43州与先租后买公司 Acima 达成1.835亿美元和解：4300万美元退赔消费者、1.3亿美元减免租约余额
缅因州总检察长 Aaron M. Frey 11月13日在州府 Augusta 宣布，43个州的总检察长与先租后买金融公司 Acima Digital, LLC 及其母公司 Acima Holdings, LLC 达成总额1.835亿美元的跨州和解。和解包括4300万美元消费者退赔、向各州支付1050万美元，以及总计1.3亿美元的租约余额减免。
Acima 是一家先租后买金融公司，与缅因州零售商合作，通过租赁购买协议向消费者提供商品融资。各州指控 Acima 以误导方式宣传其租赁购买协议，让消费者对协议的性质与成本产生误解，还以欺骗方式抬高所租商品的现金价格，并在协议的订立、履约、债务催收与信用报告等环节存在欺骗行为。
缅因州将获得6.1万多美元退赔、4.8万美元直接支付给受影响的缅因州消费者，以及超过25.4万美元的贷款减免。
「Acima 用藏着条款的合同把消费者套住，让他们最终多花了钱；消费者想取消时，Acima 又设置了不必要的障碍。」Frey 说，消费者应当能够相信广告是真实的、合同写什么就是什么、企业在长期交易中会公平待人。
43州联盟指控，Acima 把租赁购买协议宣传为「90天付清」计划，却没有披露消费者会自动进入最长12个月的期限，按该期限消费者要付的钱可达其零售伙伴标示现金价格的约两倍。Acima 还使用「信用」等说法宣传其产品，让消费者误以为自己获得的是传统融资；其电子签署流程又把交易条款藏了起来，加重了消费者的困惑。Acima 还阻碍消费者通过退还商品、无罚款地终止租赁购买协议。
按和解的禁令条款，Acima 同意：对零售伙伴进行充分培训；在广告中作出特定表述时，须清楚醒目地披露其他重要信息；在电子签署过程中不得再遮掩租赁购买协议的重要条款；不得抬高零售伙伴的现金价格；不得阻碍消费者退货终止协议；五年内不得向三大信用报告机构报告租赁购买协议；并须妥善处理迟交货、交付时已损坏的商品，以及在租期内依法维修商品。
参与和解的州总检察长来自阿拉斯加、亚利桑那、阿肯色、科罗拉多、康涅狄格、特拉华、佛罗里达、佐治亚、夏威夷、爱达荷、伊利诺伊、印第安纳、艾奥瓦、堪萨斯、肯塔基、路易斯安那、马里兰、马萨诸塞、密歇根、密西西比、密苏里、明尼苏达、内布拉斯加、新罕布什尔、新泽西、内华达、北卡罗来纳、北达科他、俄亥俄、俄克拉何马、俄勒冈、宾夕法尼亚、罗得岛、田纳西、德克萨斯、犹他、佛蒙特、弗吉尼亚、华盛顿、西弗吉尼亚、威斯康星与怀俄明等州。
符合退赔或租约减免资格的消费者无须采取任何行动：有权获得退赔的消费者将由和解管理方联系，有权获得租约减免的将由 Acima 联系。
（来源：缅因州总检察长办公室）
43 States Reach $183.5 Million Settlement With Rent-to-Own Company Acima: $43 Million in Restitution, $130 Million in Lease Reductions
Maine Attorney General Aaron M. Frey announced in Augusta on November 13 that a coalition of 43 state attorneys general has reached a $183.5 million multistate settlement with rent-to-own finance company Acima Digital, LLC and its direct parent company, Acima Holdings, LLC. The settlement consists of $43 million in restitution for the benefit of consumers, a $10.5 million payment to the states, and lease balance reductions totaling $130 million.
Acima partners with retailers to offer financing to consumers through rental-purchase agreements. The states alleged that Acima deceptively advertised its agreements in a manner that misled consumers about their nature and cost, deceptively marked up the cash price of the merchandise being rented, and engaged in deceptive acts in the consummation and servicing of the agreements and in its debt collection and credit reporting practices.
Maine will receive more than $61,000 in restitution, $48,000 paid directly to affected Maine consumers, and more than $254,000 in lease forgiveness.
"Acima deceived consumers by trapping them in contracts with hidden terms that ultimately cost more money. When consumers wanted to cancel, Acima made it unnecessarily difficult," Frey said. "Consumers should be able to trust that advertisements are accurate, that contracts say what they mean, and that businesses will be dealing fairly when engaging in a long-term transaction."
The coalition alleged that Acima marketed its agreements as 90-day payoff programs without disclosing that consumers were automatically defaulted into the maximum 12-month term, under which they could pay approximately two times the cash price advertised by Acima's retail partner. Acima also used terms like "credit," misleading consumers into believing they were obtaining traditional financing, and its electronic execution process obscured the terms of the transaction. Acima also obstructed consumers' ability to terminate agreements without penalty by returning their merchandise.
Under the settlement's injunctive terms, Acima agreed to conduct robust training of its retail partners; to refrain from making certain advertising representations unless other material information is clearly and conspicuously disclosed; to refrain from obscuring material terms during its electronic signature process; to refrain from marking up retail partners' cash prices; to refrain from obstructing terminations by merchandise return; to refrain from reporting rental-purchase agreements to the big three credit reporting agencies for five years; and to properly handle late deliveries and damaged merchandise and meet its repair obligations during leases.
The attorneys general joining the settlement are those of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Eligible consumers do not need to take any action. Those eligible for restitution will be contacted by the settlement administrator, and those eligible for lease forgiveness will be contacted by Acima.
(Source: Office of the Maine Attorney General)
来源：缅因州总检察长办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于缅因州 Augusta 的缅因州议会大厦（CC BY-SA 2.0，Wikimedia Commons）。 / Image: The Maine State House in Augusta, Maine (CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
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