NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) May 13, 2003— Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it placed its 'CCC' corporate credit and senior secured bank loan ratings of Rent-Way Inc. on CreditWatch with positive implications. "The CreditWatch placement is based on the company's announcement that it plans to offer $215 million of senior secured notes together with a proposed new revolving bank credit facility," stated Standard & Poor's credit analyst Robert Lichtenstein.

The proceeds will be used to refinance the company's existing bank loan that matures in December 2003, eliminating a significant near-term concern. Moreover, Rent-Way's settlement of its accounting lawsuit is subject to the bank loan refinancing by July 31. The Erie, Pa.-based company had $213 million of debt outstanding as of March 31, 2003. Upon completion of the deal, Standard & Poor's will raise the corporate credit rating to 'B+' from 'CCC'. In addition, Rent-Way Inc.'s proposed $60 million secured bank loan will be assigned a 'BB-' rating, and its proposed $215 million senior secured notes will be assigned a 'B-' rating. The outlook will be stable. The ratings are based on preliminary information and are subject to review upon final documentation. A material adverse outcome of the SEC and the U.S. Attorney investigations are not factored into the rating.

Rent-Way's senior secured notes rating will be rated 'B-', two notches lower than the corporate credit rating, reflecting a material amount of secured debt that is better positioned than the senior notes. Furthermore, the new notes are only secured by a second priority lien, and are deemed to be disadvantaged because they lack sufficient asset protection. The $60 million revolving credit facility will be rated 'BB-', one notch higher than the corporate credit rating, based on the strong likelihood of full recovery of principal in the event of default or bankruptcy. The facility is guaranteed by Rent-Way and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Rent-Way is the second-largest operator in the retail rent-to-own industry. The company faces significant challenges competing with Rent-A-Center (34% market share versus 10% for Rent-Way), a firm with far stronger sales, operating margins, and financial flexibility.

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Fixed Income in the left navigation bar, select Credit Ratings Actions.