Mcburnie VS Acceptance Now, LLCa Delaware limited liability

For more than 25 years, California’s Karnette Rental-Purchase Act, Cal. Civ. Code,

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§§ 1812.620 et seq. (the “Karnette Act”), has prohibited price-gouging by companies like Defendant

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Acceptance Now, LLC (“Acceptance Now”) that lease or sell household goods on a rent-to-own

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basis to low-income and other consumers in California, including Plaintiffs Shannon McBurnie and

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April Spruell (“Plaintiffs”). To prevent rent-to-own companies from exploiting economically

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vulnerable California consumers who may only be able to purchase new furniture, appliances,

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electronics, or other household goods by paying over time, the Karnette Act prohibits such

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companies from, inter alia, charging any “fees” to their customers on top of the agreed-upon

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monthly rental payments (which the Karnette Act separately caps) if those fees are not both

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“reasonable” and “actually incurred” by the rent-to-own company. (Civ. Code, § 1812.624(a)(7).)

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Acceptance Now partners with more than 1,000 retail store locations throughout the

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country, including California, to enable those stores to sell furniture, appliances, and other

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household goods to consumers on a rent-to-own basis. See http://www.acceptancenow.com/RAC-

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Acceptance-Home.html (last visited December 10, 2020). If a customer of one of Acceptance Now’s

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affiliated retail store partners wishes to pay over time for a consumer goods product from that store,

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the store’s agreement with Acceptance Now allows Acceptance Now to obtain ownership of that

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product and to enter into a Rental Purchase Agreement (“RPA”) with the customer that allows the

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customer full use of the product for as long as the customer pays the agreed-upon periodic lease

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payments, with title to that product transferring to the customer once all required payments have

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been made.

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Plaintiffs Shannon McBurnie and April Spruell are customers of Acceptance Now, who

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entered into RPAs with Acceptance Now for items of household furniture offered by a retail home

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furnishings store in Alameda County affiliated with Acceptance Now. Plaintiffs’ RPAs required

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them to pay fees to Acceptance Now, in addition to their periodic lease payments, that were neither

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“reasonable” nor “actually incurred” by Acceptance Now, including a $45 Processing Fee and a

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$1.99 fee for any payment made by telephone.

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Causes of Action

1. F&F FP

2. fF

3. Unfair Competition

On the First Claim for Relief: Nv a

On the Second Claim for Relief: Ft

On the Third Claim for Relief: fF

On All Claims for Relief: NO

enforcement of this Paragraph's limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim and only that claim