Association of Progressive Rental Organizations | America’s Champion for Rent-to-Own

Other Publications

APRO provides a wide variety of publications to help your rent-to-own business. Written by leading national RTO and marketing experts, these publications reflect advertising, financial, legal and marketing analysis especially for the rent-to-own industry. They can prove profoundly beneficial to your business’ growth, profitability and legal protection – and many are available exclusively to APRO members, free of charge!For more information or to order any of these APRO publications, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Available Rent-to-Own Publications

For APRO Members Only

APRO Focus Group Research: Targeting Hispanics and Millennials (2015)
Market research and recommendations on how to recruit Hispanics and Millennials as new customers. Four digital document reports. Cost: FREE
APRO Focus Group Research: Deep Dive to Reaching Hispanic Customers (2016)
Further insights and strategies for recruiting Hispanics as loyal customers. Cost: FREE
APRO RTO Innovation Marketing: Grab that New Customer (2011)
Marketing study using knowledge gained from APRO focus groups, national surveys, and analyses that are a culmination of 13 years of market research. These results have helped add 1.3 million RTO customers and $3.6 billion to industry in revenue nationwide. Cost: FREE
APRO Potential RTO Customer Survey (2010 edition)
Evaluation of the rent-to-own industry’s image, based on focus groups and telephone surveys. Cost: FREE
APRO RTO Policies and Procedures Manual
A sample policies and procedures manual, covering compensation and benefits, employee conduct, safety policies and much more! This manual is ready to be customized for your company. Cost: FREE

Available to the Public

APRO RTO Industry Survey (2017 edition)
The only source of statistical information on the rent-to-own industry in the U.S. Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $650
APRO Tax Audit Manual  (2012 update)
A collection of summaries and case cites to help in the defense and processing of audits. Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $150
APRO Advertising, Public Relations and Media Relations Handbook
An advertising, media relations and public relations handbook for rent-to-own dealers. Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $200
Managing For Success
A guide to hiring and retaining excellent employees. Cost – Members: $30; Non-members $150
APRO Bankruptcy Manual
A guide to help recover rental property from customers who declare bankruptcy. Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $200
How to Locate Missing Persons: A Skip Trace Manual
Helpful advice on locating “skips” and “stolens.” Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $30
RTOHQ: The Magazine subscription
APRO’s quarterly digital magazine for the rent-to-own industry. Cost – FREE for all

Archived Publications

APRO RTO Customer Satisfaction Survey (2009 edition)
A survey gauging rent-to-own customer satisfaction. This is the fourth customer satisfaction survey within 15 years, and is a powerful marketing tool to retain your customers. APRO members only. Cost – FREE
APRO RTO Legal Reference Index (1997)
A comprehensive summary of laws affecting the rent-to-own industry. Cost – Members: FREE; Non-members $500

Rent-to-Own Research & Reports

The US Rent-to-Own Market (2022-2027)

Rent to own (also known as “lease purchase”) is a contract that allows prospective buyers to lease a home with the option to purchase it later. The tenant/buyer pays the landlord/seller an amount equal to the rental amount on a monthly basis. A portion of the monthly payment is then applied to the home’s purchase price. During or at the end of the lease period, the tenant/buyer has the exclusive right to purchase the home on the terms agreed upon by both parties. In 2021, the US rent to own market was valued at US$10.48 billion, and is probable to reach US$15.53 billion by 2027. The rent to own industry is anticipated to showcase a positive outlook during the forecasted years as primary and subprime lenders would tighten credit measures. Furthermore, demand for essential products (appliances and computers) is increasing and would further intensify in the approaching times. The US rent to own market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.77%, during the forecast period of 2022-2027. Click here to view the report.

APRO Annual Industry Statistical Survey and Trend Analysis

For financial analysts, investors, news reporters, new RTO business owners APRO regularly commissions professional survey firm Industry Insights to conduct a benchmark study on the financial state and economic impact of the rent-to-own industry. Industry Insights has been conducting this survey since 1993 and has helped build the RTO industry’s financial story, measuring the most predominant economic impact and financial figures that define the industry’s economic health. Click here to view some graphs developed using annual rent-to-own industry survey results. This report is available to APRO members only. APRO members who participate in the year’s survey receive a copy of the report free of charge; members who do not participate can purchase a copy of the report for $500. To order a copy of the report, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Rent-to-Own Customer Satisfaction Report and Trend Analysis

For current rent-to-own owners, advertisers, regional/store managers Every five years since 1994, APRO commissions nationally renowned market research firm America’s Research Group to survey and define customer satisfaction rates for the rent-to-own industry. The research surveys current rent-to-own customers nationwide and defines specific ways rent-to-own companies can improve their business. This report is available to APRO members only. To order a copy, please contact research@rtohq.org.

