LETTER: New legislation would prevent pet leasing in New York

To the editor:

Recently, a predatory lending scheme known as pet leasing has become widespread throughout the United States. This scheme involves pet shops that offer rental agreements to customers that can’t afford to buy pets. The contracts are presented as loans, and in many cases, people are oblivious to the fact that they don’t actually have ownership of the animals until they are officially bought once the rental period is over. People who unknowingly lease pets could lose their animals if they don’t make regular payments and may be hounded for years. In some cases, people were pressured into making payments even after the leased pets died. This problem has become so bad that some federal agencies put out warnings urging pet buyers to read the fine print of any forms they sign while purchasing animals.

Action has also been taken at the state level with two states, California and Nevada, outright banning pet leasing. Similar legislation has been introduced in New York but it must be signed by Gov. Cuomo in order to become law. Please write/call/email his office and urge him to take this important step that will protect our state’s consumers from deception and fraud.