Send us Fan Mail
What does it take to turn a scattered, misunderstood trade into a recognized industry with real rules, clear disclosures, and political staying power? We sit down with Ed Wynn, APRO’s longtime legal counsel, to trace rent-to-own’s rise from yellow-pages meetups to model legislation and major wins in statehouses across the country. Ed walks us through the early federal gambit that sailed through the Senate but died in the House, and the pivotal realization that a state-by-state strategy was the only practical path forward.
You’ll hear how Michigan’s late‑1983 breakthrough set the tone with price controls tied to early purchase options, and how APRO leveraged the Council on State Governments’ 1987 model law to bring coherence to a patchwork of statutes. Ed breaks down the toughest battlegrounds—Wisconsin’s stalemate, Minnesota’s costly dual‑regulation trap, New Jersey’s class action hammer—and why California took a decade to land. He also explains North Carolina’s unusual balloon purchase rule and the lessons it taught the industry about precision and compliance.
Beyond the politics, we explore the cultural shift that made rent-to-own sustainable: transparency over secrecy. APRO pushed for honest, readable agreements, total cost visibility, and modern practices—even when some dealers feared customers would walk away. Ed recalls the 1998 FTC study that became an unexpected asset, the careful positioning during Dodd‑Frank that protected short‑term rentals from CFPB reach, and the rise and fade of state associations once laws were on the books. We close with a look at APRO’s evolving mission under forward‑looking leadership: staying vigilant, improving standards, and using new tools—yes, AI included—to create value well beyond legislative defense.
If you care about how industries legitimize, scale, and earn trust, this story delivers strategy, scars, and a clear blueprint. Subscribe, share with a colleague who loves policy and business history, and leave a review with your biggest question for Ed—we may feature it in a future episode.
Support the show
www.TheRTOshowPodcast.com For swag and information
Pete@thertoshowpodcast.com
Facebook - The RTO Show
Instagram - the_rto_show
Linkedin - The RTO Show
Youtube - The RTO Show Podcast