The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act will be submitted in both the House and Senate this week and may come before a congressional sub-committee as early as mid-April.

The NRC event was capped off by a two hour dinner cruise Saturday evening attended by nearly 400 RentDirect Nationwide and Nationwide Marketing Group members. See over 100 photos from Saturday's dinner cruise here. See more on the dinner cruise below.

Rent-A-Center lobbyist Bob Royer told NRC attendees that he expects the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act to be submitted in both the House and Senate this week and may come before a congressional sub-committee as early as mid-April. Rep William Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) will be bill's primary sponsors.

Royer, part of a four-person panel of rent-to-own industry legislation experts presenting at Saturday's meeting, was joined by NRC Legislative Liaison Mamie Salazar-Harper, Rent-A-Center senior vice president of government affairs Dwight Dumler, and Tony Craig, President of Measuring Up. Craig will act as the NRC Appointment Coordinator for the April legislative conference.

With action being seen in both houses of congress, the panel encouraged NRC members to press their federal and state elected officials to support the Rental Purchase Act – legislation that could have a dramatic effect on the future of the Rent-To-Own industry.

Royer said that rental-purchase is the third most common consumer transaction in the United States behind traditional credit sales and consumer leases. Unlike traditional credit and leasing, rental-purchase has no federal definition. "We need to take ownership of this issue," Salazar-Harper said.

In addition to protecting consumers by mandating comprehensive disclosures in all states, Salazar-Harper said the Rental Purchase Act is fair and balanced legislation that will also benefit the industry.

While Rent-A-Center often takes the lead on legislative efforts, VP Dwight Dumler stressed that passage of the Act will benefit all RTO companies.

Both Royer and Salazar-Harper noted impressive growth in support of the Act. They credited the work of Senator Landrieu and Representative Clay in conjunction with the efforts of large and small dealers alike for the growing congressional support. Royer said the coordinated effort has brought both liberals and conservatives together on what has evolved into a "bi-partisan business issue representing two divergent perspectives."

After an eight year lull in consumer protection legislation, the new congress is expected to address a backlog of issues relating to payday lending, credit card transactions and rental-purchase. Panel members said it is unlikely that the status quo will be maintained through the 111th Congress. The challenge will be to gain support for a fair and balanced bill while consumer advocates, a group that sees no middle ground, push for legislation that would eliminate the rental-purchase option for millions of consumers at a time when traditional consumer credit is increasingly difficult to obtain.

Tony Craig announced the launch of a new website [link no longer active] where legislative conference information can be found. The site will serve as a central point of communication for all rent-to-own professionals attending the conference. Salazar-Harper encouraged NRC members to put a face on RTO by regularly reaching out to members of congress. Information on how to reach elected officials can be found on the new site.

Dumler said that nothing can match the impact of an independent business person speaking directly to an elected official in their own district about the impact of legislation on their business, their family, employees and customers. "You need to share the impact it will have on you."

Louisiana Rental Dealers Association Elects New Board

Following the NRC session, the Louisiana Rental Dealers Association (LRDA) held their annual meeting. Outgoing LRDA president Jeff White oversaw the election of a new board of directors; Byron Blanchard, President; Geoffory Coleman, Vice-President; Jeff White, Secretary-Treasurer.

Members were directed to visit the association's website where articles of interest and member news are continually being updated.

As a service to its members, the LRDA invited representatives from three companies to address the group on various topics. Jeff Riley with Stealth Security Services, Jewell Dolton and Tracy Black of DSI, and Susan Matthews from Benefit Marketing Solutions made presentations.

Nationwide Rental Coalition Dinner Cruise

A crowd of nearly 400 retailers, rental-purchase dealers, vendors and Nationwide staff attended a two-hour dinner cruise down the Mississippi River aboard the steamer Natchez. The event was sponsored by Nationwide Southwest and RentDirect Nationwide. NRC attendees enjoyed New Orleans-style jazz and classic cuisine.

James MacAlpine, Executive Director of RentDirect Nationwide, said RentDirect was thrilled to play host to so many valued members, especially during challenging economic times. MacAlpine said attendance exceeded initial expectations by 25%. 397 people took part in the two hour cruise.

Nationwide Marketing Group will host its PrimeTime! Kickoff Party Sunday evening.

RTO Online will provide live streaming video interviews from the buying show floor beginning Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern and continuing through Tuesday. Live video will be available on RTOonline.com's homepage during all tradeshow hours. All live videos will be added to the RTO Online video page for viewing at your leisure.

Check www.rtoonline.com for video interviews with RTO dealers and vendors, photo galleries and daily RentDirect Nationwide PrimeTime! event summaries.

Rent Direct Nationwide is the Rent-To-Own industry's largest buying group. Held twice each year, PrimeTime! by Nationwide is a member conference, vendor exhibition, and buying show combined.