telling you an accurate product cost (other than a weekly rate).
For example, currently advertised on the Easy Home website is an Acer netback for $14 per week. Doesn’t seem bad… however when you multiply that by the 104 weeks of payments, it is equal to $1456. Now how much does this netback cost in Future Shop or Best Buy… it costs $199. Thats right, you’re paying 700% for this computer, meaning that their base price is something like $1200 before the interest. Other products show similar ridiculous markups.
How do they get away with this? Well basically they prey on the desperation of others and their inability to perform basic math. Is it legal? Thats where there may be an issue. In Canada, it is illegal to charge anyone more than 60% per annum interest. What Easy Home is doing is very similar to the Payday loan stores. By charging ridiculous high fees (in this case, crazy product costs) they’re able to get away with saying that their interest rate is legal.
What do you think? Easy Home or a Ripoff?