My view: if you have renters with decent jobs, good credit, no criminal record, clean-cut, decent cars, decent personality, they are likely to have decent pets.

She's not a lowlife druggie or a criminal (as far as I know), but she went from being somewhat well-to-do to being very low income due to various personal, financial, and professional decisions.

SmartMove is specifically designed for tenant screening and provides landlords with a credit, criminal background, and eviction reports.

I'd definitely require criminal, credit, and eviction checks in addition to an application. 

Standard qualifications (no smoking, 3X rent, criminal/past history) and not allowing pets at this time.

Also is it worth it to seek civil or criminal charges against them?

Afterwards, I further my criminal justice career by becoming a US Secret Service Police Officer.

Not everyone can purchase a firearm, either due to past criminal history, age, physical location, or what have you.

Appfolio charges $20 for a full credit/criminal/eviction back-round check.

Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool), automated maintenance tracking is key (and having everything in one spot makes a world of difference when it comes time to have a contractor come in and make a repair).