 APRO: The Official Voice of the Rent to Own Industry
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APRO's Exclusive Rent-to-own Audio and Podcasts
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Rent to own Audio & Podcasts: Sam Choate
Newly re-organized Georgia Rental Dealers were treated October 22 to a talk by 30-year rent-to-own lobbyist and attorney Sam Choate of Atlanta law firm Drew, Eckl and Farnham. He also works for public relations firm ConnectSouth.
Veteran RTO Lobbyist Sam Choate. In this exclusive APRO podcasts, Choate -- who authored rent-to-own legislation in numerous states throughout the 1980's beginning with the first RTO law in Michigan in 1984 -- reflects on the growth of the industry he euphemistically describes as "unvarnished" in its early years. That Michigan bill was followed shortly thereafter by the country's second RTO statute which belonged to Georgia in 1985. "In 1985 we were not interested in being proactive in Georgia," Choate said. "A bill had been introduced to put the industry out of business. We were fortunate to turn it into something positive. We had worked an passed the first state law regulating rent-to-own in Michigan, so when we showed up in Georgia to confront a bad law, we had a good alternative." Choate also noted the key to legislative access was in grassroots politics. "The answer is not big checks," Choate said, "it's through independent dealers. Grassroots politics is using the folks on the ground. You have a network in place. Sometimes all it takes is showing up at a campaign meeting or fundraising event." | ||||
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APRO's 2009 Dave Egan Legislative Conference
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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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Complete issue of RTOHQ: The Magazine | October - November 2008 | ||
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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 |