Bland v. Carolina Lease Management Group et al
U.S. District Court Case No. 4:22-CV-33-BO (E.D.N.C.)
Court of Appeals, 4th Cir., Case No. 23-1367
This class action challenges exploitative rent to own contracts. Plaintiffs entered into separate rent to own contracts for storage sheds with Carolina Lease Management Group. The agreements provided that after 4 years of monthly payments, the sheds would be theirs. Under North Carolina law, this agreement is a retail installment sale, but the interest being charged is more than twice what North Carolina law allows. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by willfully violating the statutory interest rate caps, and that the defendants are engaging in unlawful debt collection by attempting to collect amounts that are barred by law.
In April 2024, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s dismissal of the case. The Fourth Circuit held that the plaintiffs’ claims under North Carolina’s unfair and deceptive trade practices act and debt collection statutes were subject to their own four year statutes of limitations, not the shorter statute of limitations for the underlying claim for violations of the Retail Installment Sales Act. On December 10, 2024, the district court denied Defendant Old Hickory Buildings’ motion to dismiss, rejecting its argument that as manufacturer it could not be jointly liable for the illegal financing scheme at issue in the case.
Co-counsel: Lapas Law Office
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