On Wednesday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced that the State of Georgia has entered into a settlement of $35 million with Tempoe, LLC ending a multistate investigation into the company’s advertising and leasing through retailers across the United States.
This multistate investigation included 41 states and the District of Columbia and showed that Tempoe’s marketing and sales practices frequently misled consumers into believing they were signing up for an installment plan or credit sale when they were actually entering into a lease agreement for products that they could never own. According to a press release from Carr’s office, the “complicated structure of the lease agreements and the lack of required disclosures caused more confusion and often resulted in consumers paying 2-3 times the purchase price of the product or service.”
“This latest action will provide financial relief to people across our state, and it’s yet another step in our ongoing efforts to protect Georgia consumers,” said Carr. “We will continue to hold accountable any company that purposefully engages in deceptive tactics in an attempt to mislead or take advantage of hardworking Georgians.”
The press release said, “Through this settlement, Tempoe is permanently banned from engaging in future consumer leasing activities. All existing leases will be cancelled, and consumers may retain the leased merchandise in their possession without any further financial obligation to Tempoe – resulting in approximately $33 million of “in-kind” financial relief to consumers nationwide. Additionally, Tempoe shall not provide negative information regarding lessees to any consumer reporting agency.”
“Consumers with existing leases do not need to take any action as Tempoe has automatically cancelled their account(s) as a result of this settlement,” it added. “Finally, as part of this agreement, Tempoe will pay $2 million: $1 million to the states and jurisdictions participating in this settlement and $1 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has agreed to a parallel settlement resolving the same alleged misconduct.”
Carr is joined in this settlement by the Attorneys General of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
