There is also considerable concern that these transactions could be reclassified as loans which would mean the transactions themselves would be violations of both civil and criminal law.So, does anyone still think that lease to own, or rent to own, or rent credit schemes are a good idea?

Some people do well with second chances.Here is an excerpt from our screening criteria, which is more flexible than some....LEGAL/CRIMINAL HISTORY1.Criminal offenses (misdemeanor or felony) of a violent nature against either person or property will result in denial.2.Applicants with a non-violent criminal misdemeanor that occurred more than two years ago or a non-violent criminal felony that occurred more than five years ago may be considered if restitution for their crime was made in full and all time was served.Also, we may require an additional security deposit and demonstration of good employment history, credit history, and rental history since the time of the crime.Multiple offenses may result in denial regardless of what the employment, credit and rental history shows.

Yes, he was screened through mysmartmove.com and has decent credit, no criminal history, and no evictions.

BTW, is smoking weed still considered criminal activity? 

I like to look at credit, criminal, and eviction reports for any red flags. 

No offense, but you could wind up paying way more money to get out of trouble than you would on a professional....

@Bill Plymouth no offense to realtors.

Criminal and eviction data is pretty sketchy because many counties don't share their data publicly and the vast majority of Landlords never report evictions.You have to fill in the gaps yourself by checking references, verifying income, etc.

I believe bad tenants cost you WAY more than a few $$/month, so make sure you have a plan to do your due diligence (credit, criminal, rental history, income verification).Also, I agree with @Patrick M.

Because something was fishy and the credit file was so short I called in a favor and had a criminal background check run.