Press Release

Attorney General Taylor Announces Settlement with Leasing Company Tempoe, LLC

September 11, 2023

(Anchorage, AK) – Alaska Attorney General Taylor announced a settlement with Tempoe, LLC, resolving a multistate investigation into Tempoe’s advertising and leasing to consumers across the nation.

Tempoe offered leases to consumers through retailers for durable goods, such as furniture and appliances. Tempoe offered the lease agreements as a no-credit required finance option after consumers applied for and were denied the in-store financing product.

The multistate investigation—which included 41 states and the District of Columbia—revealed that Tempoe’s marketing and sales practices often misled consumers to believe they were signing up for an installment plan or credit sale when in reality they were entering into a lease agreement. The complicated and confusing structure of the lease agreements, as well as the lack of required disclosures, often resulted in consumers paying two to three times the purchase price of the product or service.

“Good businesses win consumers on the virtue of their offerings” said Attorney General Taylor. “This settlement shows that when a business tries to game the system by misleading and confusing consumers in violation of the law, there will be consequences.”

Through this settlement, Tempoe is permanently banned from engaging in future consumer leasing activities. All existing leases will be cancelled, and consumers may retain the leased merchandise in their possession without any further financial obligation to Tempoe – resulting in approximately $33 million of “in-kind” financial relief to consumers nationwide. Additionally, Tempoe shall not provide negative information regarding lessees to any consumer reporting agency.

Consumers with existing leases do not need to take any action as Tempoe has automatically cancelled their account(s) as a result of this settlement.

Finally, as part of this settlement, Tempoe will pay $2 million: $1 million to the states and jurisdictions participating in this settlement and $1 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has agreed to a parallel settlement resolving the same alleged misconduct.

Forty-one (41) states and the District of Columbia are participating in the settlement. The multistate Executive Committee was comprised of Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Texas, which led the multistate group consisting of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.