High Definition Radio?; HD Radio Receivers to Debut at CES
HD Radio's digital technology also paves the way for the introduction of a number of new services designed to transform the radio broadcasting industry for the digital era...more

Final Sentence Handed Down In Rent Way Case
Relative to the pain caused, none of the sentences handed down for the three former executives involved in the scandal would be considered harsh...more

Bush Industries To Launch New Line Designed For Flat Panel TV
By some industry estimates, flat panel TVs will grow from the current figure of 1 million units a year in North America to 13 million in 2007. Bush has anticipated this tremendous migration to the new technology...more

Only 9 Days Remain To Participate In the 2003 Rent to Own Industry Survey
Only a few days remain to participate in RTO Online's Rent to Own Industry Poll (below). 196 industry pros have completed the survey as of 12-21...more

Class Certification Granted In California Case; Rent A Center Responds
We believe the claims in the plaintiffs' complaint are unfounded and that we have meritorious defenses to the allegations made. We further believe that a class should not have been certified by the court...more
From Documents Filed By Rent a Center

New Survey Reveals Stress and Anxiety Prevent Many Women From Enjoying The Holidays
survey released today by the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC) indicate that nearly two-thirds of survey respondents have suffered from depression during the holidays -- to such an extent that they do not take part in the season's activities...more

DTV Sales Explode for October and November; Up 56%
The impressive holiday sales numbers bring the 2003 DTV unit sales total to 3.5 million, which is a 56 percent increase over the same period in 2002. Year-to-date dollar sales now have reached $5.4 billion...more

FLASH
Houston Lease-Back Company Masquerading As Rent to own Gets Slapped Down By Oklahoma Supreme Court; Company Ordered To Repay $167,000 To Customers
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said "Aple was basically purchasing used vehicles from people and then 'selling' them back to the same people on a rent-to-own basis." He added, "Instead of a rent-to-own business we believed Aple was providing supervised loans without following the legal requirements for that type of transaction...more

Which Came First...The Sale Or the Customer Service?
One of the questions on RTO Online's annual industry survey reads: "All are important, but which of the following do you believe is most important to the profitability of a rent to own company?" As of today, 191 Rent to Own professionals have responded. 68.06% said Customer Service is most important to profitability, 18.32% said Collections and only 13.61% of respondents ranked sales as most important...more

Samsung and Hewlett Packard Among "Innovations 2004" Award Winners
The new Samsung HLP5685W DLP™ TV and the HP Compaq Tablet tc1100...more

Whirlpool Corporation Increases Q1 2004 Dividend by 26 Percent
"We are expecting improved performance next year on the strength of continuing consumer demand for Whirlpool brands...more
David R. Whitwam
Chairman and chief executive officer.

Stanley Furniture Named "Top Environmental Performer" By EPA
"At Stanley, we believe we have a responsibility to protect not just our community, but our environment, from unnecessary pollution...more
Jeff Scheffer
Stanley president and CEO

survey
Employees Often View Their Companies as "Passive-Aggressive" or "Overmanaged"
Half of all employees view their companies as either "passive-aggressive" or "overmanaged," according to a new online evaluation tool...more

Beemer Lowers Christmas Sales Projection to 4.2% Increase This Year Compared To His Earlier 4.8% Sales Increase
Lack of big savings offers of 50% off have reduced consumer spending in two very critical areas – consumers buying something nice for themselves and one third of America acknowledging spending less this shopping season...more

Date Set For First Furniture Market At World Market Center In Las Vegas
World Market Center SM announced today that its Advisory Board unanimously approved the new date of the first Las Vegas Market to be held from July 18-22, 2005...more

Rent to Own Online Introduces New State Statute Application
...an online application that allows visitors to perform side by side comparisons (on a single page) of existing state Rent to Own statutes as well as the proposed federal legislation, HR996; The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act...more

Conway To Keep Job at Ruth's Chris Despite Jail Term
Mr. Conway has exhibited unquestioned leadership, knowledge and integrity," according to the statement from Ruth's...more

