My #1 AP attorney got caught up in a case where another client was found criminally guilty and the CA AG has taken a personal interest in punishing.

Other thing I learned is the city is criminally prosecuting the seller for not working on the place it’s been on the market a while untouched.

You can insure against this.A partner/principal can be bonded against other risks, non-performance for any reason, like disability, criminal acts, bankruptcy, or just bad management, that may be expensive and not worth the arrangement, so you would have risks.IMO, knowing very successful builders and developers, about the only way to guarantee any promise is by pledging assets, other assets to attach in the event things don't work, and at a value sufficient to cover the obligation after the collateral is secured and sold.

We look at job history, if they bounce- they will probably bounce... we look at last addresses... evictions, criminal...

None of any criminal background and they rented their previous place for three years.

Credit scores, criminal report, rental history with dates, eviction reports, employer information......?

Is there a clause in your lease for vacating premises without notice, or criminal activity?

ALWAYS run credit and criminal checks and verify their rental history.

Its really criminal in many ways in my opinon..

Assuming everything else is equal, (no criminal records, past evictions, and they applied at roughly the same time), I'd choose the second applicant based on income.