Rent-A-Center , is threatening to sue me!!! Waterville Maine

I could see a small claims judge agree that leaving a Xbox 360 in plain view in a car/truck is wanton misconduct, akin to leaving the house with the windows open and then wondering why someone stole all of the stuff in the house....

You are supposed to take reasonable precautions and leaving expensive electronics in plain view isn't reasonable. Lock, Take, Hide!

""I read a rebuttal on here tonight, and I agree with it. get a bunch of rent a center stuff and simply dont pay for it. They will take you to court but it will get thrown out because of the interest they charge.""

NOT in NY State it won't. They will win the suit. NJ law does NOT apply in New York or ANY other State. btw, the NJ court improperly ruled that RAC was a credit purchase rather than a lease-don't expect OTHER state courts to follow this flawed logic.

""It is not legal to charge 200% interest. As the poster calld it 'loansharking'.

In NY it is RENT, not interest charges.

""Thy were shot down in jersey.they will get shot down there too""

I wouldn't expect so. It is highly unlikely. The NJ court creatively applied an obscure state law to rent-to-own businesses. Do not expect the same to happen in other states.

I borrow the money from a bank, to buy a car. Someone steals the car. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. Why should I have to pay for the car? Makes sense to me.

Everytime a employee puts something on here, they do nothing but defend this business. When they get fired, they stop at nothing to destroy it. If they quit, you hear nothing from them anymore. I read a rebuttal on here tonight, and I agree with it. get a bunch of rent a center stuff and simply dont pay for it. They will take you to court but it will get thrown out because of the interest they charge.It is not legal to charge 200% interest. As the poster calld it "loansharking". Thy were shot down in jersey.they will get shot down there too

""someone stole his stuff and he shouldn't have to pay for it he got a police report now leave him alone""

Really? The real world doesn't work this way. Try this on for size: I purchase your lawnmower for $100. I give you $50 and promise to pay you the other $50 next month. You let me take the lawnmower home.

2 weeks later someone breaks into my garage and steals the lawnmower. I report this to the police and there is a police report that indicates that the garage was forcibly entered.

Does this mean I don't owe you the other $50?

I still owe you the other $50. Why should it be YOUR problem that someone broke into my garage and stole the lawnmower you sold me? You could sue me in small claims for the remaining $50 and you would win!

""someone stole his stuff and he shouldn't have to pay for it he got a police report now leave him alone""

Really? The real world doesn't work this way. Try this on for size: I purchase your lawnmower for $100. I give you $50 and promise to pay you the other $50 next month. You let me take the lawnmower home.

2 weeks later someone breaks into my garage and steals the lawnmower. I report this to the police and there is a police report that indicates that the garage was forcibly entered.

Does this mean I don't owe you the other $50?

I still owe you the other $50. Why should it be YOUR problem that someone broke into my garage and stole the lawnmower you sold me? You could sue me in small claims for the remaining $50 and you would win!

""someone stole his stuff and he shouldn't have to pay for it he got a police report now leave him alone""

Really? The real world doesn't work this way. Try this on for size: I purchase your lawnmower for $100. I give you $50 and promise to pay you the other $50 next month. You let me take the lawnmower home.

2 weeks later someone breaks into my garage and steals the lawnmower. I report this to the police and there is a police report that indicates that the garage was forcibly entered.

Does this mean I don't owe you the other $50?

I still owe you the other $50. Why should it be YOUR problem that someone broke into my garage and stole the lawnmower you sold me? You could sue me in small claims for the remaining $50 and you would win!

How is it his fault that someone broke into his truck and stole the property. You guys do give out some merchandise that don't work correctly and if it's something as small as a xbox 360 whats wrong with him bringing it in himself. You can't proved it didn't rain that not you can't prove his truck didn't start and sometimes rent a center will tell you to bring in the property yourself so please stop trying to make rent a center look so good and this young man look bad someone stole his stuff and he shouldn't have to pay for it he got a police report now leave him alone rent a center sucks that's why i am so glad that i owe every piece of furniture in my house

Some things to consider from the 'victim's' story...

He opened up the account 3 or 4 days before it was 'stolen out of his truck'. He said it was in his car 'because he had planned to return it to the store'. This is obviously a planned scam. First off, RAC rentals are weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. It is EXTREMELY rare that a customer would return an item after just renting it for a few days. 99% of all customers return it on the day it's due (at least 7 days after opening the contract) or later than that.

