What Is The Rental Agreement At Rent-A-Center (Answered)

What Is The Rental Agreement At Rent-A-Center?

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What Is The Rental Agreement At Rent-A-Center

The Rent-A-Center rental agreement is a legally binding contract where the rental terms and conditions are spelled out between you and Rent-A-Center.

Typically, in the Rent-A-Center rental agreement, you’ll find legal provisions governing the term of the contract, payment terms, taxes, any fees you may have to pay, the cost to acquire the property, late payment fees, and so on.

The main objective of the Rent-A-Center rental agreement is to ensure that the merchandise you are renting remains Rent-A-Center’s sole property until you have fully paid the amounts owed under the contract.

Since the contract is a rent-to-own type of contract, your contract will state for how long you will need to make payments to fully acquire the ownership of the property.

Very often, property owners will significantly mark up the price of the property under a rent-to-own contract to justify the risk they are taking by renting out their property to you.

If you default on your payments or fail to pay the cost of ownership, you have a legal obligation to return the merchandise back to Rent-A-Center.

Now, to understand what is a Rent-A-Center rental agreement, it’s important to understand who is Rent-A-Center and what is a rental agreement.

Rent-A-Center

Rent-A-Center, also known as RAC, is an American public furniture and electronics rent-to-own company based in Plano, Texas.

Since its incorporation in 1986, the company has grown over the years and as of 2014, it accounted for 35% of the rent-to-own market in the United States.

Rental Agreement

A rental agreement is a legally binding contract, generally in writing, where a property owner temporarily rents a property to a person who is looking to pay to temporarily use the property.

For example, a car rental agreement is a type of contract where a property owner (the property owner) will temporarily give possession of his or her car to another person (the renter).

Rent-To-Own Agreement

A rent-to-own agreement, also known as the rental-purchase or rent-to-buy, is a type of rental agreement on a tangible property where the renter can rent the property for a certain period of time and return the property or decide to purchase the property.

The way a typical rent-to-own agreement works is that the renter will pay the agreed-upon rent on a weekly or monthly basis.

The renter can choose to return the merchandise back to the owner and terminate the agreement or choose to make payments for a pre-determined period of time to fully acquire the property.

Now that you know what is a rental agreement at Rent-A-Center, let me cover some important questions consumers ask.

What Are The Requirements For Rent-A-Center

The typical requirements for a rent-to-own purchase at Rent-A-Center can be summed up as follows:

• You should have a verifiable source of income
• You should have a verifiable address 
• You should have references 
• You should be able to make the payment for the first (or first few) periods

Before entering into a rental agreement with Rent-A-Center, they will contact your employer to ensure that you are effectively employed.

You may also be asked to provide pay stubs.

Also, they want to make sure that they can properly locate you at all times so they’ll verify your address.

In some cases, they will contact your landlord and in other cases they will ask you to provide proof of your address like a utility bill.

In addition to that, be prepared to give references of people who can vouch for you.

They will call your references to make sure that you’re the type of person they are comfortable doing business with.

Finally, you’ll likely be asked to make the payment for the first period (or sometimes more than the first period).

The idea here is for Rent-A-Center to have different channels to get to you in case you default on your rental agreement payment.

They will contact your references, employer, landlord, or other people you have put on your application to find you so they can make sure you are aware that you missed payment or are in default.

As a last resort, if you don’t make payments and do not voluntarily return the rented property, Rent-A-Center may file a civil lawsuit against you.

What Happens If You Default On Rent A Center Payment

If you don’t pay Rent-A-Center the amounts you owe under your contract, you are likely to see a few different measures taken against you.

Based on what I have been able to find in my online research, it appears that in the first few days that you are pasted your payment due date, Rent-A-Center will start calling you.

If they cannot get to speak to you, they will contact your references, your employer, landlord, or anyone else you had mentioned on your application.

There are consumers that have reported seeing Rent-A-Center send people over to their homes to collect the missed payment.

If your default persists, you should expect to receive a formal notice of payment where you’re asked to immediately remit payment or they will terminate the contract.

Ultimately, if they cannot get paid and you refuse to return their property, they will file a lawsuit against you.

In some jurisdictions, users have reported that they may contact local law enforcement and police filing a complaint against them for keeping their property without legal justification.

In most cases though, those who cannot make their payments will voluntarily return the merchandise.

Rent-A-Center will potentially sell it in the market and claim any financial loss they have incurred in the process (typically legal fees and the difference between the sale proceeds and what you owed under the contract).

Does The Renewal Agreement Supersede The Original Rental Agreement

A rental agreement renewal does not necessarily supersede your original contract.

In essence, the renewal agreement outlines the terms and conditions applicable to the renewal and does not change the original contract.

The original agreement remains in full force and effect.

Takeaways 

So there you have it folks!

Rent-A-Center is one of the largest American furniture and electronics rent-to-own companies doing business in thousands of company-owned stores in the United States and other countries.

If you’re looking to sign a rental agreement with Rent-A-Center, you should carefully read the terms of your contract to understand what it means.

If you need help, you should politely ask them to give you a draft copy of your contract so you can take more time to read it or even consult with an attorney.

This article is for general information only and you should make sure that you remain diligent at all times when signing a legally binding contract.

Good luck with your Rent-A-Center rental agreement!

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