Old Dominion News

RICHMOND, Va. — Attorney General Jason Miyares today announced a settlement with Tempoe, LLC that resolves a multistate investigation into Tempoe’s advertising and leasing to consumers through retailers across the nation. The multistate investigation, which included 41 states and the District of Columbia, revealed that Tempoe’s marketing and sales practices often misled consumers to believe they were signing up for an installment plan or credit sale when, in reality, they were entering into a lease agreement. The complicated structure of the lease agreements, as well as 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.

“It’s unacceptable that this company misled consumers and trapped them into lease agreements by making them believe they were signing up for an installment plan or credit sale,” said Attorney General Miyares. “Consumers expect and deserve transparency from companies when making important financial decisions. Holding bad actors like Tempoe accountable sends a message that taking advantage of Virginians will not be tolerated.”

Through this settlement, Tempoe is permanently banned from engaging in future consumer leasing activities. All existing leases will be canceled, and consumers may retain the leased merchandise in their possession without any further financial obligation to Tempoe. Additionally, Tempoe shall not provide negative information regarding lessees to any consumer reporting agency. 

This settlement is resulting in approximately $33 million of “in-kind” financial relief to consumers nationwide. Consumers with existing leases do not need to take any action as Tempoe has automatically canceled their account(s) as a result of this settlement.

Finally, as part of this settlement, 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.

The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) will be filed in the Richmond Circuit Court.

Original source can be found here.