Rent a Center to Supply Widescreens For "Survivor #9" Auditions
Rent a Center is providing Wide Screen TV's so that audience members can watch upcoming Survivor auditions live in Newport Kentucky...more

Conference Board "2004 Will Be the U.S.’s Best Year Economically in Last Twenty Years"
Revising its year-end economic forecast sharply upward, The Conference Board today projected that real GDP growth will hit 5.7% next year, making 2004 the best year economically in the last 20 years...more

survey
31.0% of Americans Who Planned to Shop Thanksgiving Weekend Did Not Get Around To It
Saturday/Sunday shoppers were very bargain driven with 38.0% only buying the advertised specials beating out last year, which had been the largest percentage of bargain shoppers (30.2%) to date...more

Canada's Largest Rent to Own Completes Public Offering
easyhome (EH.TO), Canada's largest Rent to Own, completed its public offering of 1,420,000 common shares at a price of $8.50 per share for gross proceeds of $12,070,000...more

Pioneer and Panasonic Among "Technology Is a Girl's Best Friend" Product Honorees
Now in its second year, the TechGirl Product Showcase features consumer electronics products that combine new technologies with good design and pay particular attention to the needs of the female consumer base...more

20% of Lawmakers Co-Sponsor Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
"We expect the first quarter of next year to be a busy time for RTO legislation...more
John Raffaelli
Chairman and Founding Partner of The Washington Group

Bestway Reports Fiscal 2004 First Quarter Results; Same Store Revenues Up 9.5%
"We remain focused on aggressive training and marketing initiatives...strategic efforts this year include focusing on opportunities for expansions or relocations of current stores based on targeted market analysis...more
David A. Kraemer
President and Chief Executive Officer

Study
CEO and Outside Director Pay Rises in Virtually All Industries
Median total compensation for outside (non-employee) directors of U.S. boards in 2003 is up from last year in all three major industry sectors covered in The Conference Board's annual study...more

Whirlpool Corp. to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 3 Percent From 1998 Levels
"Whatever political solution the global community agrees on with regard to the best mechanism for collectively addressing climate change, our company will continue its efforts to do our part"...more
Tom Catania
Whirlpool's vice president of government relations

Rent to Own Industry Poll: Respondents Report Inadequate Recognition and Long Hours As Top Issues
Results to date in RTO Online's Rent to Own industry poll show "Lack of recognition by superiors" and "Long Hours" as top issues among industry pros...more

Legislative Update
Illinois Republican Becomes 82nd Representative to Co-sponsor HR996
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
The well credentialed Kirk received a BA Cornell University, 1981; MS London School of Economics, 1982; JD Georgetown University. The US House is his first elected office...more

Consumer Electronics Shoppers Stick to Bargain Hunting Says Leading CE Magazine: Shortages of large screen TVs may hamper holidays
"Some retailers are also reporting shortages in supplies of some large screen TVs, particularly rear projection "flat screen" plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) sets"...more
This Week In Consumer Electronics

Survey
Absenteeism Falls to an All-Time Low
Despite the overall decline in the rate of absenteeism, organizations reporting low employee morale struggle with higher unscheduled absenteeism rates. The rate of unscheduled absenteeism is 17 percent higher among companies with Poor/Fair morale compared to those with Good/Very Good morale (2.1 vs. 1.8 percent)...more

Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Elects First Woman to Lead Executive Board of Directors
Lizabeth Ardisana was elected Chairperson of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MHCC) becoming the first woman to lead the chamber's 30-member board of directors...more

Americans Experience a 68% Hearing Loss While Naked
I read in TV Guide the other day that most people experience a 68% hearing loss while naked. (You may find this disturbing on several levels; First that I read TV Guide. Second that I learn from TV Guide. And third, that I find analogies between TV Guide material and rent to own). Rent to Own is always satisfying, but sometimes stressful. I was curious to learn how stressful situations can lead to hearing loss so, in the grand Mudsucker tradition, I began researching scientific methods of measuring my stress while naked in various settings...more

