A Draper-based rent-to-own finance company has agreed to a $183.5 million settlement after a coalition of 43 states, including Utah, accused it of misleading shoppers about what their rental-purchase deals would actually cost. Acima Digital and its parent company, Acima Holdings, agreed to the settlement following allegations that stretched from hidden contract terms to marked-up merchandise prices.
Acima is a subsidiary of Rent-A-Center, according to FOX 13 Salt Lake City, and the states say the company misled consumers about the true costs tied to its rental-purchase agreements. Oregon's Department of Justice says the lawsuit alleged Acima misled shoppers about how its rent-to-own deals worked and how much they would really cost.
The breakdown of the settlement is substantial: $43 million will go toward consumer restitution, $130 million toward lease forgiveness, and $10.5 million to the participating states themselves, per the same FOX 13 report. According to the Oregon Department of Justice, customers were automatically signed up for the full 12-month plan, which could cost about twice the store's sticker price — a detail that officials say sat at the heart of the deceptive-practices claims.
What States Say Acima Hid From Customers
Beyond the pricing confusion, the settlement addresses how Acima handled the fine print. The settlement addresses allegations that Acima hid agreement terms during its electronic signing process, and separately says the company made it difficult for consumers to end agreements without penalty when they tried to return merchandise.
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown framed the case around everyday purchases families make without realizing the full financial commitment. “Utahns who pay over time for a laptop or couch should not be surprised by the final bill,” Brown said, according to FOX 13. He added that the resolution is meant to restore trust in those transactions: “This settlement puts money back in Utah families' pockets and makes sure the deal they see is the deal they get.”
New Rules Acima Must Follow Going Forward
The settlement doesn't just resolve past complaints — it reshapes how Acima has to operate moving forward. The company must train its retail partners on the true nature of its rental-purchase agreements and their total cost relative to the cash price, and it is barred from marking up prices that were set by those retail partners.
Acima is also prohibited from making certain misleading advertising claims, including describing a pricier rental-purchase agreement as equivalent to paying cash outright, and from hiding agreement terms during electronic signing going forward. The company must let customers end their agreements by returning items without roadblocks, according to the Oregon Department of Justice, which also confirmed the deal requires Acima to stop reporting these rental-purchase agreements to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for five years. Acima is additionally required to properly handle late deliveries and merchandise that arrives damaged.
Utah's own rental-purchase statute already requires lessors to disclose, as applicable, the total number and dollar amount of payments needed to acquire ownership and when those payments are due, according to Utah Code.
Not Utah's First Rent-to-Own Fight This Year
This isn't the first time Utah has pushed back against a lease-to-own lender over confusing terms. Utah previously joined 16 other states in a $665 million settlement with Snap Finance, according to KUTV, over allegedly misleading information and confusing payment terms. That earlier deal canceled more than $16.7 million in lease payments owed by Utah consumers and sent the state $150,000 in direct payments.
