You need to check if the lease you created complies with any regulations of the area you’re in.  

They also have a pay-as-you-go setup, so you’re not stuck in a subscription—just a simple, practical option for better skip tracing.If you haven't already I would consider giving Prime Tracers a shot.

While it's more expensive than Ohio, it's still cheaper compared to California.Additionally, consider the practicality of traveling to your investment market.

Don't start throwing ideas at them like seller financing or numbers etc until you have an idea of if they actually intend to sell and what their needs are around the sale.This is very practical advice and I agree with the sentiment about not going into a conversation presuming anything about where their headspace is at.

It's hard to harvest equity on these plays, unless you commit, long-term, towards very light leverage, as the only practical ways to benefit from the equity in your portfolio, if you plan to never sell it, only exchange it, for a lifetime, are to spend the cash flow, or cash out refi.

How legit is their practice if you have an idea about it?

The IRS has a regulation that amounts less than 15K are tax-exempt, of course, this requires you to file a tax return.

And all of this happens during the contract period reducing purchasing risk.Great strategy especially when practiced just on the outskirts of a major metro area in a country setting(a weekend getaway property that can be marketed to city folk).  

Quote from @Frank Barletta: It is more cost-effective and practical to install a large-size TV and get the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Mini consoles.It comes with games preloaded, legal, and each to swap in case something breaks. 

It's his niche, but I think he is very helpful for people who know nothing about international investing because there are some good overviews of the viability of the markets and regulations of STR.