Then I ran into a number of tenant issues, criminal activity in my units, vacancies, and maintenance expenses which leads me to a never ending nightmare of costs lately with very little rent.  

This is more or less my model with the exception of income range, as our niche is lower middle-class rather than low-income individuals; they take better care of the property as a rule, have less problems with credit, criminal background and evictions, and are just as likely to be long-term renters.

This will be the first time I am going to use smartmove for credit, criminal, and eviction check so I'm a little fresh to it.

Unless they just finished a BK, it could mean the borrower is a habitual credit criminal.

I am also taking online classes through Liberty University for a degree in Criminal Justice.

I run a background check, criminal history, and credit check.

Regardless of type, all people living in our units need to be pre-approved, fill out an application (shortened for occupants), get a photo of their drivers license, and have a criminal background check.Think about what you want when the current lease is up, and figure out how much you can require now to have in your records.

Criminal charges are being pressed on the hit and run driver by SAPD and that case will run its course for a year but at least the settlment from insurance will close in 90 days.

If you're planning to screen your prospective tenants yourself, I highly suggest that you conduct a thorough screening, which would include a background and criminal check, credit check, eviction history check, and income check. 

Do a really heavy criminal and credit check of prospective tenants, and charge them for it upfront.