Rent-A-Center settles harassment and other charges made by Washington attorney general

Rent-A-Center, the national furniture, electronics and appliance rental chain, has settled charges that the company charged outrageous fees in addition to harassing and threatening customers to collect owed money.

Washington state's attorney general filed a complaint in July showing the absurdly high prices people would pay - particularly on long-term rentals when the payments could wind up being more than it would cost to buy the item -- as well as the depths to which its staff would go to extract money from its typically lower income customers. Only a small percentage of customers are able to complete the payment plan that would result in their owning the item.