Trenton – Today NJPIRG, NJ Citizen Action and AARP called on the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee to reject A3851, a bill that would legitimize the outrageous prices charged by the Rent-to-Own industry. “This bill would bless the Rent-to-Own industry’s current practices of charging poor people as much as four times what others pay for the same goods, plus fees” said Abigail Caplovitz of NJPIRG. “While the bill has some pro-consumer provisions, in sum they don’t come close to balancing the harm caused by letting the industry charge inflated prices and loan shark interest rates.”
As written, A3851 provides for inflated “cash prices” and interest rates that can be 152% or more, depending on the length of the Rent-to-Own contract. (152% is based on a one year contract.) The bill also allows for a number of additional fees, including application fees, processing fees, insurance related fees, late payment fees, default fees, pick up fees, and reinstatement fees.
The groups wondered why A3851 was being considered now, given that the NJ Supreme Court will decide this term if existing consumer protection laws apply to the Rent-to-Own industry. “Passing this bill would simply prevent the Court from doing the right thing by consumers,” Caplovitz explained.
A wide array of national and New Jersey consumer and civil rights groups have written letters to the Assembly explaining their opposition to the bill: NJPIRG, AARP, NJ Citizen Action, NJ NAACP, the Latino Leadership Alliance, the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry, NJ Consumers League, USPIRG, ACORN, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “All of these groups criticized the bill for the same basic reason,” explained Caplovitz. “It’s unconscionable to make the poor pay so much more.”
NJPIRG Citizen Lobby is one of the state’s largest advocacy groups, working for the public interest on behalf of our 25,000 members. Our mission is to deliver persistent, results oriented public interest activism that protects our environment, encourages a fair, sustainable economy, and fosters responsive, democratic government. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight to end them, using the time tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation.
This spring and summer, NJPIRG is working to accomplish six priorities: to pass legislation to clean up unhealthy diesel pollution from trucks and buses, to pass legislation that prevents identity theft, to stop legislation that allows the Rent-to-Own industry to continue its abusive practices; to adopt state regulations to increase our state’s renewable energy goal to 20% by 2020, to ensure Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield’s assets are directed toward making health coverage more accessible and affordable, and to repeal the pro-developer fast track law.
