Oklahoma did this a few years ago, possibly criminalizing renting to them.

They recently issued a criminal complaint with a formal court order number documented!

The difficulty from what I see is that these sorts of scams are mostly small and local police are ill equipped to investigate and prosecute especially since most of the criminals are not local.

Squatters = drugs = problem.Georgia legislators are stepping up with HB 1017, the Georgia Squatter Reform Act, aiming to clarify in Georgia law that squatting constitutes criminal trespassing, thus shifting it from a civil court matter to a police issue.

I predict there will be criminal and SEC civil prosecutions of some of these syndicators.

The process includes requesting background checks through TransUnion, covering criminal history, eviction history, and credit reports.

I also recommend downloading the ring app for the city you're looking in or using spotcrime to see criminal activity.If you decide to look in Durham I'd be happy to help!

Will it be a criminal offense if they use customers' cash deposits for other purposes?   

In Oakland, you can't discriminate against someone with a criminal background (with the exception of a sex offender). 

Can you run criminal background on minors, when i say minors I mean 16 and up.