Rent A Center and Rent Way have resigned their memberships to the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations (APRO). The two rental giants account for 50% of the rent to own locations in the United States and nearly half the trade association's reported $2 million budget.

Rent a Center's letter of resignation was received Friday, Rent Way notified the Association verbally Monday of their intention to resign. Ernie Lewallen, current member of the APRO Board of Directors, told RTO Online that no explanation was given by either company. "We were disappointed at hearing the news," said Lewallen, "but we are making plans to offer better member benefits and further strengthen our relationship with the small and mid-sized dealers of America." The entire APRO Board is in Texas this week for the annual Fall meeting and strategic planning session. Lewallen said it was premature to speculate what affect the resignation of it's two largest members would have on the Association.

Shannon Strunk, President of APRO, said the resignations were a complete surprise. "I spent all day Wednesday with Chris Korst (Rent a Center Senior VP and APRO Board Member) in Washington and [Rent a Center's resignation] was a complete surprise to me."

Others say the split has been brewing for some time. Combined, Rent a Center and Rent Way pay an estimated $800,000 per year in membership dues. Said one source, "When a company pays that amount of money they expect value in line with the investment. The organization had the opportunity on many occasions to increase that value, but the opportunity was missed." While this may be true, it does not explain why both companies left simultaneously. Calls by RTO Online to Rent a Center and Rent Way were not immediately returned.

Although Rent Way's formal resignation has not been received, Strunk spoke informally to Ron DeMoss, Rent Way's VP and General Counsel. DeMoss told Strunk that Rent Way feels it's 'company needs', with 750 stores, are different from those of the general APRO membership. The majority of APRO members operate single locations or regional chains with fewer than 10 stores.

Whatever the reason, the timing could hardly be worse. The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act, pending in the Senate, is closer to passage than ever before. While current wisdom says passage this session is unlikely, Shannon Strunk told RTO Online in a recent interview "The backdoors are still open."

APRO's primary mission for nearly two decades has been passage of federal legislation regulating rent to own in all states. Rent a Center and Rent Way have the most to gain from passage and have provided massive support for the effort. Without the industry's two biggest wallets, APRO's ability to continue it's lobbying efforts while maintaining other member services is questionable. Strunk said "We're going to continue doing just what we have been doing for this legislative session. We are addressing future legislative sessions in our strategic planning."

Estimates of the total number of rental purchase locations in the United States and Canada vary between 7,000 and 8,000. Without Rent a Center and Rent Way, APRO represents 348 companies.

In the late 1990's Rent a Center resigned from APRO only to rejoin a short time later. That event was chalked up to a misunderstanding. Nothing is permanent, but both Rent a Center and Rent Way resigning simultaneously signals something deeper than a mere misunderstanding. 

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