LOPPW Testifies Against Bill that Would Weaken Consumer Protections
January 7, 2026
Today the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin testified against Senate Bill 737, which would remove regulation of rent-to-own transactions from the Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA).
At Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor, and Economic Development hearing, LOPPW Director Kacy Kostiuk testified that this bill would weaken protections for Wisconsinites engaging in rent-to-own transactions.
“Many rent-to-own customers intend to ultimately purchase the goods they rent but cannot afford to do so outright,” Kacy said. “It is particularly important that people in already insecure financial situations have all the information and protections possible.”
SB-737 would reclassify rent-to-own transactions separate from credit transactions, but as the NAACP points out, rent-to-own transactions are loans and some rental companies “prey upon the financially illiterate in certain communities with predatorial loans that come with life-threatening risks that are either unknown or undisclosed to the buyer.”
Borrowers are disproportionately low-income and members of ethnic and racial minorities and utilize rent-to-own transactions because of a lack of funds available to make an outright purchase.
As Lutherans, we consider economic concerns through the lens of “the moral imperative to seek sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all” (ELCA Social Statement on Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All, p. 1), seeking to do what is good for the neighbor, addressing the complex causes
of poverty, and investing in initiatives to reduce it.
The WCA provides Wisconsinites with better protections than SB-737 would and discourages predatory rent-to-own companies from operating in Wisconsin.
For these reasons, LOPPW opposes SB-737 and its companion bill, AB-742.
Take Action on SB-737/AB-742
Call or write your state legislators, and tell them you are opposed to SB-737/AB-742.