Basis of Presentation (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation, Basis of Presentation, Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Rent-A-Center, Inc. included herein have been prepared by us pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the SEC’s rules and regulations, although we believe the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. We suggest these financial statements be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. In our opinion, the accompanying unaudited interim financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting only of those of a normal recurring nature, necessary to present fairly our results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The results of operations for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

COVID-19

During the first quarter of 2020, the respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) began to spread worldwide causing the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a pandemic, and resulting in significant disruptions to the U.S. and world economies. In response to the issuance of U.S. federal guidelines to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, state and local jurisdictions implemented various containment measures, including temporary shelter-in-place orders and closure of non-essential businesses. The effects of these containment measures negatively impacted our operations resulting in the temporary or partial closure of certain locations in all of our U.S. operating segments during the first half of 2020. In addition, certain of our Mexico locations were also temporarily closed in accordance with jurisdictional ordinances issued in Mexico. In response to these restrictions and negative impacts to our operations, we implemented certain measures to reduce operating expenses and cash flow uses in order to mitigate these effects. In addition, we implemented additional electronic payment methods for our Rent-A-Center Business customers.

While the pandemic is ongoing and uncertainties remain that may not allow us to accurately predict the full impact that COVID-19 will ultimately have on our business, as of June 30, 2020, all locations in our Rent-A-Center Business, Franchising and Mexico operating segments, and staffed Preferred Lease locations temporarily or partially closed at the onset of the pandemic have reopened and are fully operational.

Use of Estimates

In preparing financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent losses and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. In applying accounting principles, we must often make individual estimates and assumptions regarding expected outcomes or uncertainties. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. However, uncertainties, including future unknown impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, may affect certain estimates and assumptions inherent in the financial reporting process, which may impact reported amounts of assets and liabilities in future periods and cause actual results to differ from those estimates.

Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations

These financial statements included herein include the accounts of Rent-A-Center, Inc. and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Unless the context indicates otherwise, references to “Rent-A-Center” refer only to Rent-A-Center, Inc., the parent, and references to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to the consolidated business operations of Rent-A-Center and any or all of its direct and indirect subsidiaries. We report four operating segments: Rent-A-Center Business, Preferred Lease, Mexico and Franchising.

Our Rent-A-Center Business segment consists of company-owned lease-to-own stores in the United States and Puerto Rico that lease household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis. We also offer merchandise on an installment sales basis in certain of our stores under the names “Get It Now” and “Home Choice.” Our Rent-A-Center Business segment operates through our company-owned stores and e-commerce platform through rentacenter.com.

Our Preferred Lease segment, which operates in the United States and Puerto Rico, and includes the operations of Merchants Preferred (as defined in Note 2 below) acquired in August 2019, generally offers the lease-to-own transaction to consumers who do not qualify for financing from the traditional retailer through kiosks located within such retailer's locations, including staffed options, unstaffed or virtual options, or a combination of the two (the hybrid model). The hybrid model can be staffed by a Preferred Lease employee (staffed locations) or employ a virtual solution where customers, either directly or with the

assistance of a representative of the third-party retailer, initiate the lease-to-own transaction online in the retailers' locations using our virtual solutions (virtual locations).

Our Mexico segment consists of our company-owned lease-to-own stores in Mexico that lease household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis.

Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Rent-A-Center, is a franchisor of lease-to-own stores. Our Franchising segment’s primary source of revenue is the sale of rental merchandise to its franchisees, who in turn offer the merchandise to the general public for rent or purchase under a lease-to-own transaction. The balance of our Franchising segment’s revenue is generated primarily from royalties based on franchisees’ monthly gross revenues.

Newly Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires immediate recognition of estimated current expected credit losses, rather than recognition when incurred. We adopted ASU 2016-13 and all related amendments, including ASU 2020-02 and ASU 2020-03, beginning January 1, 2020, using a modified retrospective approach. Under such approach, we recognized a cumulative-effect of the guidance as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The application of this new methodology is limited to our installment notes receivables and trade receivables with our franchisees, primarily related to merchandise sales. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for periods ending prior to January 1, 2020.

The cumulative effect as of January 1, 2020 resulting from the adoption of ASU 2016-13 and related amendments was a net decrease to opening retained earnings in our condensed consolidated balance sheet of $0.8 million. See Note 4 for additional information regarding our trade and note receivables and related allowances for doubtful accounts.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating the hypothetical purchase price allocation and instead using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit. We adopted ASU 2017-04 beginning January 1, 2020, using a prospective approach. There was no impact on our financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2020 resulting from the adoption of this ASU.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which removes, modifies, and adds certain disclosure requirements in ASC 820, to improve the effectiveness of the fair value measurement disclosures. We adopted ASU 2018-13 beginning January 1, 2020, using a prospective approach. There was no impact on our financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2020 resulting from the adoption of this ASU.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40); Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement, which requires implementation costs incurred by customers in cloud computing arrangements to be deferred and recognized over the term of the arrangement, if those costs would be capitalized by the customer in a software licensing agreement under the internal-use software guidance in ASC 350-40. We adopted ASU 2018-15 beginning January 1, 2020, using a prospective approach. Impacts to our financial statements resulting from the adoption of this ASU were immaterial to our financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2020.