What Do Pawn Shops, Payday Loans, and Rent to Own Have In Common?
A Google search for - pawn payday rent to own - finds 1,460 stories that contain all three terms. Why are these three industries consistently linked in the media? Why do PIRG and other so-called consumer advocates attempt to lump Rent to Own into the "predatory Lending" category?...more

Easyhome Expects $12 Million From Stock Offer
In documents filed Tuesday, easyhome, Canada's largest Rent to Own, announced that it expects to raise over $12 million dollars in a public offering of 1,420,000 shares at $8.50 per share...more

survey
38% of Americans  Plan to Use Less Credit on Holiday Gifts This Year Compared to Last Year
More than one third (38%) of all Americans plan to use less credit to purchase holiday gifts this year, up by 7 percentage points from 2002...more

DVD Recorders and Tube TVs Among Best Sellers Nov 27-30
So far this Holiday shopping season, DVD Recorders and TVs (Tube TVs and big screen projection TVs) are in the top 3 sellers...more

Update
2003 Year End Rent to Own Industry Poll
Throughout December, RTO Online will host an in-depth 30 question Rent to Own industry poll. The poll takes less than 5 minutes to complete and focuses on many aspects of Rent to Own, from the average number of rental agreements per customer to your feelings about the future of the industry. This poll will be repeated annually and results compared to previous years...more

The Detail of the General Ledger Report
Making Use Of Your Most Valuable Accounting Analytic Tool
What is a "General Ledger"?
I know most of you Rent to Own owners and managers are quite familiar with what the general ledger is. However, there still may be some of you that haven’t yet fully embraced the concept, so the following definition is for review...more

Turn The "Do Not Call List" Into An Opportunity
Update: Printable Version Included
RTO Online guest author Bill Cates explains in a 3 part article..."While many rent to own salespeople and business owners are panicking about the National Do Not Call Registry, you can be seizing the opportunity! Over half of our nation’s households have sent business a strong message, “Do not call us cold at home! Period! End of discussion!” It’s not how they want to meet you. So, it’s not how you’re going to meet them...more

Aaron Rents Founder Donates $3 Million To Local Hospital
"The medical center is extremely well managed and serves the health-care needs of all segments of the region equally, relieving considerable pain and suffering and saving countless lives every year...more
R. Charles Loudermilk Sr

German Prosecutors investigate BoxClever
German prosecutors have launched an inquiry into the financing of troubled television rentals company BoxClever...more

Update
Former Rent Way Exec Sentenced
Matthew W. Marini Sentenced...more

Fog Enterprises Chooses Ideal Software
Harriman, Tennessee based FOG Enterprises, Inc. has chosen Ideal Rental Manager software to manage all locations. FOG operates 36 E-Z Rentals and A Plus Rent to Own locations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...more

Federal Reserve Board Recommends Changes To Consumer Leasing Act
The proposed changes all deal with disclosure requirements and are meant to define more specifically the standard for providing disclosures...more

Help-Wanted Index Unchanged; Employers Take Wait and See Attitude
“Employers are in a wait-and-see mode when it comes to hiring...more
Ken Goldstein
Conference Board Economist

Rent to Own Help Wanted In Europe
Want to relocate to the UK? Brighthouse, one of Great Britain's largest Rent to Own companies, has jobs posted on RTO Career Center...more

Rent to Own Industry Must Take Steps to Prevent Identity Theft
Rent to Own companies that require personal and confidential information on rental applications have a responsibility to protect that information from misuse...more

Rental and Sales Software Systems Completes Bank Reconciliation Module Rewrite
 "RSSS clients can now rest assured that all transactions from all areas of their system are integrated into the Bank Reconciliation Module...more
Ellison Crider
RSSS General Manager

Canada's Rentcash to Add Postal Outlet
"All of Canada Post is pleased to find a good partner in Rentcash to join in this new facility...more
Brian Garagan
Canada Post Manager of Media and Community Affairs

RTO Plus Nears Completion of Net Version
RTO Plus.Net for Windows uses "distributed application technology" along with VPN (virtual private networking) technology and Microsoft Terminal Services to allow multiple rent to own stores real time access of shared store information...more