Usury is a crime in most places. This kind of transaction is just usury dressed up in the legal fiction of a rental.
Comment on Disability pensioner charged $6,760 for renting a phone that retails for around $1,800
wahming@monyet.cc 10 months agoOk, what is it specifically that shouldn’t be allowed here? Renting items? Setting prices higher than somebody else?
Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 10 months ago
wahming@monyet.cc 10 months ago
I dunno, seems like a pretty big stretch to call equipment rental usury.
Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 10 months ago
Not at all. A rent to own scheme is essentially legally identical to getting a seller or third party loan except for when title passes over to the consumer. In most other respects, especially in outcome, it’s the same transaction dressed up specifically to avoid existing usury laws.
wahming@monyet.cc 10 months ago
A rent to own scheme is essentially legally identical to getting a seller or third party loan except for when title passes over to the consumer
Interesting point. Though I have to wonder if making it illegal would just change their sales pitch to permanent rental, instead of rent to own. Ultimately, I feel the solution should lie more in educating consumers on financial literacy.
vividspecter@lemm.ee 10 months ago
In this case it’s through the Centrelink specific Centrepay system. Given it’s a government approved system they can presumably remove approval of this company for any reason, so it doesn’t have to reach some level of legal obligation, just an obvious to everyone ethical one.