FranchiseVerdict
RimTyme logo
FV-02154·CAUTIONStandard76

RimTyme

Formerly known as Rent-A-Center

RetailFranchising since 2007Website
Investment
$473K – $802K
87th pct Retail
Avg revenue
53rd pct Retail
Royalty
4.0%
7th pct Retail
Units
29
28th pct Retail
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $473K – $802K including a $25K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 74/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 15 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -21.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc.
Parent company
Upbound Group, Inc.
Incorporated in
Texas
HQ
5501 Headquarters Drive, Plano, Texas 75024
Auditor
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$120.6M
vs $122.2M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one RimTyme unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $473K–$802K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $95K–$130K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

8%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$60K
EBITDA margin
8.0%
Total invested
$750K
Payback
150 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

RimTyme franchisees operate lease-to-own retail locations for automotive wheels and tires, generating revenue through rental payments from customers and point-of-sale tire/wheel sales. Day-to-day operations include managing customer lease agreements, inventory, sales transactions, and collections while remitting 4% of gross rental and sales revenue to the franchisor as royalties.

CEO
Mitchell E. Fadel
Founded
1980
FDD year
2025
States available
12

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$473K – $802K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$95K – $130K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
4.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
29
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
9
Turnover rate
31.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
12.5%
Net growth (yr3)
-23.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-21.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
29-9
Franchised units
2024
38
Franchised units
2025
37
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 13 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 13 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
15
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

74
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION74 / 100

RimTyme presents extreme risk: a collapsing franchise system (down 24% YoY) with going concern doubts, active multi-state litigation, regulatory fraud settlements, and zero financial transparency—avoid unless seeking distressed acquisition.

Score breakdown · what drove the 74 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDSevere unit decline of 23.7% YoY (29 units remaining) indicates system contraction and loss of franchisee confidence
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, signaling material doubt about franchisor's ability to continue operations
  3. 03HIGHMultiple active litigations including consolidated arbitration on renewal/advertising terms, shareholder class actions on financial reporting, and regulatory settlements with FTC and multiple state AGs regarding lease-to-own practices
  4. 04MEDFinancial transparency crisis: average revenue and net income not disclosed, preventing ROI validation and suggesting poor franchisee performance or franchisor unwillingness to disclose
  5. 05MINORLease-to-own regulatory violations across multiple states (CA, MA, GA) indicate systemic compliance failures and reputational/legal exposure
  6. 06HIGHShareholder class actions (Hall/DePalma) alleging financial reporting fraud create doubt about franchisor's truthfulness in FDD disclosures

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
8
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
15 hrs
POS system
VersiRent
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

30 numbers

Locked
(504) 826-••••
LA
(678) 610-••••
GA
(502) 290-••••
KY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

RimTyme · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above