The Federal Government and the Fringe Economy

by University of Houston Assistant Professor of Law Jim Hawkins, published by the Chapman Law Review, Winter 2011 This article explores the Dodd-Frank Act’s creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and assesses the Bureau’s new power to regulate alternative financial services providers like payday lenders, rent-to-own companies, pawnshops, and auto title lenders. Click here to read the article.

Regulating on the Fringe: Reexamining the Link Between Fringe Banking and Financial Distress

Archived Research & Reports

Renting The Good Life: A Law And Economics Research Paper

by Jim Hawkins, published in the William & Mary Law Review, Spring 2008 For policymakers, news reporters, legal and legislative analysts A University of Texas School of Law student dissects the negatively biased legal arguments against rent-to-own, and their ramifications on public policy and in the market. For more information or to order a copy of the article, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Rent-to-Own Agreements: Customer Characteristics and Contract Outcomes

by UMASS finance professor Dr. Michael H. Anderson and California Polytechnic State University finance and economics professor Dr. Sanjiv Jaggia, published in the Journal of Economics and Business, January 2008 This article addresses consumer use of rent-to-own, employing a unique database of more than 11,000 completed RTO transactions originating between 2001 and 2004. Click here to download this article as a PDF.

Renting the Good Life

by Jim Hawkins, J.D., The University of Texas School of Law, published in the University School of Law and Economics Journal, Summer 2007 This article examines the theoretical justifications for regulating the rent-to-own industry with regards to key marketplace participants, industry empirical data, and RTO’s unique business model. Click here to download this article as a PDF.

Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained Consumers: A Macromarketing Perspective

by Clemson sociology professors Dr. James C. Witte and Dr. John D. Mittelstaedt, published as a part of the “Macromarketing and Development: Building Bridges and Forging Alliances” study, Summer 2007 This article covers an ongoing study to understand the production, consumption and family lifecycle of households with limited assets and limited prospects for income growth. Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, preliminary findings suggest these asset-limited, income-constrained (ALIC) households differ from higher- and lower-income households in terms of household structure, employment and consumption. Click here to download this article as a PDF.

The Rent-to-Own Industry

by Rice University business and government relations professor Dr. Doug Schuler and professor of management Dr. Gerry Keim, published in the college textbook “Cases of Business Ethics,” Winter 2006 For policymakers, news reporters, legal and legislative analysts This case study covers the dynamics of a Congress wanting an entire industry put out of business, and the front-page Wall Street Journal article that launched the attack. APRO, the national trade association for the rent-to-own industry, serves as the real-life example for college business, political science and public relations students to understand how an industry and trade association can turn its worst situation into a business, political and public success. For more information or to order a copy, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Rent-to-Own Potential Customer Perception and Trend Analysis

For current rent-to-own owners, advertisers, regional/store managers Serving only 3 million customers of the 45 million Americans fitting the economic demographic of the rent-to-own consumer, RTO industry leaders need to know how to persuade those potential customers to do business with rent-to-own. In 1997 and again in 2004, APRO charged Trenholm Research Group with identifying the main obstacles to and negative perceptions of the industry, and providing the statistical framework for how to improve marketing of rent-to-own to the customers who should be using it. This report is available to APRO members only. To order a copy, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Rent-to-Own Agreements: Purchases or Rentals?

by UMASS finance professors Dr. Michael H. Anderson and Dr. Raymond Jackson, published in the Journal of Applied Business Research, Spring 2003 For policymakers, news reporters, legal and legislative analysts This article examines the nature of rent-to-own agreements, using a unique data set of more than 350,000 transactions drawn from 100 RTO stores in 46 states. The key result is that RTO agreements are more frequently used to meet short-term needs than as a long-term method of acquisition. Therefore, legislative and legal efforts to classify rent-to-own agreements as primarily installment contracts can’t be justified by their statistically proven pattern of marketplace use. Click here to download this article as a PDF.

A Reconsideration of Rent-to-Own

by UMASS finance professors Dr. Michael H. Anderson and Dr. Raymond Jackson, published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, Winter 2001 For policymakers, news reporters, legal and legislative analysts Two University of Massachusetts finance professors begin a series of studies on the rent-to-own industry with this examination of the market value and customer pattern rent-to-own provides in the American economy. Click here to download this article as a PDF.

Corporate Social Responsibility: The Rent-to-Own Industry

by Rice University business and government relations professor Dr. Doug Schuler, published as a chapter in the college textbook “Cases in Business Ethics,” 2001 This chapter explores the political and public relations crises the rent-to-own industry faced during the early 1990s. The chapter uses contemporary conflicts to help business and political science students better understand the complex relationships between business, government and the media. For more information or to order a copy, please contact research@rtohq.org.

Survey of Rent-to-Own Customers

published by the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics For policymakers, news reporters, and legal & legislative analysts Between December 1998 and February of 1999, FTC staff conducted a nationwide survey of more than 12,000 U.S. households, identifying over 500 rent-to-own customers who were interviewed about their experience with RTO stores. This is the first study by a federal governmental body on the RTO industry and its customers. Click here to download this study as a PDF.

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