Release Details

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2003--Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ/NNM:RCII), the leading rent-to-own operator in the U.S., today announced that the state court in Clark County, Washington denied the plaintiffs' motion for class certification in Kevin Rose et. al. v. Rent-A- Center, Inc., et. al. The Rose case was brought on behalf of present and former non-management employees in Washington during the alleged class period and alleges that the Company worked the purported plaintiffs "off the clock" in violation of Washington overtime and wage payment laws. The court's ruling allows Mr. Rose to proceed with his claim individually. The Company currently operates 37 stores in Washington.

"We are pleased with the court's ruling, which we see as a very favorable development in this matter," commented Mark E. Speese, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe we are in compliance with Washington's wage payment laws and look forward to defending ourselves with respect to Mr. Rose's individual claims."

Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently operates 2552 company-owned stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. The stores generally offer high-quality, durable goods such as home electronics, appliances, computers and furniture and accessories to consumers under flexible rental purchase agreements that generally allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period. ColorTyme, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchisor of 320 rent-to-own stores, 308 of which operate under the trade name of "ColorTyme," and the remaining 12 of which operate under the "Rent-A-Center" name.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The actual future performance of the Company could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 and the results of the Company's litigation. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

    CONTACT: Rent-A-Center, Inc. Dave Carpenter, 972/801-1214
             dcarpenter@racenter.com
                or
             Robert D. Davis, 972/801-1204
             rdavis@racenter.com
                or
             Mitchell E. Fadel, 972/801-1114
             mfadel@racenter.com

    SOURCE: Rent-A-Center, Inc.