The ads are appealing: "Rent to own a 50-inch plasma TV in 20 easy installments!" Only the installments aren’t easy. But the payback is fabulous, for the retailer, that is. The deal is only good for you if you don’t mind making interest payments of double or triple what the product is worth.
Sure, you can return the merchandise any time and you don’t owe any more. But what you may not realize is that TV would be a lot cheaper if you bought it outright at an electronics store. Rent-to-own stores are notorious for charging an annual percentage rate of 100 to 200 percent and more.
And if you get behind on the payments, you’ll not only owe more interest, but you could hurt your credit rating in the process.
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