Woman Says Late Payments To Rent-A-Center Led To Threats, Arrest

KIRO 7 was the first to break the story last July that Washington state is suing Rent-A-Center for violating consumer protection laws.

Now, Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy has learned of a woman who says Rent-A-Center did more than just threaten her.

In court documents, State Attorney General Rob McKenna claims Rent-A-Centers harass their customers, even threaten to call police if bills aren’t paid on time.

Soon after Clancy’s July story aired, she received a phone call from a woman who says when she fell behind on her bills, she wasn’t just threatened by Rent-A-Center. She was arrested.

“They had me in the back of the police car,” Cheryle Franklin of Bremerton told Clancy.

Franklin claims she was cuffed and taken away by a Bremerton police officer back in February of 2000, after being stopped for a traffic violation on Magnuson Way. At the time, she says she didn't even know she was "wanted."

Franklin recalls, “they explained to me that Rent-A-Center did a warrant for my arrest for theft of their furniture. And I tried to explain, I didn’t steal the furniture -- that they wanted to harass me. And they said they still had to pick me up.”

Franklin admits she fell behind on payments on her more than $3,000 worth of rental furniture, but claims employees from the Rent-A-Center on Wheaton Way overstepped their boundaries when they tried to repossess the furniture by calling Franklin repeatedly at work. She also says they pounded on her door, scaring her daughter who was home alone after school.

“They would hit it so hard, you thought it was going to come off the hinges," Franklin remembers. “I did fall behind. I’m not saying I wasn’t late on payments. But the way they wanted to collect from me is what I didn’t appreciate.”

Attorney General McKenna tells KIRO 7 that Franklin isn't alone, and that consumer complaints statewide detail similar repossession stories that McKenna believes violate the state consumer protection act and lease practices act for debt collection. He tells Clancy “threatening them falsely with criminal arrest? There’s no criminal arrest that results from someone being behind on their payments to Rent-A-Center. That’s just false. And there’s a reason why debt collection companies are prohibited from using those tactics.”

But Franklin was arrested. And she plead guilty, fearing a conviction by jury would keep her in jail for a long time, away from her little girl.

“My main concern was, well, I guess it’s beneficial for me to do this because I have to take care of my daughter.”

Franklin didn't serve any jail time. However, she is still paying restitution to cover court costs.

Rent-A-Center spokesman Xavier Dominicis says the company, based in Texas, was within its rights to try and repossess furniture that hadn't been paid for. He tells Clancy the company warned Franklin in writing that employees would call police, so it wasn't an idle collection threat, but a legal attempt to recover its property.

Chris Casad, Chief of Case Management for the Kitsap County Prosecutor's office, agrees with Dominicis telling KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators, "it does not appear that Rent-A-Center overstepped its boundaries, as we found probable cause to file a criminal charge, and the defendant plead guilty."

But Franklin disagrees. “I’m not saying I’m perfect, and I’m on time on my bills, because I’m not. But it’s just the way you go about collecting.”

Rent-A-Center maintains it is not breaking any laws, and plans to fight the Attorney General’s office all the way to trial. Meanwhile, the company’s nationwide rating with the Better Business Bureau is currently a D-.

Click here to read more about the Attorney General’s complaints against Rent A Center.

Click here to read Rent A Center’s Lease-Purchase Agreement.

Click here to read Rent A Center’s Policy Statement on collection tactics.

Previous Stories: July 27, 2009: Rent-A-Center Accused Of Deception, Harassment