Renting to own home furniture and other household items has its advantages.
Market research show continued misunderstanding by the general public regarding rent to own home furniture and other household items.
Affordable home furnishing website, Shop RTO, releases its top five myths regarding rent to own home furniture, computers, appliances and electronics. The myths are documented through on-going research conducted by the industry’s trade association.
Consumer focus groups and telephone polling conducted by The Association of Progressive Rental Organizations (APRO) reveal that most Americans do not know what rent to own stores are and what they do know is incorrect.
The rent to own industry’s consumer facing website, ShopRTO.com, looks to help dispel the myths in hopes that consumers will make rent to own a consideration when shopping for home furnishings.
1. The consumer is legally obligated to own the product. When renting to own, there is no obligation to own, no legal debt incurred and the consumer can return the product at any time for any reason without penalty.
2. Rent to own stores do not offer name brand merchandise. All rent to own stores offer the popular name brands ranging from Sony, Apple, Whirlpool, Ashley furniture and many others.
3. Rent to own stores charge high interest rates. Because there is no legal debt and credit is not extended, interest is not charged.
4. Rent to own contracts are long term and expensive. Industry leaders grapple with this accusation as they say it compares apples to oranges.
Comparing total cash price from retail to renting to own the same merchandise for the maximum number of rental payments, then rent to own owners readily admit that rent to own is more expensive. But, owners say, the rent to own price includes delivery, set up, pick up, maintenance beyond manufacturer warranty. The RTO agreement also includes a free loaner if the product must be fixed off premises. All of those services are added fees on a retail transaction.
Rent to own payments are like credit card payments where the consumer can pick the payments and change at any time. They can also execute the early purchase option and reduce total cost by 50%. The difference between the two is credit cards are legal contracts whereas rent to own agreements are not.
5. The customer can lose all previous payments if they miss a payment. Rent to own stores are governed by law to have payment reinstatement rights. But, most rent to own companies offer ‘lifetime’ reinstatement rights and most companies extend payment reinstatement well beyond what the law requires.
Local rent to own stores have different policies, inventories and payment plans so consumer experts advise rent to own customers shop around between their local rent to own stores to find the one best for their circumstances.
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