SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* SPEESE MARK E (Last) (First) (Middle) 5700 TENNYSON PKWY., THIRD FLOOR (Street) PLANO TX 75024 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol RENT A CENTER INC DE [ RCII ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Chief Executive Officer
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 07/31/2003
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common stock, par value $.01 per share	07/31/2003		D		200,000	D	$73	633,878(1)	D
Common stock, par value $.01 per share								182,340(2)	I	By family trusts
Common stock, par value $.01 per share								158,814	I	By spouse
Common stock, par value $.01 per share								1,800(3)	I	By children

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:

1. Does not include 209,000 options to purchase the Company's Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, on a one-for-one basis held by the reporting person, of which 34,000 are currently exercisable.

2. Includes (A) 91,154 shares held by the Mark Speese 2000 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, a trust organized under the laws of the State of Texas, of which Mr. Speese is the sole trustee and (B) 91,186 shares held by the Carolyn Speese 2000 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, a trust organized under the laws of the State of Texas, of which Mr. Speese is the sole trustee.

3. The reporting person disclaims beneficial ownership of these securities, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that the reporting person is the beneficial owner of such securities for the purposes of Section 16 or any other purpose.

Remarks:

On December 31, 2002, Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company") became the successor of Rent-A-Center East, Inc. (formerly known as Rent-A-Center, Inc.) pursuant to a merger. The merger resulted in the Company becoming a parent holding company of Rent-A-Center East, Inc., but did not alter the proportionate interests of security holders.

	Mark E. Speese	08/01/2003
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.