That being said, I will preface this with the fact that I have a legal background, specifically with estate planning and asset protection as it relates to real estate.

We are considering becoming a private lender with them and I am doing some background research on him and his companies and wondering if anyone has done any deals with them.

For a little background - I have been taking a big loss on this property for the last year for reasons out of the control of my property managers.What would you do in this situation?

They will pull a personal background report, will check IDs and question your current living situation.

I imagine a lot of areas maybe not the majority but a lot are in this same bucket.But like @Pace Jordan Morby mentioned the beauty of real estate is that there are multiple layers dealing in the buddle of rights and ownership so investors will find a way. do keep in mind there are firms that their entire business is to track mortgages like an actuary and rate them to give the servicers and the banks a read on how many loans could be in trouble when they could be in trouble and how much reserves they need. 

Quote from @Levi Perl: The purpose of background screening is to determine a level of risk, and then you decide if you can mitigate that risk.How does a DUI conviction from three years ago impact the tenant's ability to pay rent or maintain the property?

Looked at your background and posts.  

Also, was there a background check on the tenants possibly having criminal backgrounds and or background check to determine if the tenants had ever been evicted in the past?

I haven't managed to get into the waves yet but they look amazing and the countryside is beautiful! 

The beauty of REI is there is no need to make the mistake my wife I  made early on thinking we could do it ourselves.