I researched one guy and he has a criminal record a mile long.

in most states as long as your felony is not financial you can get a real estate license I woujld do that.then work for a top producer and learn the trade.. do his or her busy work share commisisons.I have seen many apprentice for 3 to 5 years then strike out on their own and end up doing quite well for themselves.trying to be a real estate investor with limited financials is a pretty tough thing to do with or without criminal backgroudn

And a true testament as to why real estate investors with criminal records are not necessarily an end-all.

Run their credit and criminal history using cozy.co.

The housing authority does the criminal & background checks before they are approved for the program with annual checks so you/I don't have to do it.

One was a clean freak and the other a pig on a TV show from the 1970s or 1980s.Did you run a credit and criminal history check?

well  before you work with Jack you should treat him like a tenant..pull a credit report and run him through a criminal and general background check.if he balks you have your answer.it always amazes me that folks will jump into these large partnerships with a ton of risk and not even do the basic background on the partner.but rent some 12 dollar an hour person your rental and you would never do it without doing the above.now most folks will jump on here and say brilliant things like RUN  LOLbut lets be pragmatic here and just check the guy out first.. then when you have that info.. go from there.Also be careful on how you deal with the bank you don't want to put in a fraudulent application..

Setup time to speak to a few of them to learn more about their model and get a feel for how they answer your questions, how they treat you during the call.Be prepared to share your net worth, income, and investment history with them if you want move forward.For the ones you like (after speaking with them), maybe have them send you example investor communications on prior deals so you can see how they communicate to keep investors informed.Once you've narrowed it down you'll want to further evaluate the sponsor Track record, references, etc.Have them present a past deal in detail to try to understand their assumptions, are they conservative, etc.You can use the BP Tenant Screening tool to get criminal and credit history.

I determined through a Google search that both tenants have violent criminal records so I would prefer to remain anonymous (they don't know my name, contact information, what I look like, etc.). 

I think I've read about cases that were criminally prosecuted for doing this.