Thorn Americas Settles Rent-to-Own Suit

Thorn Americas Inc., the U.S. unit of Britain’s Thorn, settled a class-action lawsuit for $9.35 million that was brought by customers who claimed they were wrongfully charged fees at the leading U.S rent-to-own company’s Rent-A-Center stores, lawyers for the customers said. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, claims customers were regularly charged twice the cost of an item under “rent-to-own” contracts, with an option to buy at the end of the rental term. The suit claims these rental contracts are the same as installment sales with illegal interest rates. The interest rates were legally capped at 18% at that time, lawyers said. The suit is the latest of several brought against Rent-A-Center, which has about 25% of the $4-billion market for rented consumer goods.