Cost Savings Initiatives. During 2018, we began execution of multiple cost savings initiatives, including reductions in overhead and supply chain, resulting in pre-tax charges during 2019 consisting of $4.9 million in lease impairment charges, $2.6 million in severance and other payroll-related costs, $2.3 million in other miscellaneous shutdown and holding costs, and $0.4 million in disposal of fixed assets. Costs incurred during 2018 related to these initiatives included pre-tax charges of $13.1 million in severance and other payroll-related costs, $6.8 million in contract termination fees, $2.3 million in other miscellaneous shutdown costs, $3.4 million in lease obligation costs, $1.9 million in legal and advisory fees, $1.9 million related to the write-down of capitalized software, and $1.0 million in disposal of fixed assets.

Store Consolidation Plan. During 2019, we closed 88 Rent-A-Center Business stores, resulting in pre-tax charges of $3.7 million in lease impairment charges, $2.3 million in other miscellaneous shutdown and holding costs, $0.9 million in disposal of fixed assets, and $0.4 million in severance and other payroll-related costs. During 2018, we closed 138 Rent-A-Center Business stores and 9 locations in Mexico, resulting in pre-tax charges of $11.2 million, consisting of $8.1 million in lease obligation costs, $1.6 million in disposal of fixed assets, $1.3 million in other miscellaneous shutdown costs, and $0.2 million in severance and other payroll-related cost.

Vintage Settlement. On April 22, 2019, we agreed to settle (the "Vintage Settlement") all litigation with Vintage Rodeo Parent, LLC, Vintage Rodeo Acquisition, Inc., Vintage Capital Management, LLC (collectively, "Vintage Capital") and B. Riley Financial, Inc. ("B. Riley") relating to our termination of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") among Vintage Rodeo Parent, LLC, Vintage Rodeo Acquisition, Inc. and Rent-A-Center, Inc. In the Vintage Settlement, we received a payment of $92.5 million in cash in May 2019, of which we retained net pre-tax proceeds of approximately $80 million following payment of all remaining costs, fees and expenses relating to the termination (the "Vintage Settlement Proceeds"). The Vintage Settlement was recorded as a pre-tax gain upon receipt.

Merchants Preferred Acquisition. On August 13, 2019, we completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Merchants Preferred, a nationwide virtual lease-to-own provider. In connection with this acquisition, we recorded approximately $1.4 million in acquisition-related expenses during 2019 including expenses related to legal, professional, and banking transaction fees.

Sale/Partial Leaseback of Corporate Headquarters. On December 27, 2019, we completed the sale of our corporate headquarters for proceeds of $43.2 million, and entered into a lease agreement for a reduced portion, approximately 60%, of the total square footage of the building. In connection with the sale, we recorded a total gain of approximately $21.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Write-down of Capitalized Software. During 2018 and 2017, we discontinued certain IT software projects and as a result incurred pre-tax charges of $1.2 million and $18.2 million, respectively, related to the write-down of capitalized assets and termination of associated license agreements.

Effects of Hurricanes. During the second half of 2018, Hurricane Florence and Michael caused damage in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida resulting in pre-tax expenses of approximately $0.6 million for inventory losses, store repair costs, fixed asset write-offs, and employee assistance. During the third quarter of 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused significant damage in the continental United States and surrounding areas, including Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, resulting in pre-tax expenses of approximately $4.5 million for inventory losses, store repair costs, fixed asset write-offs, and employee assistance. Approximately $2.1 million of these pre-tax expenses related to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, while the remaining $2.4 million related to Hurricane Maria.

Preferred Lease (previously Acceptance Now) Store Closures. During the first six months of 2017, we closed 319 Preferred Lease staffed locations and 9 Preferred Lease virtual locations, related to the hhgregg bankruptcy and liquidation plan and the Conn's referral contract termination. These closures resulted in pre-tax charges of $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, consisting primarily of rental merchandise losses, disposal of fixed assets, and other miscellaneous labor and shutdown costs. In addition, we recorded a pre-tax impairment charge of $3.9 million to our intangible assets for our discontinued vendor relationship.

Corporate Cost Rationalization. During the first nine months of 2017, we executed a head count reduction that impacted approximately 10% of our field support center workforce. This resulted in pre-tax charges for severance and other payroll-related costs of approximately $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.



(In thousands)	Accrued Charges at December 31, 2017		Charges & Adjustments		Payments & Adjustments			Accrued Charges at December 31, 2018		Charges & Adjustments			Payments & Adjustments			Accrued Charges at December 31, 2019
Cash charges:
Labor reduction costs	$	1,674	$	13,321	$	(7,372	)	$	7,623	$	3,039		$	(9,924	)	$	738
Lease obligation costs⁽¹⁾	2,105		11,952		(9,175		)	4,882		—			(4,882		)	—
Contract termination costs	—		6,750		(6,750		)	—		—			—			—
Other miscellaneous	—		2,696		(2,696		)	—		4,615			(4,615		)	—
Total cash charges	$	3,779	34,719		$	(25,993	)	$	12,505	7,654			$	(19,421	)	$	738
Non-cash charges:
Rental merchandise losses			620							—
Asset impairments⁽²⁾			6,825							9,938
Other⁽³⁾			17,160							(78,320		)
Total other charges (gains)			$	59,324						$	(60,728	)

⁽¹⁾ Upon adoption of ASU 2016-02, previously accrued lease obligation costs related to discontinued operations were eliminated and are now reflected as an adjustment to our operating lease right-of-use assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

⁽²⁾ Asset impairments primarily includes impairments of operating lease right-of-use assets and other property assets related to the closure of Rent-A-Center Business stores and our product service centers for the year ended December 31, 2019. Asset impairments for the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily includes capitalized software write-downs and impairment of property assets related to the closure of Rent-A-Center Business stores.

⁽³⁾ Other primarily includes $92.5 million in Vintage Settlement proceeds, $21.8 million gain on the sale of our corporate headquarters, and $1.1 million in insurance proceeds related to the 2017 hurricanes, offset by $21.4 million in incremental legal and professional fees related to the termination of the Merger Agreement and the Merchants Preferred acquisition, $13.0 million for the Blair class action settlement (refer to Note L for additional details), $2.4 million in state tax audit assessments, and $0.3 million in other litigation settlements for the year ended December 31, 2019. Other for the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily includes $18.4 million in incremental legal and advisory fees associated with our strategic review and merger related activities, partially offset by a $1.1 million favorable contract termination settlement.