FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing

RimTyme litigation history

What RimTyme disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.

Items 3 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 7; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: None stated

Bankruptcy (Item 4): None; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2025; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

Item 3 discloses seven matters: a 2015 ColorTyme franchisee arbitration over royalty renewal terms (dismissed without payment); a securities class action (Hall/DePalma) settled for $11 million in 2018; a California Karnette Rental-Purchase Act class action (Blair) settled for $13 million in 2019; an FTC Civil Investigative Demand regarding lease-agreement purchase/sale practices, settled via consent order with no fines; a California AG investigation of Acceptance Now settled for $15.5 million in 2022; a Massachusetts AG matter settled for $8.75 million in 2023; and a Georgia AG Assurance of Voluntary Compliance regarding debt-collection practices (2022). No litigation against franchisees disclosed.

Item 3 (litigation) · 7 matters disclosed

Litigation cases

The franchisor

Concluded (1)

AAA Rent-To-Own Hawaii, Inc., et al. v. Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc.
dismissed
Brought by a franchisee · filed 2015-07-15 · American Arbitration Association · 01-15-0004-2484
“In AAA Rent-To-Own Hawaii, Inc., et al. v. Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc., Case 01-15-0004- 2484 (American Arbitration Association, filed July 15, 2015), nineteen ColorTyme franchisees filed a consolidated arbitration demand against us seeking”Page 8 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On February 29, 2016, a dismissal with prejudice was entered whereby franchisees agreed to dismiss all their claims without a payment of any money, modification of the terms of the then current ColorTyme franchise agreement, or an accounting of the National Advertising Fund.”

Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor

Concluded (6)

Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with the Georgia Attorney General
concluded
Government or regulatory action · Rent-A-Center East, Inc. ('East', our affiliate) · filed 2022-01-26 · State of Georgia Attorney General (Fulton County, Georgia) · 2022CV359608
“… On January 26, 2022, our affiliate, Rent-A-Center East, Inc. (“East”) entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (“AVC”) with the State of Georgia Attorney General (the “AG”) in Fulton County, Georgia (Civil Action File: 2022CV359608).”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Matter with no printed caption
settled
Government or regulatory action · Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the 'Company'; our parent) · filed 2019 · Federal Trade Commission
“Federal Trade Commission Civil Investigative Demand. In April 2019, Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the “Company”) received a Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) seeking information regarding certain transactions involving the”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On February 21, 2020, the FTC notified the Company that it had accepted for public comment an Agreement Containing Consent Order ("Agreement").”
Matter with no printed caption
settled
Government or regulatory action · Acceptance Now (our affiliate, now part of Acima) · filed 2018 · California Attorney General / Superior Court of the State of California
“California Attorney General. The California Attorney General (the “CAG”) issued an investigative subpoena in 2018 seeking information with respect to certain of our affiliate, Acceptance Now, business practices (now part of the Acima brand).”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The agreed upon settlement amount of $15.5 million was paid in August 2022. Massachusetts Attorney General. The Massachusetts Attorney General (the “MAG”) issued a civil investigative demand in 2018 seeking information with respect to certain business practices of Upbound subsidiaries, including”
Matter with no printed caption
settled
Government or regulatory action · Upbound Group, Inc. and Upbound subsidiaries (our parent) · filed 2018 · Massachusetts Attorney General / Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
“Massachusetts Attorney General. The Massachusetts Attorney General (the “MAG”) issued a civil investigative demand in 2018 seeking information with respect to certain business practices of Upbound subsidiaries, including the Rent-A-Center brand, regarding account management and certain other business practices in connection with lease-to-own transactions.”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Upbound agreed to pay a total of $8.75 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts along with certain assurances of discontinuance, including implementing (1) certain account management requirements, with a focus on Upbound subsidiaries’ communications with customers in default and other account” (page 10)
Blair, et al. v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., et al.
settled
Brought by a third party · Rent-A-Center, Inc. (our parent) · filed 2017-03-13 · U.S. District Court, Northern District of California · 3:17-CV-02335-WHA
“… Case No. 3:17-CV-02335-WHA (N.D. Cal.) On March 13, 2017, Blair, the plaintiff, filed a state-wide class action complaint in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California.”Page 9 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “we reached an agreement in principle to settle this matter for a total of $13 million, including attorneys’ fees. The settlement was paid in full in November 2019.”
Alan Hall, et. al. v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., et. al.; James DePalma, et. al. v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., et. al.
settled
Brought by a third party · Rent-A-Center, Inc. (our parent, now Upbound Group, Inc.) · filed 2016-12-23 · U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division · 4:16-CV-00978-ALM-KPJ; 4:2016-CV-00981
“Alan Hall, et. al. v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., et. al. (Case No. 4:16-CV-00978-ALM-KPJ in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division);”Page 8 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On October 8, 2018, the parties agreed to settle this matter for $11 million. The court granted preliminary approval of the settlement on December 13, 2018.” (page 9)

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosure signals that moved the score

How this shows up in the verdict

Seven Item-3 matters incl. $11M and $13M class-action settlements
Financials strong (net worth $26.8M) but litigation count high relative to system size

The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.

Before you weigh a lawsuit

How to read Item 3

A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.

Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:

Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?

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