Rent-to-own News - Iowa dealers get back to basics

Brian Luksetich, president of the Association of Iowa Rental Dealers, knows trainings and trade shows are fundamental to the work of many state associations.

While he recognizes the value in these offerings, Luksetich wants to keep AIRD's upcoming "Synergy in Iowa" meeting September 4 focused on one primary goal: protecting Iowa's rent-to-own industry from unfriendly state laws.

"The focus will be a re-affirmation of everything this organization stands for," said Luksetich who owns two First State RTO stores, "and making sure we are prepared to act to protect our business from laws that try to impede it."

Luksetich said around 20 rent-to-own dealers are expected at the association's annual meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston, Iowa where APRO Executive Director Bill Keese will deliver an update on pending federal RTO legislation and lobbyist Jim Carney will summarize activity at the state level.

Luksetich said the same initiative that brought the association together to pass Iowa's rent-to-own statute over 20 years ago, lives on today in its proactive involvement with state politics.

And that preparedness paid off in spades this February. See Story.

That's when a bill introduced by state representative Mark Smith proposed changes to Iowa's RTO statute that would have effectively set price caps on the amount dealers could charge by forcing them to set "retail values" for merchandise in place of a cash price.

That's when lobbyist Carney leaped into action, alerting AIRD members who began formulating a multi-pronged defense.

"We really hit it from every angle," Luksetich said. "Ever since our original legislation was passed 20 years ago, we've always believed we needed a good lobbyist and a pot of money so we could spring into action when necessary."

While AIRD member Tom Bernau, an Aaron's franchisee, APRO Legal Counsel Ed Winn III and Carney worked on a bullet point critique of the bill, John Maitland used his power as a constituent.

Maitland, who owns Rentown in Waterloo, Iowa, discovered he lived in the district of two of the three members on the bill's subcommittee. Maitland sent emails to these representatives informing them he was a constituent who did not like the pending bill.

Within a week the bill was killed.

"I thought hearing from someone from Blackhawk County would get their attention," Maitland said. "Our lobbyist was really all over that, but the fact is without our state association we wouldn't have this level of communication. Without that source of information, we'd be in the dark."

The association's success in defeating that legislation brings a level of security to people like Ed Spuzello, owner of Des Moines, Iowa based Furniture Source.

"For years we had a long time without anything happening " Spuzello said. "Now we have a reputation with the attorney general's office and state legislators, they know who we are. We're ready for any kind of problem."

Former APRO President Lyn Leach of Ace Rent-To-Own will present a talk titled "Creating a Climate for Success in Your Company."

Board and officer elections are also slated for the meeting.

mevans@rtohq.org