Segment Information Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) store	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) store	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 638,954	$ 643,965	$ 677,635	$ 741,986	$ 684,104	$ 693,877	$ 749,619	$ 835,652	$ 2,702,540	$ 2,963,252	$ 3,278,420
Gross profit	410,881	412,465	432,533	462,663	442,721	457,226	500,158	534,944	1,718,542	1,935,049	2,118,109
Operating profit (Loss)	(54,893)	$ (8,445)	$ (873)	$ 1,152	(159,276)	$ 16,700	$ 27,550	$ 48,430	(63,059)	(66,596)	(1,007,888)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									74,639	80,456	80,720
Goodwill impairment charge									0	151,320	1,170,000
Impairment of intangible asset									3,900	0
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									65,460	61,143	80,870
On rent	701,803				795,118				701,803	795,118	907,625
Held for rent	167,188				206,836				167,188	206,836	228,847
Assets	$ 1,420,781				1,602,741				1,420,781	1,602,741	1,974,468
Rentals and fees									$ 2,267,741	2,500,053	2,781,315
Number of retail installment sales stores | store	45								45
Royalty Fee Percentage Minimum									2.00%
Royalty Fee Percentage Maximum									6.00%
Furniture and accessories [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									$ 921,159	927,537	955,576
Consumer electronics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									459,942	553,976	626,668
Appliances [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									351,893	391,539	415,278
Computers [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									124,158	148,889	207,906
Smartphones [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									57,927	93,449	163,667
Other products and services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									352,662	384,663	412,220
Core Us [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									1,835,422	2,069,725	2,371,823
Gross profit									1,276,212	1,467,679	1,644,840
Operating profit (Loss)									86,196	(1,020)	(959,447)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									31,070	39,734	49,137
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									26,506	20,802	21,739
On rent	$ 408,993				426,845				408,993	426,845	540,004
Held for rent	156,039				192,718				156,039	192,718	215,327
Assets	776,296				860,717				776,296	860,717	1,240,593
Acceptance Now [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									797,987	817,814	818,325
Gross profit									400,002	422,381	420,980
Operating profit (Loss)									48,618	105,925	123,971
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									2,498	3,309	3,334
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									2,723	2,330	2,473
On rent	278,443				354,486				278,443	354,486	350,046
Held for rent	4,940				7,489				4,940	7,489	5,000
Assets	350,970				432,383				350,970	432,383	426,827
Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									47,005	50,927	63,803
Gross profit									32,592	35,549	42,354
Operating profit (Loss)									(260)	(2,449)	(14,149)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									1,973	3,179	5,160
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									124	283	204
On rent	14,367				13,787				14,367	13,787	17,575
Held for rent	6,209				6,629				6,209	6,629	8,520
Assets	33,529				31,415				33,529	31,415	38,898
Franchising [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									22,126	24,786	24,469
Gross profit									9,736	9,440	9,935
Operating profit (Loss)									5,081	5,650	5,793
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									177	177	185
Assets	3,802				2,197				3,802	2,197	2,723
Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating profit (Loss)									139,635	108,106	(843,832)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									35,718	46,399	57,816
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									29,353	23,415	24,416
Assets	1,164,597				1,326,712				1,164,597	1,326,712	1,709,041
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating profit (Loss)									(202,694)	(174,702)	(164,056)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									38,921	34,057	22,904
Payments to Acquire Productive Assets									36,107	37,728	56,454
Assets	256,184				276,029				256,184	276,029	265,427
2017 Acceptance Now Consolidation Plan [Member] | Acceptance Now [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible asset									3,900
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									2,654,819	2,911,613	3,209,736
Assets	1,383,004				1,567,933				1,383,004	1,567,933	1,930,676
Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									47,005	50,927	63,803
Assets	33,529				31,415				33,529	31,415	38,898
Canada [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									716	712	4,881
Assets	$ 4,248				$ 3,393				$ 4,248	$ 3,393	$ 4,894