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Rent-to-own News
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Rent-to-own News - Pennsylvania dealers host Attorney General during state meetingThe Pennsylvania Association of Rental Dealers (PARD) held their annual state association meeting in Harrisburg October 7 that featured honored guest and speaker, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.
The state association meeting sponsored by TRIB began with an introduction from TRIB representative, Dennis Shields, then followed with a seminar from Roger Whitacre on the growing civil and criminal liabilities for RTO dealers regarding identity theft.
APRO Public Affairs Director Richard May followed with an update on rent-to-own's congressional campaign and the recent media and Wall Street attention the industry is receiving through the economic credit crisis. Afterwards, Pennsylvania RTO state lobbyist John O'Connell briefed the group on the volatile state political climate that involves a high-profile investigation of state elected officials regarding ethical violations. The state official investigation is being led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett who addressed the group thereafter.
Corbett is significant to the rent-to-own industry as the Attorney General who did not oppose the state legislature from passing a state law that defined the rent-to-own transaction as a lease. Prior to Corbett's term, Pennsylvania state law defined the rent-to-own transaction as a credit sale virtually eliminating the rent-to-own industry from the state.
Any reconsideration to change the RTO transaction definition from that of a credit sale was blocked by the former attorney general. Corbett held an open mind regarding rent-to-own that ended up with Pennsylvania passing a rent-to-own regulatory bill that balances consumer protections with small business competition. Since the Pennsylvania bill was amended in 1997, Pennsylvania rent-to-own has thrived with competitive small business and corporate rent-to-own hosting the headquarters of rent-to-own's second largest chain, Rent Way, that has since been sold to Rent-A-Center.
The meeting concluded with a seminar on how attitude determines altitude by Colortyme's Bob Bloom. The meeting also held lively discussions moderated and prompted by PARD President Sandi Frye regarding PARD's sponsoring their members attendance to APRO's 2009 legislative conference, PARD's consideration of an organized charitable sponsorship and the tentative scheduling of their 2009 PARD meeting in Harrisburg next October. The PARD members filled the meeting room with 40 attendees representing rent-to-own corporate members, small business rent-to-own and several of rent-to-own's supportive vendors.
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RTOHQ: The Magazine
RTOHQ: The Magazine is the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations' award-winning rent-to-own industry magazine, and it's available here. | |||
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Click the links below to download each article as a PDF
Complete issue of RTOHQ: The Magazine | January-February 2010
The Year of the Tiger According to Chinese astrology, the Year of the Tiger begins in February 2010. Tiger John Cleek is making the most of it as he winds down his two-year term as APRO’s president. He reflects on personal and industry-wide accomplishments and the love of family that sustains him.
In the 30-year history of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations, 17 rental dealers have served as president. To mark APRO’s special anniversary, 15 of these leaders share their experiences in helping to shape the rent-to-own industry.
The Keep Rate Conundrum Calculating keep rate does not seem to improve the rent-to-own business in any discernible way—and yet this calculation, beyond all the others, has had enormous legal and political implications for rent-to-own almost since its inception.
Vendor Spotlight: What's in a Name? These three departed rent-to-own vendors--Joe Eason, Tom Kitchens and Norm Smith--live on, their names indelibly linked to key industry events and honors.
See the current issue of RTOHQ: The Magazine... [PDF format] [HTML format]
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Association of Progressive Rental Organizations 1504 Robin Hood Trail Austin, Texas 78703 800/204-2776, ext. 103 Fax 512/794-0097 |