Avis settles with state attorney general over suit challenging refusal to rent vehicles without a credit card

Avis Budget Group, a former Garden City company with locations throughout New York, on Tuesday agreed to pay $275,000 to settle state claims that it illegally denied car rentals to customers who did not have credit cards.

In putting up “unfair roadblocks” for those customers, the company “unfairly” harmed low-income consumers and communities of color who are less likely to own a credit card, state Attorney General Letitia James said in a release from her office. “No one should be discriminated against because of their credit or banking status.”

Company representatives did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. 

Halimah Elmariah, a spokesperson for James, said in an email that investigators found employees had adopted the practice at Avis Car Rental and Budget Rent A Car locations in Lynbrook, Farmingdale, Massapequa Park and Huntington Station. According to the release, company employees at 74 locations across the state refused to accept debit cards or provide accommodations for people without a credit card, a violation of state law. The company has more than 100 locations in the state. 

As part of Tuesday’s agreement, Avis Budget, which includes both Avis Car Rental and Budget Rent A Car, will update its policies and employee training. 

According to the agreement, staffers from James’ office opened their investigation in 2022 after receiving a complaint from a Buffalo customer who was denied a rental because they did not provide a credit card. Investigators who called the company’s local locations and its national call center or visited its locations were repeatedly told they needed a credit card to rent, according to the agreement. At one store they saw a handwritten sign saying that debit cards were not accepted next to the state-mandated sign saying that credit card ownership is not required for car rental.   

Most car rentals allow people without a credit card to rent a vehicle by placing a cash deposit or a hold on a debit card, according to the release. The state’s car rental law is intended to provide equal access to the roughly 30% of Americans who do not have a credit card.