Also, there is no evidence of forced entry. If you were really planning to return the item, you would have packed up the item, put it in your car, and THEN drove down to RAC, not put it in your vehicle and leave it there over night! If you were a complete moron, I could see this happening...but reading your complaint, you seem to know the English language fairly well and can articulate what you are saying. Therefore you think you are smart enough to 'beat the system' and get away with pawning/selling/hiding merchandise hoping you can get away with it. I peraonally own game systmes, cpu's, tv's, etc...and can't fathom leaving them in my vehicle. Nice try buddy and hopefully RAC got their money back after taking you to court (if they decided to do this)

PLease check out Maine.gov and search for consumer law guide. Maine is one of only a handful of states that have additional rights that other states don't. One of these right might address your issue.

You can also contact them @ consumer.mediation@maine.gov. They can contact the retailer directly or explain your rights.

I've used it. It's great !

Did the police report state forced entry?

If it didn't it is the responsibility of the consumer. Even with a liability waiver, the theft is not the issue but your ability to prevent the theft. If it was in your vehicle and the police can find no signs of forced entry, the liability of the merchadise cost falls on the consumer.

..likely states in legal terms, that your rental agreement must be in good standing and not in default. This means in short, current on your rental payment and that the merchandise is located in your home at the address listed. Since it was in your car, you may have been in default. At any rate, if it was in your car, you had obviously moved it from your home and defaulted the agreement. Good luck, but I think you are up the creek without a paddle.

It should state what is covered and what isn't.

Unfortunately, most insurance carriers do NOT cover the theft of items left in a car, whether the car is locked or not - most view this as negligence.

My auto and home owner insurance does not cover anything stolen from my truck that is not permanently attached as part of the vehicle.

I suspect the same is true in this matter with RAC. I think part of the problem is talking versus what the waiver documents say. The RAC employee says one thing (and may indeed have been mistaken) and the waiver documents most likely say something else (along the line of most insurance policies) and the stolen property from the truck is not covered.

The waiver documents should be pretty specific. If you have your copy of them, review them carefully. If you don't have a copy, simply go to any RAC store and ask for a copy of the waiver policy/documents.

Unfortunately, I think you will find that the item stolen from the truck is not covered, but it won't hurt to get your hands on the waiver documents and read them yourself.

Further, you might want to read the "fine print" on your auto or homeowner policy as well to find a loophole so you can file a claim.

Good Luck.

Yes, your car, like your house is private property. That's why they sell homeowners and renters insurance to cover things that are stolen so you can replace them. However, your car insurance doesn't cover things stolen from within your car that do not belong in your car, such as an X-Box. Since you were renting the X-Box essentially, you are responsible to pay it off.

As for why you left it in the car, unfortunately this doesn't matter in regards to the legal aspect. The whole point is you did, and it was stolen. Why doesn't matter.

While i cannot attest to the action of this Rent a Center i can tell you what the policy says. From my understanding the LDW (Liablity Damage Waiver) does cover your XBOX from theft but only from your home and through forced entry. What it sounds like is that the manager did not have your account charged under this protection and is trying to get the remaining value of the XBOX from you. I would recomend contacting the distric manager or regional director for this area to attempt to resolve it.

As I said before, we had put the XBox in the truck with the intent of taking it back to the store that night. But, due to our car battery going dead again and nobody being around to give us a jump in the pouring rain, we were unable to go that night. We didn't bring the XBox back in because, like I said it was pouring rain and so we just locked all the truck doors and went inside until the next day.

I do not think I handled anything irresponsibly because that truck is my private property, just like my home. Someone could have just as easily broken into my home and taken all my stuff. Then would it still be my fault??? It's the same thing.
And I beg to differ about being responsible for the payments. They have already written the unit off to their insurance and recieved compensation. Add that to the fact that the Liability waiver says nothing about holding a person accountable for making a mistake. It says:

"Rent-a-Center agrees to waive your liability to Rent-a-Center if the property is lost or damaged. This Optional Liabilty Waiver Provision does not apply to loss or damage caused intentionally by you or which results from your willful or wanton misconduct".

Intentional, Willful, Wanton, Misconduct. None of those words apply to my actions in this situation. I am not the person who illegally broke into and entered someone else's personal property and commited a theft!

You must take responsibility for your belongings, and that includes NOT leaving expensive electronics in an unattended vehicle where they may be stolen.

If a personal belonging of yours is stolen, you are still responsible for any payments still due as well as any obligations you made pertaining to rental of or payment for said belongings. Insurance of any kind rarely covers merchandise that has been irresponsibly left in a vehicle, and subsequently stolen in an opportunistic theft.

You are responsible for paying up what you owe. And it is also advisable to take care of your belongings in a more responsible manner from this point forward.