[3][4] In a 2019 Reddit AMA, Matt Sharp revealed that the artwork and the master tapes of Return of the Rentals have either been lost or destroyed by the record label, meaning a reissue of the album is unlikely.

Fictitious theories suggest that "P" refers to the Psychic Friends Network or Patrick Wilson, who played drums for both The Rentals and Weezer.

At one point, Weezer considered recording both "Jamie" with "Mrs. Young" (later written as "Please Let That Be You" without Rivers Cuomo but instead with Rachel Haden) as its B-side for a single, but this never happened.

[12] Entertainment Weekly claimed, "Its winsome love songs make for good, clean, disposable fun.

[10] In a retrospective review, Peter D'Angelo of AllMusic praised the album, saying, "Return of the Rentals is a real benchmark of carefree pop from the '90s, and shouldn't be forgotten anytime soon.